Method and system for emulating modular agnostic control of commercial unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVS)

1. A method for emulating control signals for controlling an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), comprising:

using an integrated circuit installed on the UAV and communicatively coupled to a flight control processor and a companion processor for:

receiving flight control parameters from the companion processor, the flight control parameters based on data from a plurality of sensors communicatively coupled to the companion processor and mounted on the UAV;

wirelessly receiving remote control signals from a remote control unit;

modulating the flight control parameters to create emulated signals emulating signals generated by a remote control configured to wirelessly control the UAV, the emulated signals encoding instructions to maneuver the UAV; and

switching between the remote control signals and the emulated signals during a flight time of the UAV,

wherein the switching is performed based on at least one of a set of rules and a classifier for controlling which of the remote control signals and the emulated signals are provided to the primary flight control processor.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the emulated signals and the remote control signals are multi-channel signals comprising channels encoding at least some of the following: a roll value, a pitch value, a throttle value, a yaw value, a camera-pitch value, a flight mode value, a mission-specific trigger value, and safety override channel value.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising processing outputs of at least one of the plurality of sensors; wherein the switching is performed according to an outcome of the processing.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the emulated signals are modulated as SBUS signals.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the emulated signals are modulated using pulse-position modulation (PPM).

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the emulated signals encode instructions for controlling UAV payloads.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the flight control parameters are encoded as an Inter-Integrated Circuit (I 2 C) signal.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the integrated circuit is a central field-programmable gate array (FPGA).

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the emulated signals encode instructions for landing the UAV.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the emulated signals encode instructions for navigating the UAV to a predefined location.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the emulated signals encode instructions generated according to the remote control signals.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the switching is performed when the remote control signals are not received for longer than a predefined period.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the switching is performed when the remote control signals are indicative of a landing command.

14. The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving instructions via a secondary channel input; wherein the switching comprises receiving from the integrated circuit additional emulated signals adapted to control the flight of the UAV for performing a predefined operation.

15. An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), comprising:

a flight control processor;

a companion processor;

a receiver adapted to receive flight control parameters from the companion processor, the flight control parameters are based on data from a plurality of sensors communicatively coupled to the companion processor and mounted on the UAV; and

an integrated circuit communicatively coupled to the flight control processor, the receiver and the companion processor, the integrated circuit having:

a wireless receiver adapted to receive a remote control signal from a remote control unit;

a modulator adapted to modulate the flight control parameters to create an emulated signal emulating a signal generated by a remote control configured to wirelessly control the UAV, the emulated signal encodes instructions to maneuver the UAV; and

a switch adapted to switch between the remote control signal and the emulated signal during a flight time of the UAV;

wherein the switch is adapted to switch between the remote control signal and the emulated signal based on at least one of a set of rules and a classifier for controlling which of the remote control signals and the emulated signals are provided to the primary flight control processor.

16. An integrated circuit for an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), comprising:

an input adapted to receive flight control parameters from a companion processor, the flight control parameters are based on data from a plurality of sensors communicatively coupled to the companion processor and mounted on the UAV;

a modulator adapted to modulate the flight control parameters to create an emulated signal emulating a signal generated by a remote control configured to wirelessly control the UAV, the emulated signal encoding instructions to maneuver the UAV; and

a switch adapted to switch between a remote control signal received from a remote control unit and the emulated signal during a flight time of the UAV;

wherein the switch is adapted to switch between the remote control signal and the emulated signal based on at least one of a set of rules and a classifier for controlling which of the remote control signals and the emulated signals are provided to the primary flight control processor.