US 11,745,899 B2
Adhoc geo-fiducial mats for landing UAVs
Damien Jourdan, San Jose, CA (US); Anthony Sekine, San Jose, CA (US); Scott Velez, Redwood City, CA (US); and André Prager, Sunnyvale, CA (US)
Assigned to WING Aviation LLC, Mountain View, CA (US)
Filed by WING Aviation LLC, Mountain View, CA (US)
Filed on Oct. 26, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/974,164.
Application 17/974,164 is a continuation of application No. 16/818,799, filed on Mar. 13, 2020, granted, now 11,511,885.
Prior Publication US 2023/0054875 A1, Feb. 23, 2023
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. B64F 1/18 (2006.01); B64C 39/02 (2023.01); B64F 1/36 (2017.01); B64U 10/25 (2023.01)
CPC B64F 1/18 (2013.01) [B64C 39/024 (2013.01); B64F 1/362 (2013.01); B64U 10/25 (2023.01)] 21 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An apparatus for visual navigation of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), the apparatus comprising:
a geo-fiducial mat including:
a landing pad region that provides a location for aligning with a landing pad of the UAV; and
alignment markings disposed on the geo-fiducial mat for indicating the landing pad region and aiding alignment of the landing pad to the landing pad region; and
a plurality of geo-fiducials disposed in or about the landing pad region and each specified for a unique directional and offset position on the geo-fiducial mat, wherein the geo-fiducials each includes a two-dimensional (2D) pattern that visually conveys a code, wherein the 2D pattern of each of the geo-fiducials has a shape from which an optical navigation system of the UAV can visually triangulate a position of the UAV.