Data logging in aerial platform

1. A method for managing data in an unmanned aerial vehicle, the method comprising:

capturing sensor data from sensors on the unmanned aerial vehicle;

transferring the captured sensor data from the unmanned aerial vehicle to a remote controller via a wireless interface;

detecting a loss of a link to a remote controller via the wireless interface;

responsive to detecting the loss of the link, storing the captured sensor data to a buffer and monitoring a flight status of the unmanned aerial vehicle, the flight status indicating whether the aerial vehicle is in motion or stationary; and

transferring the stored sensor data from the buffer to a non-volatile storage responsive to detecting that the unmanned aerial vehicle is stationary following the loss of the link.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

capturing system state information relating to a state of the unmanned aerial vehicle;

transferring the system state information from the unmanned aerial vehicle to the remote controller via the wireless interface;

responsive to detecting the loss of the link, storing the captured system state information to the buffer; and

transferring the stored system state information from the buffer to the non-volatile storage responsive to the battery level dropping below the predefined threshold.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

responsive to detecting the loss of the link, storing the captured sensor data to a buffer and monitoring a battery level of the unmanned aerial vehicle; and

transferring the stored sensor data from the buffer to the non-volatile storage responsive to the battery level dropping below a predefined threshold.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

responsive to detecting the loss of the link, monitoring a flight status of the unmanned aerial vehicle, the flight status indicating whether the aerial vehicle is in motion or stationary;

responsive to the unmanned aerial vehicle being in motion following the loss of the link, determining if the buffer is full of untransferred data; and

transferring the untransferred data to the non-volatile storage responsive to the buffer being full.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining an available bandwidth for transferring data between the unmanned aerial vehicle and the remote controller;

selecting, based on the available bandwidth, a wireless interface for transferring a data packet to a remote controller, the wireless interface selected between a TCP interface and a UDP interface; and

transferring the sensor data from the buffer to the remote controller via the selected wireless interface.

6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising:

responsive to detecting that the available bandwidth exceeds a first threshold, transferring the data packet in duplicate over both the TCP interface and the UDP interface.

7. The method of claim 5 , further comprising:

responsive to detecting that the available bandwidth does not exceed a first threshold, transferring the data packet over the UDP interface only.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein capturing the sensor data comprises:

determining an importance factor for the sensor data;

selectively compressing the sensor data based on a compression level dependent on the importance factor.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

synchronizing a local clock of the unmanned aerial vehicle; and

timestamping the sensor data using the local clock when storing the sensor data to the buffer.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein synchronizing the clock comprises:

synchronizing the local clock to a GPS clock from a GPS device integrated in the unmanned aerial vehicle when a GPS connection is available to the GPS device;

responsive to the GPS connection being unavailable, synchronizing the local clock to a controller clock on the remote controller.

11. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing instructions for managing data in an unmanned aerial vehicle, the instructions when executed by a processor causing the processor to perform steps including:

capturing sensor data from sensors on the unmanned aerial vehicle;

transferring the captured sensor data from the unmanned aerial vehicle to a remote controller via a wireless interface;

detecting a loss of a link to a remote controller via the wireless interface;

responsive to detecting the loss of the link, storing the captured sensor data to a buffer and monitoring a flight status of the unmanned aerial vehicle, the flight status indicating whether the aerial vehicle is in motion or stationary; and

transferring the stored sensor data from the buffer to a non-volatile storage responsive to detecting that the unmanned aerial vehicle is stationary following the loss of the link.

12. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the instructions when executed further cause the processor to perform steps including:

capturing system state information relating to a state of the unmanned aerial vehicle;

transferring the system state information from the unmanned aerial vehicle to the remote controller via the wireless interface;

responsive to detecting the loss of the link, storing the captured system state information to the buffer; and

transferring the stored system state information from the buffer to the non-volatile storage responsive to the battery level dropping below the predefined threshold.

13. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the instructions when executed further cause the processor to perform steps including:

responsive to detecting the loss of the link, storing the captured sensor data to a buffer and monitoring a battery level of the unmanned aerial vehicle; and

transferring the stored sensor data from the buffer to the non-volatile storage responsive to the battery level dropping below a predefined threshold.

14. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the instructions when executed further cause the processor to perform steps including:

responsive to detecting the loss of the link, monitoring a flight status of the unmanned aerial vehicle, the flight status indicating whether the aerial vehicle is in motion or stationary;

responsive to the unmanned aerial vehicle being in motion following the loss of the link, determining if the buffer is full of untransferred data; and

transferring the untransferred data to the non-volatile storage responsive to the buffer being full.

15. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the instructions when executed further cause the processor to perform steps including:

determining an available bandwidth for transferring data between the unmanned aerial vehicle and the remote controller;

selecting, based on the available bandwidth, a wireless interface for transferring a data packet to a remote controller, the wireless interface selected between a TCP interface and a UDP interface; and

transferring the sensor data from the buffer to the remote controller via the selected wireless interface.

16. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the instructions when executed further cause the processor to perform steps including:

responsive to detecting that the available bandwidth exceeds a first threshold, transferring the data packet in duplicate over both the TCP interface and the UDP interface.

17. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the instructions when executed further cause the processor to perform steps including:

responsive to detecting that the available bandwidth does not exceed a first threshold, transferring the data packet over the UDP interface only.

18. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the instructions when executed further cause the processor to perform steps including:

synchronizing a local clock of the unmanned aerial vehicle; and

timestamping the sensor data using the local clock when storing the sensor data to the buffer.

19. An aerial vehicle system comprising:

a processor; and

a non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing instructions for managing data in the aerial vehicle system, the instructions when executed by a processor causing the processor to perform steps including:

capturing sensor data from sensors on the unmanned aerial vehicle;

transferring the captured sensor data from the unmanned aerial vehicle to a remote controller via a wireless interface;

detecting a loss of a link to a remote controller via the wireless interface;

responsive to detecting the loss of the link, storing the captured sensor data to a buffer and monitoring a flight status of the unmanned aerial vehicle, the flight status indicating whether the aerial vehicle is in motion or stationary; and

transferring the stored sensor data from the buffer to a non-volatile storage responsive to detecting that the unmanned aerial vehicle is stationary following the loss of the link.

20. The aerial vehicle system of claim 19 , wherein the instructions when executed further cause the processor to perform steps including:

responsive to detecting the loss of the link, storing the captured sensor data to a buffer and monitoring a battery level of the unmanned aerial vehicle; and

transferring the stored sensor data from the buffer to the non-volatile storage responsive to the battery level dropping below a predefined threshold.