US 11,873,116 B2
Automated docking of unmanned aerial vehicle
Yevgeniy Kozlenko, Mountain View, CA (US); Jack Zhu, San Francisco, CA (US); Gareth Benoit Cross, San Carlos, CA (US); Teodor Tomic, Redwood City, CA (US); Adam Bry, Redwood City, CA (US); and Abraham Galton Bachrach, Redwood City, CA (US)
Assigned to Skydio, Inc., San Mateo, CA (US)
Filed by Skydio, Inc., Redwood City, CA (US)
Filed on Aug. 12, 2020, as Appl. No. 16/991,122.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/915,639, filed on Oct. 15, 2019.
Prior Publication US 2021/0107682 A1, Apr. 15, 2021
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. B64F 1/22 (2006.01); B64D 45/08 (2006.01); B64F 1/18 (2006.01); B64C 39/02 (2023.01); B64U 50/19 (2023.01); B64U 80/70 (2023.01)
CPC B64F 1/222 (2013.01) [B64D 45/08 (2013.01); B64F 1/18 (2013.01); B64C 39/024 (2013.01); B64U 50/19 (2023.01); B64U 80/70 (2023.01); B64U 2201/10 (2023.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A system comprising:
an unmanned aerial vehicle including a propulsion mechanism, an image sensor, and a processing apparatus; and
a dock including a landing surface, wherein the landing surface is movable along a generally horizontal axis of movement and the unmanned aerial vehicle approaches the dock in a generally vertical landing direction, the landing surface being configured to hold the unmanned aerial vehicle and including a fiducial, wherein the processing apparatus is configured to:
control the propulsion mechanism to cause the unmanned aerial vehicle to fly to a first location in a vicinity of the dock;
access one or more images captured using the image sensor;
detect the fiducial in at least one of the one or more images;
determine a pose of the fiducial based on the one or more images; and
control, based on the pose of the fiducial, the propulsion mechanism to cause the unmanned aerial vehicle to land on the landing surface.