Patent ID: 11881116
Assignee: AURORA FLIGHT SCIENCES CORPORATION
Field: Control (Instruments)
Classification: CPC G | IPC G

Claim 9:
10. An autonomous aerial vehicle navigation system for operating a plurality of aerial vehicles in an environment, the autonomous aerial vehicle navigation system comprising:
one or more sensors configured to generate sensor data reflecting one or more characteristics of the environment, wherein the one or more sensors comprise a forward-facing optical sensor and a rear-facing optical sensor and are on board a first aerial vehicle, and wherein at least one of the forward-facing optical sensor or rear-facing optical sensor comprises a light detection and ranging (LIDAR) sensor;
a first command module disposed on board the first aerial vehicle and configured to:
receive additional sensor data from one or more additional sensors on board a second aerial vehicle that are different from the one or more sensors, wherein the additional sensor data reflects information about a position of the first aerial vehicle such that the second aerial vehicle can track the position of the first aerial vehicle;
determine a change from a predetermined formation to a different formation for the second aerial vehicle based at least in part on the sensor data and the additional sensor data, wherein the predetermined formation and different formation are relative to the first aerial vehicle;
generate control signals reflecting the change from the predetermined formation to the different formation; and
send the control signals from the first aerial vehicle to the second aerial vehicle; and

a second command module on board the second aerial vehicle and configured to:
track the position of the first aerial vehicle to yield a tracked position;
receive zone data that indicates one or more zones,
wherein the zone data includes a time component reflecting a validity period or an expiration time; and

maneuver the second aerial vehicle to follow the first aerial vehicle based on the control signals and the tracked position of the first aerial vehicle; and
maneuver the second aerial vehicle to enter the one or more zones based at least in part on the zone data.