Incremental position-based guidance for a UAV

1. A method comprising:

receiving a flight plan comprising a plurality of waypoints, a plurality of path segments connecting the plurality of waypoints in an order of execution, and, for each waypoint, information indicating a corresponding activity to be performed by an unmanned aerial vehicle at the waypoint;

determining actual flight instructions for controlling flight of the unmanned aerial vehicle between the plurality of waypoints based on the received flight plan, a predetermined set of operating parameters associated with the unmanned aerial vehicle, and an iterative analysis of a plurality of ordered triples, wherein each ordered triple comprises a most recent prior waypoint and its corresponding waypoint activity, a next waypoint and its corresponding waypoint activity, and a waypoint after the next waypoint and its corresponding waypoint activity; and

sending the actual flight instructions to at least one processor of the unmanned aerial vehicle configured to implement one or more portions of the actual flight instructions.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the activities to be performed by the unmanned aerial vehicle at a waypoint comprise one or more of taking off from the waypoint, flying by the waypoint, hovering near the waypoint, flying over the waypoint, or landing at the waypoint.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining actual flight instructions comprises determining, for each path segment of the plurality of path segments connecting the plurality of waypoints, at least one of an acceleration segment, a cruise segment, a deceleration segment, a begin turn segment, and an end turn segment.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the predetermined set of operating parameters associated with the unmanned aerial vehicle comprises a maximum acceleration parameter, a maximum deceleration parameter, a maximum velocity parameter, and a minimum turn radius parameter, and wherein the actual flight instructions do not exceed any of the operating parameters.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining actual flight instructions comprises solving for a position and velocity as a function of time for the unmanned aerial vehicle based on the received flight plan, the predetermined set of operating parameters, and the iterative analysis of the plurality of ordered triples.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising generating an error message when the received flight plan would cause the unmanned aerial vehicle to exceed one or more of the operating parameters by a predetermined threshold.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein sending the actual flight instructions comprises sending the actual flight instructions from a ground control station associated with the unmanned aerial vehicle to a processor on the unmanned aerial vehicle.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein sending the actual flight instructions comprises sending the actual flight instructions from a central processor on the unmanned aerial vehicle to one or more other processors on the unmanned aerial vehicle.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving an adjusted flight plan, wherein the adjusted flight plan comprises a plurality of waypoints and a plurality of path segments connecting the plurality of waypoints in an order of execution, and, for each waypoint, information indicating corresponding activity to be performed by the unmanned aerial vehicle at the waypoint;

determining adjusted actual flight instructions for the unmanned aerial vehicle based on the received adjusted flight plan, the predetermined set of operating parameters associated with the unmanned aerial vehicle, and a second iterative analysis of a second plurality of ordered triples, wherein each ordered triple of the second plurality of ordered triples comprises a most recent prior waypoint and its corresponding waypoint activity, a next waypoint and its corresponding waypoint activity, and a waypoint after the next waypoint and its corresponding waypoint activity; and

sending the adjusted actual flight instructions to at least one processor of the unmanned aerial vehicle configured to implement one or more portions of the adjusted actual flight instructions.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein sending the actual flight instructions to at least one processor of the unmanned aerial vehicle comprises sending a first set of actual flight instructions to at least one processor of the unmanned aerial vehicle and a second set of actual flight instructions to the at least one processor of the unmanned aerial vehicle.

11. A system comprising:

an unmanned aerial vehicle; and

a processor configured to:

receive a flight plan comprising a plurality of waypoints and a plurality of path segments connecting the plurality of waypoints in an order of execution, and information about a corresponding activity to be performed by the unmanned aerial vehicle at each of the waypoints; and

determine actual flight instructions for controlling flight of the unmanned aerial vehicle between the plurality of waypoints based on the received flight plan, a predetermined set of operating parameters associated with the unmanned aerial vehicle, and an iterative analysis of a plurality of ordered triples, wherein each ordered triple comprises a most recent prior waypoint and its corresponding waypoint activity, a next waypoint and its corresponding waypoint activity, and a waypoint after the next waypoint and its corresponding waypoint activity;

wherein the unmanned aerial vehicle configured to execute the actual flight instructions.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the processor is configured to determine actual flight instructions by at least determining, for each path segment of the plurality of path segments connecting the plurality of waypoints, at least one of an acceleration segment, a cruise segment, a deceleration segment, a begin turn segment, and an end turn segment.

13. The system of claim 11 , wherein the predetermined set of associated operating parameters comprises a maximum acceleration parameter, a maximum deceleration parameter, a maximum velocity parameter, and a minimum turn radius parameter, and wherein the actual flight instructions determined by the processor do not exceed any of the operating parameters.

14. The system of claim 11 , wherein the processor is configured to determine actual flight instructions by at least solving for a position and velocity as a function of time based on the received flight plan, the predetermined set of operating parameters, and the iterative analysis of the plurality of ordered triples.

15. A ground control station for an unmanned aerial vehicle, the ground control station comprising:

a transceiver unit; and

a processor configured to:

receive a flight plan comprising a plurality of waypoints and a plurality of path segments connecting the plurality of waypoints in an order of execution, and information about a corresponding activity to be performed by the unmanned aerial vehicle at each of the waypoints;

determine actual flight instructions for controlling flight of the unmanned aerial vehicle between the plurality of waypoints based on the received flight plan, a predetermined set of operating parameters associated with the unmanned aerial vehicle, and an iterative analysis of a plurality of ordered triples, wherein each ordered triple comprises a most recent prior waypoint and its corresponding waypoint activity, a next waypoint and its corresponding waypoint activity, and a waypoint after the next waypoint and its corresponding waypoint activity; and

initiate transmission of the actual flight instructions to the unmanned aerial vehicle via the transceiver unit.

16. The ground control station of claim 15 , wherein the processor is configured to determine actual flight instructions by at least determining, for each path segment of the plurality of path segments connecting the plurality of waypoints, at least one of an acceleration segment, a cruise segment, a deceleration segment, a begin turn segment, and an end turn segment.

17. The ground control station of claim 15 , wherein the predetermined set of associated operating parameters comprises a maximum acceleration parameter, a maximum deceleration parameter, a maximum velocity parameter, and a minimum turn radius parameter, and wherein the actual flight instructions determined by the processor do not exceed any of the operating parameters.

18. The ground control station of claim 15 , wherein the processor is configured to determine actual flight instructions by at least solving for a position and velocity as a function of time based on the received flight plan, the predetermined set of operating parameters, and the iterative analysis of the plurality of ordered triples.

19. The method of claim 1 , wherein each ordered triple corresponds to at least one path segment of the plurality of path segments.

20. The system of claim 11 , wherein each ordered triple corresponds to at least one path segment of the plurality of path segments.