Navigation systems and methods for drones
Example methods, apparatus, systems, and articles of manufacture (e.g., physical storage media) to facilitate flight plan implementation, generation, and management are disclosed. An example method includes receiving flight plan information including a flight route and a listing of base stations, connecting to a first base station on the listing, determining a first transition point between the first base station and a second base station on the listing based on the flight route, determining whether the first transition point has been reached, maintaining the connection with the first base station when the first transition point has not been reached, transitioning the connection from the first base station to the second base station when the first transition point has been reached, and/or dropping signals received from base stations not on the listing.
1. A method comprising:
receiving, by a device comprising a processor, first geographic information associated with a geographic region, wherein the geographic region is associated with a starting point and a destination point, and wherein the first geographic information comprises at least one of obstacle information, weather information, traffic information, or emergency broadcast information;
navigating the device from the starting point to the destination point based at least in part on the first geographic information; and
maintaining connectivity of the device to a cellular network during the navigating by connecting, for each portion of a flight route from the starting point to the destination point, the device to a respective base station of the cellular network, wherein a flight of the device via the flight route is based at least in part on a priority level associated with a block of a group of blocks in a grid encompassing the flight route.
2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving, by the device, flight plan information comprising the flight route and a listing of base stations, wherein the maintaining comprises connecting, for each portion of the flight route, the device to a respective base station on the listing of base stations.
3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:
receiving, by the device, an indication of a change in the first geographic information, wherein the indication is based at least in part on updated geographic information received by the device from at least one base station of the cellular network; and
deviating, by the device, from the flight route based at least in part on the indication.
4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:
transmitting, by the device, a request to deviate from the flight route; and
receiving, by the device, an authorization to deviate from the flight route, wherein the deviating is in response to the authorization.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least a portion of the first geographic information is received, by the device, as part of a broadcast message from a base station of the cellular network, and wherein the broadcast message comprises a master information block message or a system information block message.
6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining, by the device, second geographic information based at least in part on sensor data acquired by a sensor of the device and the second geographic information.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the maintaining comprises:
selecting a first base station of the cellular network from among a group of base stations of the cellular network based at least in part on the priority level; and
connecting, by the device, the device to the first base station in response to the selecting.
8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the maintaining further comprises:
determining, based at least in part on the first geographic information, a transition point between the first base station and a second base station of the cellular network; and
transitioning a connection from the first base station to the second base station when the transition point has been reached.
9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the transitioning comprises transitioning a directional antenna of the device from pointing at the first base station to pointing at the second base station, and wherein the first geographic information comprises position information associated with the first base station and the second base station.
10. A device, comprising:
one or more processors; and
a non-transitory machine readable medium comprising instructions stored therein, which when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations, wherein the operations comprise:
receiving information indicative of a route, a listing of base stations along the route, and first geographic information associated with the route, wherein the first geographic information comprises at least one of obstacle information, weather information, traffic information, or emergency broadcast information;
navigating over the route based at least in part on the first geographic information and the listing of base stations, wherein the navigating is based on a priority level associated with at least one of a group of blocks represented in a grid comprising the route;
connecting, for each portion of the route, the device to a respective base station included in the listing of base stations; and
maintaining, based on the connecting, connectivity of the device to network equipment during the navigating.
11. The device of claim 10 , wherein the operations further comprise determining second geographic information based on sensor data acquired by a sensor of the device, and wherein the navigating is further based on the second geographic information.
12. The device of claim 10 , wherein at least one base station included in the listing of base stations is associated with the priority level.
13. The device of claim 10 , wherein the operations further comprise:
transmitting a request to adjust the route based on data detected by a sensor of the device;
receiving an authorization to adjust the route based on the request; and
adjusting the route in response to receiving the authorization.
14. The device of claim 10 , wherein the operations further comprise:
configuring the device not to connect to base stations that are not included in the listing of base stations; and
determining that a base station is not included in the listing of base stations based on an identifier contained in a signal received from the base station.
15. A non-transitory machine readable storage medium including machine readable instructions which, when executed, cause one or more processors of a drone to perform operations, wherein the operations comprise:
receiving flight plan information comprising a flight route and a listing of base stations along the flight route;
navigating the drone over the flight route based at least in part on geographic information associated with a geographic region, wherein the geographic region is associated with the flight route, and wherein the geographic information comprises at least one of obstacle information, weather information, traffic information, or emergency broadcast information, wherein the navigating is based at least in part on a priority level associated with at least one of a plurality of blocks of a grid representing the flight route; and
during the navigating:
connecting to a first base station on the listing of base stations;
determining a transition point between the first base station and a second base station on the listing of base stations; and
transitioning a connection of the drone from the first base station to the second base station when or after the transition point has been reached.
16. The non-transitory machine readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein a first portion of the geographic information is received by the drone as part of a broadcast message from the first base station, and wherein a second portion of the geographic information is from sensor data acquired by a sensor of the drone.
17. The non-transitory machine readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein at least one base station on the listing of base stations is associated with the priority level.
18. The non-transitory machine readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the operations further comprise:
receiving an indication of a change in the geographic information, wherein the indication is based at least in part on updated geographic information received from at least one of the base stations; and
deviating from the flight route based at least in part on the indication.
19. The non-transitory machine readable storage medium of claim 18 , wherein the operations further comprise:
transmitting a request to deviate from the flight route; and
receiving an authorization to deviate from the flight route, wherein the deviating is in response to the authorization.
20. The non-transitory machine readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein at least a portion of the geographic information is received as part of a broadcast message from a base station of the base stations, and wherein the broadcast message comprises a master information block message or a system information block message.