Unmanned aerial vehicle remote flight planning system

Abstract

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer storage media, for unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) flight planning. One of the methods includes receiving a location for an aerial survey to be conducted by a UAV. One or more images depicting the location are obtained, and a geofence boundary to limit flight of the UAV is determined. A survey area is determined, and a flight data package is created for transmission that includes information describing a flight plan. After the flight plan is conducted, flight log data and sensor data are received. The flight log data and sensor data are processed, and at least a portion of the processed sensor data is displayed.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A flight planning system comprising one or more processors comprising hardware, the one or more processors configured to at least:
 receive, via a user interface, a location for an aerial survey to be conducted by an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV);   display, via the user interface, one or more images depicting a view of the location;   determine a geofence boundary over the one or more location images, wherein the geofence boundary represents a geospatial boundary in which to limit flight of the UAV;   determine a survey area over the one or more location images, wherein the survey area is set within the geofence boundary;   determine a flight plan based, at least in part, on the survey area, the flight plan having a launch location, a landing location, wherein the launch location and landing location are set within the geofence boundary;   generate a flight data package for transmission to a ground control station, the flight data package comprising at least the flight plan; and   provide the flight data package to the ground control station, wherein the ground control station is configured to transmit at least a portion of the flight data package to the UAV.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the location for the aerial survey comprises an address or latitudinal/longitudinal coordinates of a property, and wherein images depicting a view of the location comprise images of the property. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein determination of a geofence boundary comprises:
 access of information describing a property boundary associated with the property; and   a designation of the property boundary as the geofence boundary.   
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein determination of a geofence boundary comprises:
 receipt of user interaction information that specifies the geofence boundary, wherein the user interaction information describes user interactions performed by the user on the location images to specify the geofence boundary.   
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein one or more processors are further configured to:
 determine risk information associated with UAVs available to conduct the flight plan, the risk information including information that can affect, or inform, a safe flight;   determine a recommendation of a particular UAV, from the determined risk information and determined flight plan, for presentation in the user interface; and   assign the particular UAV to conduct the flight plan.   
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 5 , wherein the determination of risk information associated with UAVs comprises:
 determination of health of batteries included in respective UAVs;   determination, for each battery, of a total charge of the battery,   and wherein determination of a recommendation of a particular UAV comprises a determination, based at least in part on the determined battery health and the determined total battery charge for the particular UAV, that the particular UAV can conduct the flight plan with a total remaining charge of the included battery being greater than a threshold.   
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:
 determine risk information associated with operators available to conduct the flight plan in concert with the UAV, the risk information including information that can affect, or inform, a safe flight;   determine a recommendation of a particular operator, from the determined risk information, for presentation in the user interface, the determination based on a flight error rate of the available operators; and   assign the particular operator to conduct the flight plan.   
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:
 generate a flight authorization request to be provided to an approval entity, the flight authorization request describing the flight plan according to a format associated with the approval entity.   
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:
 receive, from the approval entity, information describing modifications to the flight plan; and   update the flight plan based on the received modifications, wherein updating comprises parsing the received information and identifying aspects of the flight plan that have been modified.   
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the wherein the one or more processors are further configured to provide a geofence definition user interface to a user device configured with a touch screen, wherein the geofence definition user interface enables a user to define a geofence by moving a finger or stylus across the geofence definition user interface. 
     
     
         11 . A computerized-method comprising:
 by a flight planning system of one or more computers,   receiving, via a user interface, a location for an aerial survey to be conducted by an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV);   displaying, via the user interface, one or more images depicting a view of the location;   determining a geofence boundary over the one or more location images, wherein the geofence boundary represents a geospatial boundary in which to limit flight of the UAV;   determining a survey area over the one or more location images, wherein the survey area is set within the geofence boundary;   determining a flight plan based, at least in part, on the survey area, the flight plan having a launch waypoint and a landing waypoint, wherein the launch waypoint, and the landing waypoint are set within the geofence boundary;   generating a flight data package for transmission to a ground control station, the flight data package comprising at least the flight plan; and   transmitting the flight data package to the ground control station, wherein the ground control station is configured to transmit at least a portion of the flight data package to the UAV to conduct the flight plan and to collect sensor data.   
     
     
         12 . The computerized-method of  claim 11 , wherein the location for the aerial survey comprises an address or latitudinal/longitudinal coordinates of a property, and wherein images depicting a view of the location comprise images of the property. 
     
     
         13 . The computerized-method of  claim 12 , wherein determining a geofence boundary comprises:
 accessing information describing a property boundary associated with the property; and   assigning the property boundary as the geofence boundary.   
     
     
         14 . The computerized-method of  claim 11 , wherein determining a geofence boundary comprises:
 receiving user interaction information that specifies the geofence boundary, wherein the user interaction information describes user interactions performed by the user on the location images to specify the geofence boundary.   
     
     
         15 . The computerized-method of  claim 11 , further comprising:
 determining risk information associated with UAVs available to conduct the flight plan, the risk information including information that can affect, or inform, a safe flight;   determining a recommendation of a particular UAV, from the determined risk information and determined flight plan, for presentation in the user interface; and   assigning the particular UAV to conduct the flight plan.   
     
