US 11,990,051 B2
Flight system, flight route determination method, and flight route determination device
Takahiro Iizuka, Tokyo (JP); Hirofumi Kokubun, Tokyo (JP); and Kenichi Lee, Musashino (JP)
Assigned to Rakuten Group, Inc., Tokyo (JP)
Filed by Rakuten Group, Inc., Tokyo (JP)
Filed on Jul. 23, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/383,598.
Claims priority of application No. 2020-159946 (JP), filed on Sep. 24, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2022/0092990 A1, Mar. 24, 2022
Int. Cl. G08G 5/00 (2006.01); B60L 58/13 (2019.01); B64C 39/02 (2023.01); B64U 50/19 (2023.01); B64U 101/30 (2023.01); G05D 1/00 (2006.01)
CPC G08G 5/006 (2013.01) [B60L 58/13 (2019.02); B64C 39/024 (2013.01); G05D 1/0607 (2013.01); G08G 5/0069 (2013.01); B60L 2200/10 (2013.01); B64U 50/19 (2023.01); B64U 2101/30 (2023.01); B64U 2201/10 (2023.01)] 18 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A flight system comprising:
an aerial vehicle capable of unmanned flight, the aerial vehicle being configured to execute a predetermined task during flight;
a plurality of contact sensors configured to obtain contact sensing data, the plurality of contact sensors comprising a first contact sensor configured to be embedded in ground in advance and perform contact sensing of at least one sensing target of soil or a plant, wherein the plurality of contact sensors correspond respectively to a plurality of areas, and the contact sensing data comprises measurement data;
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 determination code configured to cause at least one processor to:
identify, using the contact sensing data corresponding respectively to the plurality of areas, one or more areas of the plurality of areas in which the predetermined task is to be executed, and
determine, based on the one or more areas identified using the contact sensing data, a flight route for the aerial vehicle to execute the predetermined task,
wherein the determination code is further configured to cause the at least one processor to identify, on the basis of the contact sensing data, a plurality of candidate areas as a candidate for an area in which the predetermined task is to be executed, to compare a battery remaining amount with a battery consumption amount of the aerial vehicle in a case where the aerial vehicle flies along a flight route for execution of the predetermined task in the plurality of candidate areas, and to identify, on the basis of a result of the comparison, one or a plurality of areas in which the predetermined task is to be executed.