Patent ID: 11971730
Assignee: WING AVIATION LLC
Field: IT methods for management (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC G  B | IPC B  G

Claim 0:
1. A method for automated assignment of a staging pad to an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), the method comprising:
launching the UAV from a launch location;
autonomously tracking, by the UAV with one or more sensors disposed onboard the UAV, a drift of the UAV from the launch location while flying subsequent to the launching;
determining, by the UAV using a machine vision system disposed onboard the UAV, a subsequent position of the UAV after the launching based upon geofiducial navigation that uses the machine vision system to automatically identify one or more geofiducial markers disposed about the launch location;
calculating, by the UAV, an estimated position of the launch location by offsetting the subsequent position by the drift;
attempting to match the estimated position to an available staging pad of a plurality of staging pads; and
assigning the UAV to the available staging pad when the estimated position successfully matches to the available staging pad.