Patent ID: 7418320

Claim:
A method for navigating a UAV having an on-board digital camera, the method comprising: piloting the UAV in a current flying pattern; wherein piloting the UAV in a current flying pattern comprises: receiving from a GPS receiver a current position of the UAV; calculating a heading in dependence upon a flying pattern algorithm; and flying on the heading; identifying a geographic area not captured by the digital camera while the UAV is flying in the current flying pattern; wherein identifying a geographic area not captured by the digital camera while the UAV is flying in the current flying pattern further comprises: determining an area captured by the onboard camera; extrapolating the area captured by the onboard camera along the flying pattern to determine a perimeter of uncaptured geographic area; and determining the area of the uncaptured geographic area in dependence upon the perimeter; and modifying the current flying pattern to capture an image of the identified geographic area.