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42 Round-up | UAV-related patents UAV mission scheduling Verizon has also applied for a patent for a mission scheduling system in a similar vein to its mobile destination application, this time though one that is capable of tasking multiple UAVs to carry out missions such as nuclear powerplant inspections, under application number US20160216711 A1. The same team of inventors, this time led by Ashok Srivastava, envisages a system in which an operator’s device similarly receives mission requests over a network, determines the required capabilities and constraints and identifies UAVs that meet the criteria. It would then calculate a cost- effective mission plan, generate flight and mission instructions and transmit them to the UAVs over the network, over which the UAVs would send back their mission data to the device that requested it. Constraints the system could deal with would include the availability and operational status of multiple UAVs, costs associated with operating them, time limits and appropriate mission types. For example, in responding to a nuclear plant emergency, one UAV may be tasked with taking video of the reactor, another with capturing still images, a third with taking temperature readings and a fourth with measuring radiation levels. In determining cost-effectiveness, the software would calculate multiple mission plans for particular UAVs based on the required capabilities and the applicable constraints, to which it would apply weightings. It would then calculate scores for the mission plans based on the assigned weights, then select the most cost- effective mission plan based on the scores. Airborne fulfilment Combining 21st century technology with the need for near-instant gratification using one of aviation’s earliest vehicles, Amazon has envisaged, and been granted, a patent (US9305280 B1, published in April) for an airship-based Airborne Fulfilment Centre (AFC), along with delivery UAVs, replenishment shuttles and an inventory management system to tie them all together. The team of inventors consists of Paul William Berg, Scott Isaacs and Kelsey Lynn Blodgett. Stationed at high altitude, perhaps around 45,000 ft, the airship would be stocked with small items and UAVs to deliver them. The inventory management system would command the systems aboard the AFC to match up the goods with a UAV and a delivery location. After launch, the UAV would descend towards its delivery point using minimal power, perhaps gliding most of the way and using its engine only to stretch the glide. Once it has made its delivery, the UAV would then be commanded to go to a replenishment shuttle, which would be one of several smaller airships, and wait to be returned to the AFC, perhaps with several others plus more goods and maintenance personnel. UAV-based cellular comms Rapidly deployable networks, enabled by multiple UAVs as satcom alternatives, are the subject of a patent granted to Boeing and published in April as US9313667 B1. Inventor Daniel Daoura envisages cellular transceivers in groups of UAVs deployed either in point-to-point lines or mesh October/November 2016 | Unmanned Systems Technology Amazon’s concept of a large, high-altitude airship that is a warehouse and a base from which small UAVs deliver packages to customers (Courtesy of Amazon) Scheduling complex missions for multiple UAVs in risky environments is the subject of a patent applied for by Verizon (Courtesy of Verizon)