US 11,869,371 B2
Unmanned aerial vehicle traffic management apparatus, takeoff and landing facility management apparatus, unmanned aerial vehicle traffic management method, and unmanned aerial vehicle system
Jin Kusumi, Tokyo (JP); Norihisa Miyake, Tokyo (JP); and Hayato Mizukami, Tokyo (JP)
Assigned to Rakuten Group, Inc., Tokyo (JP)
Appl. No. 16/652,492
Filed by Rakuten Group, Inc., Tokyo (JP)
PCT Filed Nov. 9, 2018, PCT No. PCT/JP2018/041624
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Mar. 31, 2020,
PCT Pub. No. WO2020/095430, PCT Pub. Date May 14, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2021/0225178 A1, Jul. 22, 2021
Int. Cl. G08G 5/00 (2006.01); B64C 39/02 (2023.01); G08G 5/02 (2006.01)
CPC G08G 5/0069 (2013.01) [B64C 39/024 (2013.01); G08G 5/0039 (2013.01); G08G 5/0056 (2013.01); G08G 5/02 (2013.01)] 11 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An unmanned aerial vehicle traffic management apparatus, comprising:
at least one memory configured to store program code; and
at least one processor configured to access the program code and operate as instructed by the program code, the program code including:
information acquisition code configured to cause at least one of the at least one processor to acquire position information indicating a flight position of an unmanned aerial vehicle;
information management code configured to cause at least one of the at least one processor to manage at least the position information indicating the flight position of the unmanned aerial vehicle as information confidential to an outside agent to the unmanned aerial vehicle traffic management apparatus except for a time of emergency;
traffic processing code configured to cause at least one of the at least one processor to perform processing related to traffic management of the unmanned aerial vehicle;
request reception code configured to cause at least one of the at least one processor to receive, from a takeoff and landing facility management apparatus, a first request for information of the unmanned aerial vehicle that asks for an emergency landing at a takeoff and landing facility; and
transmission control code configured to cause at least one of the at least one processor to perform transmission control of aircraft information such that the aircraft information including the position information indicating the flight position of the unmanned aerial vehicle that asks for the emergency landing is provided to the takeoff and landing facility management apparatus in response to the first request from the takeoff and landing facility management apparatus in a case where the unmanned aerial vehicle that asks for the emergency landing is in an emergency state wherein the emergency state is defined as a state of malfunction of a drive system or a power supply system in the unmanned aerial vehicle,
wherein the emergency state is self-diagnosed using input from at least one sensor in the unmanned aerial vehicle, and
wherein in a case where the unmanned aerial vehicle that asks for the emergency landing is in the emergency state, the traffic processing code causes at least one of the at least one processor to change a flight plan of a second unmanned aerial vehicle that has reserved the takeoff and landing facility based on the second unmanned aerial vehicle being within a predetermined distance from the takeoff and landing facility when the unmanned aerial vehicle asks for the emergency landing.