Patent ID: 11868145
Assignee: AMAZON TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
Field: Control (Instruments)
Classification: CPC G  B | IPC B  G

Claim 14:
15. An aerial vehicle comprising:
at least one propulsion motor; and
a control system having at least one computer processor, wherein the control system is in communication with the at least one propulsion motor,
wherein the control system is programmed with one or more sets of instructions that, when executed by the at least one computer processor, cause the aerial vehicle to at least:
generate a reliability map of a region based at least in part on at least:
a geographic map of the region, wherein the geographic map of the region identifies a plurality of geospatial areas of the region;
population data for the plurality of geospatial areas of the region; and
a location of at least one building within the region,
wherein the reliability map of the region comprises a plurality of cells having a common size and identifies population densities of the plurality of cells and the location of the at least one building;

receive information regarding a mission requiring travel by an aerial vehicle from a first location within the region to a second location within the region;
identify a first cell within the reliability map, wherein the first location is within a first zone of the region corresponding to the first cell;
identify a second cell within the geographic map, wherein the second location is within a second zone of the region corresponding to the second cell;
calculate, for individual ones of the plurality of cells, a first cost of travel from the first cell to the individual ones of the plurality of cells and a second cost of travel from the individual ones of the plurality of cells to the second cell based at least in part on the population densities of at least some of the plurality of cells,
wherein the first cost is a sum of:
a distance from the first cell to the individual ones of the plurality of cells;
a population density of the individual ones of the plurality of cells; and
a sum of population densities of a predetermined number of population densities of cells adjacent the individual ones of the plurality of cells divided by the predetermined number;

generate a route from the first zone to the second zone based at least in part on the population densities of the at least some of the plurality of cells and the location of the at least one building within the region and sums of the first cost and the second cost of the individual ones of the plurality of cells, wherein the route comprises at least a first path and a second path, wherein the first path extends between a centroid of the first cell and a centroid of a third cell, wherein the second path extends between the centroid of the third cell and a centroid of the second cell, and wherein the third cell is one of the plurality of cells;
select at least one of a course, a speed, or an altitude for traveling along the route based at least in part on the information regarding the mission; and
cause the aerial vehicle to operate on the course, at the speed and at the altitude to travel along the route.