Granted Patent B1

US 12,205,483 · App. 18/341,312 · Granted Jan 21, 2025

Inventors: Yibo Cao (Beijing, CN); Chong Huang (Goleta, CA); Dawei Li (San Jose, CA); Yang Liu (Saratoga, CA); Kah Kuen Fu (Cupertino, CA)

Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc.

G08G5/0069B64U10/13G08G5/0078B64U2101/70

Abstract

Claims (86)

1. An unmanned aerial vehicle comprising:

one or more sensors, wherein the one or more sensors include a LIDAR sensor;

a plurality of propulsion motors, wherein each of the propulsion motors is configured to rotate a propeller at one or more rotational speeds;

one or more processors; and

one or more computer-readable media having computer-executable instructions stored on the one or more computer-readable media,

wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the unmanned aerial vehicle to perform operations comprising:

detecting, based on sensor data generated by the one or more sensors, an object in a flight path of the unmanned aerial vehicle;

receiving, from the LIDAR sensor, data comprising a plurality of distance measurements, wherein each of the distance measurements is associated with an angle about a sensor axis, and wherein the sensor axis is parallel to a yaw axis of the unmanned aerial vehicle;

determining, based at least in part on the LIDAR data, a plurality of LIDAR bins, wherein each of the plurality of LIDAR bins is associated with one of a plurality of angular sectors, and wherein each of the plurality of LIDAR bins comprises a set of the distance measurements associated with angles about the sensor axis within one of the plurality of angular sectors;

determining, for each of the plurality of angular sectors, a minimum distance measurement of the set of the distance measurements within that one of the plurality of angular sectors;

defining a first set of the plurality of angular sectors, wherein each of the angular sectors of the first set is adjacent to another of the angular sectors of the first set, and wherein each of the angular sectors of the first set has a minimum distance measurement greater than a threshold; and

causing the unmanned aerial vehicle to decelerate in a direction associated with the first set of the plurality of angular sectors.

2. The unmanned aerial vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the first set of the plurality of angular sectors subtends an angle, and

wherein the direction bisects the angle subtended by the first set of the plurality of angular sectors.

3. The unmanned aerial vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise:

determining a first position in a first coordinate system based at least in part on the angular sectors of the first set,

wherein the direction is associated with the first position.

4. A method comprising:

detecting an object in a flight path of an aerial vehicle, wherein the object is detected by at least one processor provided aboard the aerial vehicle based at least in part on sensor data generated by at least one of a plurality of sensors provided aboard the aerial vehicle;

determining a first set of distance measurements around the aerial vehicle, wherein each of the first set of distance measurements is determined by the at least one processor based at least in part on data generated by at least one of the plurality of sensors;

defining a plurality of sectors around at least a portion of the aerial vehicle, wherein each of the plurality of sectors includes at least one of the first set of distance measurements;

determining that a first distance measurement of a first sector of the plurality of sectors satisfies a first threshold;

determining that a second distance measurement of a second sector of the plurality of sectors satisfies the first threshold, wherein the second sector is adjacent to the first sector;

defining a first set of sectors, wherein the first set of sectors comprises the first sector and the second sector; and

causing the aerial vehicle to decelerate in a direction associated with the first set of sectors.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein at least one of the plurality of sensors is a LIDAR sensor having a field of view that is configured to rotate about a sensor axis,

wherein the sensor axis is parallel to a yaw axis of the aerial vehicle, and

wherein each of the first set of distance measurements is determined based at least in part on data generated by the LIDAR sensor.

6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising:

determining, based at least in part on the data generated by the LIDAR sensor, a plurality of LIDAR bins, wherein each of the plurality of LIDAR bins comprises at least some of the first set of distance measurements within one of the plurality of sectors.

7. The method of claim 4 , wherein each of the plurality of sectors subtends an angle of approximately five degrees.

8. The method of claim 4 , wherein the portion of the aerial vehicle defines an angle of approximately one hundred twenty degrees, and

wherein the angle is bisected by an axis opposite the flight path of the aerial vehicle.

