SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR FACILITATING IN-FLIGHT RECHARGING OF UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES
In some embodiments, methods and systems are provided that provide for the recharging of UAVs having a low battery while the UAVs are in-flight. The system monitors battery status of the UAVs when the UAVs are performing a flight mission, detects when the battery power of a UAV is depleted such that a battery recharge is needed, determines which battery charging source to deploy to recharge the UAV while the UAV is airborne, and facilitates the coupling of the UAV and the charging source such that the battery of the UAV is recharged, which enables the UAV to continue its flight mission while being coupled to the charging source.
1 . A system for facilitating in-air recharging of unmanned aerial vehicles, the system comprising:
at least one unmanned aerial vehicle configured to perform a flight mission including taking off from a deployment station, transporting at least one product to at least one delivery destination, and returning to the deployment station;
a computing device including a processor-based control circuit and configured for communication with the at least one unmanned aerial vehicle over a network, the computing device being configured to:
receive, from the at least one unmanned aerial vehicle, at least one sensor input associated with a status of the at least one unmanned aerial vehicle during the flight mission;
determine, based on an analysis by the computing device of the at least one sensor input received from the at least one unmanned aerial vehicle, that the at least one unmanned aerial vehicle does not have sufficient battery power to complete the flight mission;
identify, after the determination by the computing device that the at least one unmanned aerial vehicle does not have sufficient battery power to complete the flight mission, a charging source having available power sufficient to recharge the battery power of the at least one unmanned aerial vehicle such that the at least one unmanned aerial vehicle is able to complete the flight mission; and
transmit a guiding signal from the computing device to the unmanned aerial vehicle over the network, the guiding signal being configured to guide the unmanned aerial vehicle toward an in-air charging location, where the charging source is permitted to couple to the unmanned aerial vehicle in order to recharge the battery power of the unmanned aerial vehicle;
wherein the charging source and the unmanned aerial vehicle remain coupled during travel of the unmanned aerial vehicle along at least a portion of the flight mission between the in-air charging location and the at least one delivery destination in order to enable the unmanned aerial vehicle to continue travelling along the flight mission while being coupled to and recharged by the charging source.
2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the computing device is further configured to receive, from the at least one unmanned aerial vehicle, at least one sensor input comprising: battery status of the unmanned aerial vehicle, predicted flight range of the unmanned aerial vehicle until all battery power is depleted, mission status of the unmanned aerial vehicle, and global positioning system (GPS) coordinates of the unmanned aerial vehicle.
3 . The system of claim 1 , further comprising an electronic database in communication with the computing device and the at least one unmanned aerial vehicle over the network, the electronic database being configured to receive and store electronic data obtained by the at least one sensor of the at least one unmanned aerial vehicle, and to store electronic data indicating charging sources available to recharge the at least one unmanned aerial vehicle.
4 . The system of claim 3 , wherein the computing device is configured to obtain, from the electronic database and over the network, the electronic data obtained by the at least one sensor of the at least one unmanned aerial vehicle, and the electronic data indicating charging sources available to recharge the at least one unmanned aerial vehicle.
5 . The system of claim 4 , wherein the computing device is configured to analyze the electronic data obtained from the database and to select, from the charging sources indicated in the database, a charging source having both the available power sufficient to recharge battery power of the at least one unmanned aerial vehicle such that the at least one unmanned aerial vehicle is able to complete the flight mission and a recharging device complementary to the at least one unmanned aerial vehicle, and wherein the computing device is configured to determine a time interval during which the charging source is to be coupled to the unmanned aerial vehicle during the travel of the unmanned aerial vehicle along the at least a portion of the flight mission between the in-air-charging location and the at least one delivery destination.
6 . The system of claim 1 , herein the identified charging source comprises: a second unmanned aerial vehicle; an autonomous ground vehicle, a manned ground vehicle, a manned aerial vehicle, a mobile relay station, and power lines.
7 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the computing device is configured to determine global positioning system (GPS) coordinates of the in-air charging location, and to indicate, in the guiding signal, the global positioning system (GPS) coordinates of the determined in-air charging location.
8 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the computing device is further configured to transmit the guiding signal from the computing device to the identified charging source over the network, the guiding signal being configured to guide the charging source toward the in-air charging location, and wherein the guiding signal includes electronic data indicating how much power the identified charging source is to transfer to the at least one unmanned aerial vehicle.
