Patent ID: 8543265

Claim:
A method for navigation for an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) equipped with a processor, a camera, a wireless network interface and at least one acoustic sensor and a memory device storing data representing at least one flight corridor; and data representing at least one flight path, the method comprising: at the processor, calculating a first flight plan to avoid the at least one flight corridor and the at least one flight path, flying the UAV according to the first flight plan, calculating a second flight plan based on the first flight plan and input from multi-modal logic stored in the memory device based on signals received from the camera and at least one acoustic sensor and flying the UAV according to the second flight plan, wherein the camera detects navigational signals in the range of at least one of visible light or infrared light frequencies, and wherein the processor detects at the at least one acoustic sensor noise associated with an unknown aircraft; at the wireless network interface, receiving information transmitted from at least one ground control station; and at the processor, calculating a third flight plan, based on the second flight plan and the information received from the ground control station and flying the UAV according to the third flight plan.