Location verification and secure no-fly logic for unmanned aerial vehicles
Apparatus, methods and systems to associate a flight plan of an unmanned aerial vehicle (e.g., a drone) with a cryptographic signature are disclosed herein. Some disclosed examples include one or more non-transitory computer-readable media including computer-executable instructions. The computer readable instructions, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to compare a flight path over a geographic area of an unmanned aerial vehicle to a geographically identified no-fly zone. The flight path is included in a flight plan. The instructions also cause the vehicle to determine whether the flight path enters the geographically identified no-fly zone, and based on whether the flight path is determined to enter the geographically identified no-fly zone, associate the flight plan with a cryptographic signature.
1. One or more storage devices or storage disks comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors at an unmanned aerial vehicle, cause the one or more processors to at least:
compare a flight path over a geographic area of the unmanned aerial vehicle to a geographically identified no-fly zone, the flight path included in a flight plan;
determine whether the flight path enters the geographically identified no-fly zone; and
based on whether the flight path is determined to enter the geographically identified no-fly zone, associate the flight plan with a cryptographic signature at the unmanned aerial vehicle.
2. The one or more storage devices or storage disks of claim 1 , wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the one or more processors to:
attempt to verify the cryptographic signature; and
when the cryptographic signature is successfully verified, execute the flight plan.
3. The one or more storage devices or storage disks of claim 2 , wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the one or more processors to:
determine an obstacle has been detected;
based on the detected obstacle, calculate a second flight plan containing a second flight path;
determine whether the second flight path enters the geographically identified no-fly zone; and
based on whether the second flight path is determined to enter the geographically identified no-fly zone, associate the second flight plan with a second cryptographic signature.
4. The one or more storage devices or storage disks of claim 1 , wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the one or more processors to associate the flight plan with the cryptographic signature by signing a data object that includes the flight plan with the cryptographic signature.
5. The one or more storage devices or storage disks of claim 1 , wherein the one or more storage devices or storage disks include memory of the unmanned aerial vehicle, and the instructions, when executed, cause the one or more processors to store the geographically identified no-fly zone and the cryptographic signature in a protected area of the memory.
6. The one or more storage devices or storage disks of claim 1 , wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the one or more processors to annotate the flight plan with one or more policies, the policies associated with one or more points on the flight path, the one or more policies including at least one of: a first policy that restricts the usage of cameras by the unmanned aerial vehicle, a second policy that restricts an altitude at which the unmanned aerial vehicle is permitted to fly, a third policy that restricts a range of flight of the unmanned aerial vehicle, or a fourth policy that limits a speed at which the unmanned aerial vehicle is permitted to fly.
7. The one or more storage devices or storage disks of claim 6 , wherein the flight plan is annotated with the first policy at a first point on the flight path, and the instructions, when executed, cause the one or more processors to enforce the first policy by shutting off a camera when the unmanned aerial vehicle is at the first point in the flight path.
8. The one or more storage devices or storage disks of claim 1 , wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the one or more processors to:
establish a connection to a server; and
access the server to identify the geographically identified no-fly zone.
9. The one or more storage devices or storage disks of claim 1 , wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the one or more processors to:
determine an age associated with data identifying the geographically identified no-fly zone; and
determine whether the age of the data is less than an age threshold.
10. The one or more storage devices or storage disks of claim 1 , wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the one or more processors to control the unmanned aerial vehicle by at least one of autonomous flight or user-controlled flight.
11. An unmanned aerial vehicle, comprising:
one or more processors;
memory including computer-executable instructions that, when executed, cause the one or more processors to at least:
access a server to obtain a flight plan for the unmanned aerial vehicle, the flight plan including a flight path over a geographic area;
compare the flight path to a geographically identified no-fly zone; and
when the flight path does not enter the geographically identified no-fly zone, associate the flight plan with a cryptographic signature.
12. The unmanned aerial vehicle of claim 11 , wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the one or more processors to execute the flight plan after verifying the cryptographic signature.
13. The unmanned aerial vehicle of claim 12 , wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the one or more processors to:
determine an obstacle has been detected;
based on the detected obstacle, calculate a second flight plan including a second flight path;
determine whether the second flight path enters the geographically identified no-fly zone; and
based on whether the second flight path is determined to enter the geographically identified no-fly zone, associate the second flight plan with a second cryptographic signature.
14. The unmanned aerial vehicle of claim 11 , wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the one or more processors to associate the flight plan with the cryptographic signature by signing a data object that includes the flight plan with the cryptographic signature.
15. The unmanned aerial vehicle of claim 11 , wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the one or more processors to:
create a protected area in an address space of the memory; and
store at least one of (i) data identifying coordinates of the geographically identified no-fly zone or (ii) the cryptographic signature in the protected area in the address space of the memory.
16. The unmanned aerial vehicle of claim 15 , wherein the computer-executable instructions are stored in the protected area in the address space of the memory.
17. The unmanned aerial vehicle of claim 11 , wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the one or more processors to: annotate one or more points on the flight plan with one or more policies, the one or more policies associated with one or more points along the flight path, and the one or more policies including at least one of: a first policy restricting the usage of cameras by the unmanned aerial vehicle, a second policy restricting an altitude of the unmanned aerial vehicle, a third policy restricting a range of travel of the unmanned aerial vehicle, or a fourth policy limiting a speed of the unmanned aerial vehicle.
18. The unmanned aerial vehicle of claim 17 , wherein the flight plan is annotated with the first policy at a first point on the flight path, and the instructions, when executed, cause the one or more processors to enforce the first policy by shutting off a camera when the unmanned aerial vehicle is at the first point in the flight path.
19. The unmanned aerial vehicle of claim 11 , wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the one or more processors to:
access a local storage of the unmanned aerial vehicle to obtain encrypted coordinates of the geographically identified no-fly zone; and
decrypt the encrypted coordinates to obtain the geographically identified no-fly zone.
20. The unmanned aerial vehicle of claim 11 , wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the one or more processors to control the unmanned aerial vehicle by at least one of autonomous flight or user-controlled flight.