     
         16 . The computerized-method of  claim 15 , wherein determining risk information associated with UAVs comprises:
 determining health of batteries included in respective UAVs;   determining, for each battery, of a total charge of the battery,   and wherein determining a recommendation of a particular UAV comprises determining, based at least in part on the determined battery health and the determined total battery charge for the particular UAV, that the particular UAV can conduct the flight plan with a total remaining charge of the included battery being greater than a threshold.   
     
     
         17 . The computerized-method of  claim 11 , further comprising:
 generating a flight authorization request to be provided to an approval entity, the flight authorization request describing the flight plan according to a format associated with the approval entity.   
     
     
         18 . The computerized-method of  claim 17 , further comprising:
 receiving, from the approval entity, information describing modifications to the flight plan; and   updating the flight plan based on the received modifications, wherein updating comprises parsing the received information and identifying aspects of the flight plan that have been modified.   
     
     
         19 . A computer program product comprising one or more computer storage media storing instructions, that when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
 receiving, via a user interface, a location for an aerial survey to be conducted by an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV);   displaying, via the user interface, one or more images depicting a view of the location;   determining a geofence boundary over the one or more location images, wherein the geofence boundary represents a geospatial boundary in which to limit flight of the UAV;   determining a survey area over the one or more location images, wherein the survey area is set within the geofence boundary;   determining a flight plan based, at least in part, on the survey area, the flight plan having a launch location and a landing location, wherein the launch location and the landing location are set within the geofence boundary;   generating a flight data package for transmission to a ground control station, the flight data package comprising at least the flight plan; and   transmitting the flight data package to the ground control station, wherein the ground control station is configured to transmit at least a portion of the flight data package to the UAV.   
     
     
         20 . The computer program product of  claim 19 , wherein the location for the aerial survey comprises an address or latitudinal/longitudinal coordinates of a property, and wherein images depicting a view of the location comprise images of the property. 
     
     
         21 . The computer program product of  claim 20 , wherein determining a geofence boundary comprises:
 accessing information describing a property boundary associated with the property; and   assigning the property boundary as the geofence boundary.   
     
     
         22 . The computer program product of  claim 19 , wherein determining a geofence boundary comprises:
 receiving user interaction information that specifies the geofence boundary, wherein the user interaction information describes user interactions performed by the user on the location images to specify the geofence boundary.   
     
     
         23 . The computer program product of  claim 19 , wherein the operations further comprise:
 determining risk information associated with UAVs available to conduct the flight plan, the risk information including information that can affect, or inform, a safe flight;   determining a recommendation of a particular UAV, from the determined risk information and determined flight plan, for presentation in the user interface; and   assigning the particular UAV to conduct the flight plan.   
     
     
         24 . The computer program product of  claim 23 , wherein determining risk information associated with UAVs comprises:
 determining health of batteries included in respective UAVs;   determining, for each battery, of a total charge of the battery,   and wherein determining a recommendation of a particular UAV comprises determining, based at least in part on the determined battery health and the determined total battery charge for the particular UAV, that the particular UAV can conduct the flight plan with a total remaining charge of the included battery being greater than a threshold.   
     
     
         25 . The computer program product of  claim 19 , wherein the operations further comprise:
 generating a flight authorization request to be provided to an approval entity, the flight authorization request describing the flight plan according to a format associated with the approval entity.   
     
     
         26 . The computer program product of  claim 25 , wherein the operations further comprise:
 receiving, from the approval entity, information describing modifications to the flight plan; and   updating the flight plan based on the received modifications, wherein updating comprises parsing the received information and identifying aspects of the flight plan that have been modified.   
     
     
         27 . A flight planning system comprising one or more processors comprising hardware, the one or more processors configured to at least:
 receive, via a user interface, a location for an aerial survey to be conducted by an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), wherein the location comprises an address or latitudinal/longitudinal coordinates of a property;   display via the user interface, one or more location images depicting a view of the location;   determine a geofence boundary over the one or more location images, wherein the geofence boundary represents a geospatial boundary in which to limit flight of the UAV;   determine a survey area over the one or more location images, wherein the survey area is set within the geofence boundary;   determine a flight plan based, at least in part, on the survey area, the flight plan having a launch location and a landing location, wherein the launch waypoint and the landing waypoint are set within the geofence boundary; and   generate a flight data package for transmission to the UAV, the flight data package comprising at least the flight plan.   
     
     
         28 . The system of  claim 27 , wherein one or more processors are further configured to:
 determine risk information associated with UAVs available to conduct the flight plan, the risk information including information that can affect, or inform, a safe flight;   determine a recommendation of a particular UAV, from the determined risk information and determined flight plan, for presentation in the user interface; and   assign the particular UAV to conduct the flight plan.   
     
     
         29 . The system of  claim 27 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:
 store information associated with the flight plan in a data repository;   receive from the UAV flight log data and collected sensor data after the UAV flight plan has been initiated; and   display, via the user interface, at least a portion of the sensor data, or processed sensor data, and information associated with the flight plan.   
     
     
         30 . The system of  claim 29 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:
 receive, from the approval entity, information describing modifications to the flight plan; and   update the flight plan based on the received modifications, wherein updating comprises parsing the received information and identifying aspects of the flight plan that have been modified.