Unmanned aerial vehicles

Abstract

A drone comprising a camera and a controller. The camera is configured to output data representing an object within a field of view of the camera. The controller is configured to attempt to maintain a visual line of sight with the object. The controller is also configured to cause control equipment of an operator of the drone to notify the operator of the drone, visually, audibly and/or haptically, as to whether or not the object is being tracked by the drone.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A drone comprising:
 a camera configured to output data representing an object within a field of view of the camera; and   a controller configured to:
 attempt to maintain a visual line of sight with the object; and 
 cause control equipment of an operator of the drone to notify the operator of the drone, visually, audibly and/or haptically, as to whether or not the object is being tracked by the drone. 
   
     
     
         2 . The drone of  claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to:
 recognize a predetermined feature of the object; and   to attempt to maintain the visual line of sight with the object based on recognizing the predetermined feature of the object.   
     
     
         3 . The drone of  claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to attempt to cause the drone to maintain a target separation distance from the object. 
     
     
         4 . The drone of  claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to control an orientation of the camera with respect to a body of the drone to attempt to cause the camera to capture data in which the object is represented. 
     
     
         5 . The drone of  claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to:
 identify a given human in data captured by the camera; and   cause the drone to operate based one or more actions taken by the given human.   
     
     
         6 . The drone of  claim 1 , wherein the drone comprises a collision-avoidance mechanism. 
     
     
         7 . The drone of  claim 1 , wherein the camera comprises a forward-facing camera. 
     
     
         8 . The drone of  claim 1 , wherein the camera comprises a sideways-facing camera. 
     
     
         9 . The drone of  claim 1 , wherein the camera comprises a backwards-facing camera. 
     
     
         10 . The drone of  claim 1 , wherein the output data represents at least one other object within the field of view of the camera and wherein the controller is configured to distinguish the object from the at least one other object in the output data. 
     
     
         11 . The drone of  claim 1 , wherein the output data comprises still image data and/or video data. 
     
     
         12 . The drone of  claim 1 , wherein the object comprises a vehicle. 
     
     
         13 . The drone of  claim 1 , wherein the object comprises a person. 
     
     
         14 . The drone of  claim 13 , wherein the person is the operator of the drone. 
     
     
         15 . The drone of  claim 13 , wherein the person is not the operator of the drone. 
     
     
         16 . The drone of  claim 1 , wherein the object comprises an animal. 
     
     
         17 . The drone of  claim 1 , wherein the object comprises a pet. 
     
     
         18 . The drone of  claim 1 , wherein the object comprises an aircraft. 
     
     
         19 . Control equipment configured to:
 receive data from a drone being controlled by the control equipment; and   based on the data received from the drone, notify an operator of the drone, visually, audibly and/or haptically, whether or not the drone is tracking an object within a field of view of a camera of the drone.   
     
     
         20 . A drone comprising:
 a camera having a field of view; and   a controller configured to:
 attempt to maintain a visual line of sight with an object within the field of view of the camera; and 
 cause an operator of the drone to be visually, audibly and/or haptically alerted when the object is recognised in data output by the camera.