9. The method of claim 4 , wherein the first set of sectors further comprises a third sector of the plurality of sectors, and

wherein a third distance measurement of the third sector satisfies the first threshold.

10. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:

determining, for each of the plurality of sectors, a minimum distance measurement of the first set of distance measurements within respective ones of the plurality of sectors,

wherein the first distance measurement is the minimum distance measurement of the first sector, and

wherein the second distance measurement is the minimum distance measurement of the second sector.

11. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:

determining that a third distance measurement of a third sector of the plurality of sectors satisfies the first threshold;

determining that a fourth distance measurement of a fourth sector of the plurality of sectors satisfies the first threshold, wherein the fourth sector is adjacent to the third sector; and

defining a second set of sectors, wherein the second set of sectors comprises the first sector and the second sector.

12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:

determining that a first angle defined by sectors of the first set is greater than a second angle defined by sectors of the second set,

wherein the aerial vehicle is caused to decelerate in the direction associated with the first set of sectors in response to determining that the first angle is greater than the second angle.

13. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:

determining a first number of distance measurements of the sectors of the first set, wherein each of the first number of distance measurements satisfies the first threshold;

determining a second number of distance measurements of the sectors of the second set, wherein each of the second number of distance measurements satisfies the first threshold; and

determining that the first number is greater than the second number,

wherein the aerial vehicle is caused to decelerate in the direction associated with the first set of sectors in response to determining that the first number is greater than the second number.

14. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:

determining a first number of sectors of the first set, wherein each of the sectors of the first set has at least one distance measurement that satisfies the first threshold;

determining a second number of sectors of the second set, wherein each of the sectors of the second set has at least one distance measurement that satisfies the first threshold; and

determining that the first number is greater than the second number,

wherein the aerial vehicle is caused to decelerate in the direction associated with the first set of sectors in response to determining that the first number is greater than the second number.

15. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:

determining a first position in a first coordinate system associated with at least one of the first sector or the second sector,

wherein the direction is associated with the first position.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein causing the aerial vehicle to decelerate in the direction associated with the first set of sectors comprises:

providing at least the first position to a control system of the aerial vehicle.

17. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:

determining a first angle associated with at least one of the first sector or the second sector,

wherein the direction is associated with the first angle.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the first set of sectors comprises a plurality of sectors,

wherein one of the first sector or the second sector is a center sector of the plurality of sectors, and

wherein the first angle is an angle to the center sector of the plurality of sectors.

19. The method of claim 17 , further comprising:

selecting the first distance measurement based on a position of the first distance measurement relative to other distance measurements of sectors of the first set,

wherein the first angle is associated with the first distance measurement.

20. An unmanned aerial vehicle comprising:

a first range sensor, wherein the first range sensor is a LIDAR sensor;

a second range sensor;

a plurality of propulsion motors, wherein each of the propulsion motors is configured to rotate a propeller at one or more rotational speeds;

one or more processors; and

one or more computer-readable media having computer-executable instructions stored on the one or more computer-readable media,

wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the unmanned aerial vehicle to perform operations comprising:

detecting, based on first sensor data generated by one of the first range sensor or the second range sensor, an obstacle in a flight path of the unmanned aerial vehicle,

determining, based on second sensor data generated by the first range sensor, a plurality of distance measurements around the unmanned aerial vehicle,

defining a first sector corresponding to a first set of the plurality of distance measurements, wherein the first set of the plurality of distance measurements comprises a first distance measurement and a second distance measurement; and

determining that at least one of the first distance measurement or the second distance measurement does not satisfy a first threshold,

in response to determining that the first magnitude value associated with the first connected area does not satisfy the first threshold,

defining a second sector corresponding to a second set of the plurality of distance measurements, wherein the second set of the plurality of distance measurements comprises a third distance measurement and a fourth distance measurement; and

determining that each of the third distance measurement and the fourth distance measurement is greater than a second threshold; and

in response to determining that each of the third distance measurement and the fourth distance measurement is greater than the second threshold,

causing the unmanned aerial vehicle to decelerate in a direction of the second sector.

Assignments (1)

References Cited (400)

Cited By (4)

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