Patent application EP18177592A (EP), filed 2018-06-13
Publication number: EP3415427A1
Title: AUTOMATED LANDING SOLUTION SYSTEMS AND METHODS
Abstract: A UAV landing system can include a landing pad (102) defining a landing area including a target point; a plurality of positioning radio transmitters (122) positioned in a spaced apart relation and equidistant from the target point, each radio transmitter (122) transmitting a ranging signal; and a position determination and aircraft navigation system (828) at the incoming UAV (101) to receive the ranging signals; determine a range to each positioning radio using the received ranging signals; compute a position of the UAV (101) relative to the target point; determine a course for the UAV (101) to a point above the target point of the landing pad (102); fly the UAV (101) to the point above the target point of the landing pad (102), and cause the aircraft to descend vertically toward the target point when the UAV (101) reaches the point above the target point.
IPC codes: B64C  27/    00            A I
B64C  39/    02            A I
B64F   1/    00            A I
G01S   3/    32            A I
G05D   1/    06            A I
Claims: number: 1
text: A UAV landing system, comprising:
number: 2
text: A UAV landing pad, comprising:
number: 3
text: The UAV landing system of claim 1 or the UAV landing pad of claim 2, wherein the ranging signals comprise timing information and the positioning circuit determines the range to each positioning radio using a time of flight of each respective ranging signal determined by the timing information.
number: 4
text: The UAV landing system of claim 1 or of claim 3, or the UAV landing pad of claim 2 or of claim 3, wherein the positioning circuit computes the position of the UAV relative to the target point of the landing pad as a range and altitude relative to the landing pad.
number: 5
text: The UAV landing system of claim 1 or of claim 3 or of claim 4, or the UAV landing pad of claim 2 or of claim 3 or of claim 4, wherein at least one of the positioning radios further transmits identification information identifying the landing pad.
number: 6
text: The UAV landing system of claim 1 or of any of claims 3 to 5, or the UAV landing pad of claim 2 or of any of claims 3 to 5, wherein the target point is the center of the landing pad.
number: 7
text: The UAV landing system of claim 1 or of any of claims 3 to 6, or the UAV landing pad of claim 2 or of any of claims 3 to 6, wherein the landing pad is rectangular in geometry, the target point is the center of the landing pad, and the plurality of positioning radios comprises four positioning radios, one disposed at each corner of the landing pad.
number: 8
text: The UAV landing system of claim 1 or of any of claims 3 to 6, or the UAV landing pad of claim 2 or of any of claims 3 to 6, wherein the landing pad is round in geometry, the target point is the center of the landing pad, and the plurality of positioning radios comprises four positioning radios disposed at 90-degree intervals around the target point.
number: 9
text: The UAV landing system of claim 1 or the UAV landing pad of claim 2, wherein the target point is the center of the landing pad, and the plurality of positioning radios comprises positioning radios disposed at each corner of the landing pad.
number: 10
text: The UAV landing system of claim 1 or of any of claims 3 to 9, wherein the flight control system further determines when the UAV is directly above the target point.
number: 11
text: The UAV landing system of claim 1 or of any of claims 3 to 10, or the UAV landing pad of claim 2 or of any of claims 3 to 10, wherein the landing pad is a portable landing pad that comprises flexible or foldable material.
number: 12
text: The UAV landing system of claim 1 or of any of claims 3 to 11, or the UAV landing pad of claim 2 or of any of claims 3 to 11, wherein the landing pad further comprises a pressure transducer that determines whether a payload is on the landing pad.
number: 13
text: The UAV landing system of claim 1 or of any of claims 3 to 12, or the UAV landing pad of claim 2 or of any of claims 3 to 12, wherein the landing pad further comprises a pressure transducer that determines whether a payload is on the landing pad and a communications interface to communicatively coupled the landing pad to a user, wherein when a payload is delivered and deposited on the landing pad by the UAV, the pressure transducer detects the presence of the payload and the communications interface sends a message to the user indicating that the payload has been delivered.
number: 14
text: The UAV landing system of claim 1 or of any of claims 3 to 13, or the UAV landing pad of claim 2 or of any of claims 3 to 13, wherein the landing pad further comprises an identification circuit that identifies the payload delivered and provides the identification to the communications interface.
number: 15
text: A method for computing a landing solution for a UAV, comprising:
Office action: search_report, dated 2018-12-19
Rejection reasons: novelty_epc_54
Prior art cited: ref_id: US2016068264A1
ref_type: patent
severity: background
ref_id: US2016207637A1
ref_type: patent
severity: background
ref_id: US2010256841A1
ref_type: patent
severity: background
ref_id: KR20130122715A
ref_type: patent
severity: background
ref_id: - VITO DRONELLI: "3 Best drone landing pads", 6 June 2017 (2017-06-06), XP055508386, Retrieved from the Internet <URL:http://www.dronesglobe.com/guide/landing-pads/> [retrieved on 20180920]
ref_type: npl
severity: background
ref_id: US2010256841
ref_type: patent
severity: background
ref_id: KR20130122715
ref_type: patent
severity: background
ref_id: US2016068264
ref_type: patent
severity: novelty_destroying
ref_id: US2016207637
ref_type: patent
severity: background
ref_id: - Vito Dronelli, "3 Best drone landing pads", (20170606), URL: http://www.dronesglobe.com/guide/landing-pads/, (20180920), XP055508386 [A] 1-15 * the whole document *
ref_type: npl
severity: background
Final disposition: pending (2018-12-19)