US 11,972,691 B2
Autonomous aerial vehicle flight management
Stefan Manuel Neis, Bensheim (DE); Sebastian Michael Sprengart, Darmstadt (DE); and Robert Lowell Rosenau, Aurora, CO (US)
Assigned to The Boeing Company, Chicago, IL (US)
Filed by The Boeing Company, Chicago, IL (US)
Filed on Oct. 25, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/452,205.
Claims priority of provisional application 63/106,233, filed on Oct. 27, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2022/0130263 A1, Apr. 28, 2022
Int. Cl. G08G 5/00 (2006.01); B64D 43/00 (2006.01); G05D 1/00 (2006.01)
CPC G08G 5/0039 (2013.01) [B64D 43/00 (2013.01); G05D 1/101 (2013.01)] 36 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An autonomous aircraft management system comprising:
a computer system;
a mission manager in the computer system, wherein the mission manager is configured to:
store a copy of a mission plan in a mission work queue, wherein the mission plan is located in an autonomous aerial vehicle and comprises mission components that define tasks performed by the autonomous aerial vehicle;
receive a change to the mission components in the copy of the mission plan in the mission work queue to form a modified mission component in the copy of the mission plan in the mission work queue;
determine that the copy of the mission plan including the modified mission component can be executed by the autonomous aerial vehicle; and
synchronize the copy of the mission plan including the modified mission component with the mission plan in the autonomous aerial vehicle such that the mission plan includes the modified mission component; and
a human machine interface configured to:
display a graphical user interface;
display the mission work queue in the graphical user interface;
display the mission components in the mission work queue in a sequential order relative to a timeline; and
display work items for a human operator to perform in the mission work queue in the sequential order relative to the timeline,
wherein the mission manager is configured to:
receive a vehicle modified mission component for the mission plan from the autonomous aerial vehicle;
display a new work item in the mission work queue in a location within the work items in the sequential order relative to the timeline in the mission work queue in which the location of the new work item is based on an importance of the vehicle modified mission component and in which the new work item is a task in the tasks for determining whether to approve using the vehicle modified mission component;
send a confirmation to the autonomous aerial vehicle to execute the mission plan with the vehicle modified mission component when the vehicle modified mission component is approved; and
display the vehicle modified mission component in the mission work queue when the confirmation has been received by the autonomous aerial vehicle.