9 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the charging source is configured to recharge the at least one unmanned aerial vehicle via at least one of: magnetic cable coupling, battery swap, RF induction, light induction on photocells, thermal transfer, laser induction, and physical coupling of the identified charging source to the unmanned aerial vehicle.
10 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the identified charging source is configured to directly power the at least one unmanned aerial vehicle without recharging the battery power of the unmanned aerial vehicle.
11 . A method for facilitating in-air recharging of unmanned aerial vehicles, the method comprising:
providing at least one unmanned aerial vehicle configured to perform a flight mission including taking off from a deployment station, transporting at least one product to at least one delivery destination, and returning to the deployment station;
providing a computing device including a processor-based control circuit and configured for communication with the at least one unmanned aerial vehicle over a network;
receiving, at the computing device and from the at least one unmanned aerial vehicle, at least one sensor input associated with a status of the at least one unmanned aerial vehicle during the flight mission;
determining, by the computing device and based on an analysis by the computing device of the at least one sensor input received from the at least one unmanned aerial vehicle, that the at least one unmanned aerial vehicle does not have sufficient battery power to complete the flight mission;
identifying, by the computing device and after the determination by the computing device that the at least one unmanned aerial vehicle does not have sufficient battery power to complete the flight mission, a charging source having available power sufficient to recharge the battery power of the at least one unmanned aerial vehicle such that the at least one unmanned aerial vehicle is able to complete the flight mission; and
transmitting a guiding signal from the computing device to the unmanned aerial vehicle over the network, the guiding signal being configured to guide the unmanned aerial vehicle toward an in-air charging location;
permitting the charging source to couple to the unmanned aerial vehicle in order to recharge the battery power of the unmanned aerial vehicle;
after the charging source couples to the unmanned aerial vehicle, permitting travel of the unmanned aerial vehicle, while being coupled to the charging source, along at least a portion of the flight mission between the in-air charging location and the at least one delivery destination in order to enable the unmanned aerial vehicle to continue travelling along the flight mission while being coupled to and recharged by the charging source.
12 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the receiving step further comprises receiving, at the computing device and from the at least one unmanned aerial vehicle, at least one sensor input comprising: battery status of the unmanned aerial vehicle, predicted flight range of the unmanned aerial vehicle until all battery power is depleted, mission status of the unmanned aerial vehicle, and global positioning system (GPS) coordinates of the unmanned aerial vehicle.
13 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising an electronic database in communication with the computing device and the at least one unmanned aerial vehicle over the network, the electronic database being configured to receive and store electronic data obtained by the at least one sensor of the at least one unmanned aerial vehicle, and to store electronic data indicating charging sources available to recharge the at least one unmanned aerial vehicle.
14 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the identifying step further comprises obtaining from the electronic database, by the computing device and over the network, the electronic data obtained by the at least one sensor of the at least one unmanned aerial vehicle, and the electronic data indicating charging sources available to recharge the at least one unmanned aerial vehicle.
15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the identifying step further comprises analyzing, by the computing device, the electronic data obtained from the database, and selecting, from the charging sources indicated in the database, a charging source having both the available power sufficient to recharge battery power of the at least one unmanned aerial vehicle such that the at least one unmanned aerial vehicle is able to complete the flight mission and a recharging device complementary to the at least one unmanned aerial vehicle, and further comprising determining, via the computing device, a time interval during which the charging source is to be coupled to the unmanned aerial vehicle during the travel of the unmanned aerial vehicle along the at least a portion of the flight mission between the in-air charging location and the at least one delivery destination.
16 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the identified charging source comprises: a second unmanned aerial vehicle; an autonomous ground vehicle, a manned ground vehicle, a manned aerial vehicle, a mobile relay station, and power lines.
17 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the transmitting step further comprises determining, by the computing device, global positioning system (GPS) coordinates of the in-air charging location, and indicating, in the guiding signal, the global positioning system (GPS) coordinates of the determined in-air charging location.
18 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the transmitting step transmitting the guiding signal from the computing device to the identified charging source over the network, the guiding signal being configured to guide the charging source toward the in-air charging location, and wherein the guiding signal includes electronic data indicating how much power the identified charging source is to transfer to the at least one unmanned aerial vehicle.
19 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising recharging the at least one unmanned aerial vehicle by the identified charging source via at least one of: magnetic cable coupling, battery swap, RF induction, light induction on photocells, thermal transfer, laser induction, and physical coupling of the identified charging source to the unmanned aerial vehicle.
20 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising directly powering the unmanned aerial vehicle via the identified charging source without recharging the battery power of the at least one unmanned aerial vehicle.