US 12,148,205 B2
Contour scanning with an unmanned aerial vehicle
Peter Benjamin Henry, San Francisco, CA (US); Hayk Martirosyan, San Francisco, CA (US); Quentin Allen Wah Yen Delepine, Cupertino, CA (US); Himel Mondal, San Francisco, CA (US); and Abraham Galton Bachrach, Emerald Hills, CA (US)
Assigned to SKYDIO, INC., Redwood City, CA (US)
Filed by SKYDIO, INC., Redwood City, CA (US)
Filed on Nov. 10, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/522,973.
Prior Publication US 2023/0142394 A1, May 11, 2023
Int. Cl. G06V 20/17 (2022.01); B64C 39/02 (2023.01); G08G 5/00 (2006.01); B64U 101/30 (2023.01)
CPC G06V 20/17 (2022.01) [B64C 39/024 (2013.01); G08G 5/003 (2013.01); B64U 2101/30 (2023.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) comprising:
a UAV body including a propulsion mechanism;
a camera mounted on the UAV body; and
one or more processors configured by executable instructions to:
receive an indication of a scan target;
determine a plurality of contour paths spaced apart from each other along at least one axis associated with the scan target, each contour path spaced away from a surface of the scan target based on a selected distance;
determine a plurality of image capture locations for each contour path, each image capture location indicating a location at which an image of a surface of the scan target is to be captured;
determine, in advance, a maximum speed for the UAV to use for traversing the plurality of image capture locations of the plurality of contour paths, wherein the maximum speed is determined based at least in part on the selected distance and lighting associated with the surface; and
operate the propulsion mechanism to navigate the UAV along the plurality of contour paths at a speed based at least in part on the maximum speed while capturing images of the surface of the scan target with the camera based on the image capture locations of respective ones of the contour paths.