Air transportation systems and methods
View Patent ↗Systems and methods are disclosed for controlling a vehicle by generating a multi-dimensional model of a vehicle operating in a 3D environment; determining a hand control gesture as captured by a plurality of cameras or sensors in the vehicle, wherein a sequence of finger, palm or hand movements represents a vehicle control request; determining vehicle control options based on the model, a current state of the vehicle and the environment of the vehicle; and controlling the vehicle to operate based on the model and the 3D environment.
1. A method for controlling an air vehicle wherein the air vehicle comprises:
a frame;
one or more air propulsion engines coupled to the frame, wherein at least one air propulsion engine is moveable from a top to a side position;
wheels coupled to the frame to move the frame on the ground, and
a processor, the method comprising:
generating a multi-dimensional model of the vehicle operating in a 3D environment;
determining a hand control gesture as captured by a plurality of cameras or sensors in the vehicle, wherein a sequence of finger, palm or hand movements represents a vehicle control request;
determining vehicle control options based on the model, a current state of the vehicle and the environment of the vehicle; and
controlling the air vehicle to fly based on the model and the 3D environment.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the multi-dimensional model is generated based on LIDAR, radar, and camera images.
3. The method of claim 1 , comprising crowd-sourcing 3D models and generating a high resolution 3D map of a region above the ground.
4. The method of claim 1 , comprising receiving positioning signals from ground tower and coordinating the 3D environment.
5. The method of claim 1 , comprising determining a hand control gesture as captured by a plurality of cameras or sensors in the vehicle.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein a sequence of finger, palm or hand movements represents the vehicle control request.
7. The method of claim 1 , comprising determining vehicle control options based on the model, a current state of the vehicle and the environment of the vehicle; and controlling the vehicle to operate based on the model and the 3D environment.
8. The method of claim 1 , comprising mapping system for an air space includes: a plurality of air vehicles each having a plurality of environmental sensors; a second processor in at least one vehicle or in at least one communication tower (edge processor) to receive sensor data and create a 3D model of the air space from successive air vehicle sensor outputs.
9. The method of claim 1 , comprising providing one or more tower processors and sensors located on one or more 5G towers to provide low latency edge processing capability, including machine learning processors to minimize cost of vehicle.
10. The method of claim 1 , comprising slice processing a network to provide dedicated communications between vehicles.
11. An air vehicle, comprising:
a frame;
one or more air propulsion engines coupled to the frame, wherein at least one air propulsion engine is moveable from a top to a side position;
wheels coupled to the frame to move the frame on the ground; and
a processor to run non-transitory code stored in a computer readable medium to:
generate a multi-dimensional model of the vehicle operating in a 3D environment;
determine a hand control gesture as captured by a plurality of cameras or sensors in the vehicle, wherein a sequence of finger, palm or hand movements represents a vehicle control request;
determine vehicle control options based on the model, a current state of the vehicle and the environment of the vehicle; and
control the vehicle to fly based on the multi-dimensional model and the 3D environment.
12. The vehicle of claim 11 , wherein one of the air propulsion engines comprises a fan at a bottom of the frame.
13. The vehicle of claim 11 , wherein one of the air propulsion engines comprises a fan on a side of the frame.
14. The vehicle of claim 11 , wherein one of the air propulsion engines is foldable or collapsible for street driving.
15. The vehicle of claim 11 , comprising a plurality of adjacent air vehicles each having a plurality of environmental sensors and an edge processor to receive sensor data and create a 3D model of the air space from successive air vehicle sensor outputs.
16. The vehicle of claim 11 , wherein the processor controls the vehicle by: recognizing hand gestures; determining vehicle control options based on the model, a current state of the vehicle and the environment of the vehicle; and controlling the vehicle to operate based on the model and the 3D environment.
17. The vehicle of claim 11 , wherein the processor runs the code to: upload a flight plan to the processor and get authorization; move the vehicle into the air for a vertical takeoff or landing mode; transition the vehicle from the vertical takeoff or landing mode to a forward flight mode; transport the vehicle toward a destination; transition the vehicle from forward flight mode to vertical takeoff or landing mode; and land the vehicle at the destination.
18. The vehicle of claim 11 , comprising a float coupled to the frame for amphibious operation.
19. The vehicle of claim 11 , comprising a moveable actuator coupled to the one or more propulsion engines to move one of the propulsion units between a first position during lift-off and a second position during flight.
20. The vehicle of claim 11 , comprising 5G transceivers receiving operation instructions for the propulsion engines or vehicle operations over low-latency control signals from ground computers to offload processing and sensing from vehicular circuits.