Patent ID: 11955020
Assignee: FORD GLOBAL TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
Field: Control (Instruments)
Classification: CPC G  B  H | IPC B  G  H

Claim 3:
4. A drone comprising:
a processor; and
a memory for storing instructions, the processor executing the instructions to:
transmit a drone safety message over a vehicle-to-everything communication, the drone safety message being received by a connected vehicle located along a first planned flight path;
transmit the first planned flight path to a public database for publishing in a manner wherein at least one waypoint along the first planned flight path is omitted because it is indicative of a location that is associated with a non-public or non-pedestrian area, thereby allowing the drone to maintain anonymity when transmitting the first planned flight path;
determine that the drone is experiencing an emergency condition and may unexpectedly land;
transmit a warning message over the vehicle-to-everything communication that indicates that the drone is experiencing the emergency condition;
receive the drone safety message via the vehicle-to-everything communication at an infrastructure roadside unit (RSU), wherein the RSU is a stoplight or a streetlight;
relay the drone safety message from the RSU to the connected vehicle and a mobile device of a pedestrian when the first drone is within a predetermined distance of the RSU, thereby allowing the connected vehicle and the mobile device to be apprised of a current position of the drone, even when the mobile device does not have access to the published first planned flight path;
determine a proximity of the drone to the pedestrian based on a transmission sent from the mobile device to the drone;
determine drone operating evidence as the drone travels along the first planned flight path; store the drone operating evidence in a distributed ledger, wherein the drone safety message comprises any one or more the current position, mobility dynamics, and/or the first planned flight path for the drone; and
alter the first planned flight path to avoid flying over an area where the connected vehicle is present such that the drone hovers and waits for the connected vehicle to clear a public roadway before crossing the public roadway;
wherein determining the drone operating evidence comprises:
determine, based on the current position and the first planned flight path, that the drone is near the public roadway,
turn on a camera of the drone responsive to the emergency condition occurring,
capture images or video of the public roadway, and
store the images or video of the public roadway in the distributed ledger in order to prove that the drone did not fly over the connected vehicle as it traversed the public roadway.