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EP-4071742-B1 - CONTROLLING AERIAL VEHICLES TO TRAVEL ALONG AIR CORRIDORS BASED ON TRAINED AIR CORRIDOR MODELS

EP4071742B1EP 4071742 B1EP4071742 B1EP 4071742B1EP-4071742-B1

Inventors

  • WILSON, IAN A
  • AYHAN, Samet M

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20220328

Claims (14)

  1. A computerized method for controlling an aerial vehicle (102) to travel in an air corridor (200) while maintaining safe separation from other agent vehicles (122), the method comprising: receiving, by a computer processor (719) of the aerial vehicle (102), a trained air corridor model (106) associated with an origin (202), a destination (204), and the air corridor (200) representative of airspace between the origin (202) and the destination (204), wherein the trained air corridor model (106) is configured to maintain safe separation distance between vehicles in the air corridor (200); identifying, by the computer processor (719), current position data (114) representing a current position of the aerial vehicle (102) in the air corridor (200); receiving, by the computer processor (719), agent position data (118) associated with a position of at least one agent vehicle (122) in the air corridor (200); and determining, by the computer processor (719), a next position of the aerial vehicle (102) in the air corridor (200) based on the trained air corridor model (106), the current position data (114), and the agent position data (118), wherein determining the next position of the aerial vehicle (102) includes adapting the air corridor (200) based on the trained air corridor model (106) to optimize use of the air corridor (200) by: subdividing a data cube (310, 312, 314) of the air corridor (200) into octant sub-cubes (310, 312, 314) of the air corridor (200); and/or combining sub-cubes (310, 312, 314) of the air corridor (200) into a larger cube (310, 312, 314) of the air corridor (200).
  2. The computerized method of claim 1, wherein the air corridor (200) includes a joint set of spatio-temporal data cubes (206) that represent portions of airspace in the air corridor (200) from the origin (202) to the destination (204); and wherein at least one data cube (310, 312, 314) of the joint set of spatio-temporal data cubes (206) is subdivided into a plurality of data sub-cubes (310, 312, 314), wherein a size of the data sub-cubes (310, 312, 314) is based on a defined minimum safe separation distance.
  3. The computerized method of claim 2, wherein the size of the data sub-cubes (310, 312, 314) is based on a defined minimum safe separation distance specific to the aerial vehicle (102).
  4. The computerized method of any of claims 1 to 3, wherein identifying the current position data (114) of the current position of the aerial vehicle (102) in the air corridor (200) includes identifying a current data sub-cube (310, 312, 314) of the air corridor (200) in which the aerial vehicle (102) is currently positioned.
  5. The computerized method of claim 4, wherein determining the next position of the aerial vehicle (102) in the air corridor (200) based on the trained air corridor model (106), the current position data (114), and the agent position data (118) includes determining a next data sub-cube (310, 312, 314) of the air corridor (200) that is adjacent to the identified current data sub-cube (310, 312, 314).
  6. The computerized method of any preceding claim, wherein the trained air corridor model (106) and associated air corridor (200) is configured to operate using a rule that only one air vehicle (102, 122) can occupy a sub-cube (310, 312, 314) at a given time step.
  7. The computerized method of any of claims 1 to 6, further comprising sending, by the computer processor (719), the identified current position data (114) to the at least one agent vehicle (122) in the air corridor (200).
  8. The computerized method of claim 7, wherein the step of sending, by the computer processor (719), the identified current position data (114) to the at least one agent vehicle (122) in the air corridor (200) is further based on a communication range or buffer range, such that the arial vehicle (102) send the identified current position data (120) to the at least one agent vehicle (122) if it is within the communication range or buffer range.
  9. The computerized method of any of claims 1 to 8, further comprising, controlling the aerial vehicle (102) to travel from the current position to the determined next position in the air corridor (200) including at least one of the following: accelerating the aerial vehicle (102), decelerating the aerial vehicle (102), causing the aerial vehicle (102) to gain altitude, causing the aerial vehicle (102) to lose altitude, and causing the aerial vehicle (102) to change direction.
  10. The computerized method of any of claims 1 to 9, wherein the air corridor (200) includes airspace from an altitude of 400 feet (120 m) to an altitude of 2500 feet (760 m).
  11. A computer system (100) for controlling an aerial vehicle (102) to travel in an air corridor (200) while maintaining safe separation from other agent vehicles (122), the computer system (100) comprising: a computer processor (719); and a non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon program code (721) for transferring data to another computer system (100), the program code (721) causing the computer processor (719) to perform the method of any of claims 1 to 10.
  12. An aerial vehicle (102) comprising the computer system (100) of claim 11, optionally an unmanned air vehicle.
  13. A computer program comprising computer program code (721) that, when executed by a computer processor (719), cause the computer processor (719) to perform the method of any of claims 1 to 10.
  14. A computer-readable medium having stored thereon the computer program of claim 13.

Description

BACKGROUND The advent of Advanced Aerial Mobility (AAM), also referred to as Urban Air Mobility (UAM) will bring air taxis and Cargo Air Vehicles (CAVs) into reality, raising new challenges as they will share the same airspace, where conventional aircraft and small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (sUAS) operate at up to 2500 ft (760 m) Above Ground Level (AGL). This concurrent use of airspace by UAS Traffic Management (UTM), conventional Air Traffic Management (ATM) and AAM operations require an AAM System that can accommodate wide variety and vast volume of aerial vehicles in an efficient and scalable manner, supported by a development of safe control and separation rules and regulations. CN 112 258 898 A, in accordance with its abstract, states the invention discloses an air traffic control method and system based on a digital twinning technology, electronic equipment and a storage medium, and belongs to the technical field of air traffic control. The air traffic control method includes: carrying out digital modelling of an airspace through adopting a digital twinning technology, dividing the airspace into airspace unit blocks, and setting unit attributes for airspace simulation and evaluation; inputting a flight plan within pre-set time into the airspace model for simulation, carrying out flow measurement and calculation, predicting a possible flow capacity problem, taking historical flight path data as input, establishing an aircraft conflict model based on a BP neural network model, combining a digital airspace and perception technology, identifying potential aircraft conflicts, giving a conflict resolution scheme. EP 3 534 351 A1, in accordance with its abstract, states methods are provided for generating a grid map that shows aircraft traffic intensity. The method comprises collecting position data and an associated flight plan for each aircraft within a defined airspace volume. Next, each aircraft is modelled based on the latest observed position and the flight plan of the aircraft. The defined airspace volume is divided into a cubic grid pattern with defined spatial and time resolution periods. Each aircraft is assigned a cube within the grid based on the aircraft's modelled movement over future time periods. The number of assigned aircraft is calculated for each cube of the grid over future time periods. A ratio is calculated for the value of the number of assigned aircraft to a predetermined capacity for each cube. Finally, the suitability of the defined airspace volume for planned aircraft traffic is determined based on the ratios for each cube within the defined airspace volume. SUMMARY This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This Summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter. There is provided a computerized method for controlling an aerial vehicle to travel in an air corridor while maintaining a safe separation distance from other agent vehicles, the method comprising receiving, by a computer processor of the aerial vehicle, a trained air corridor model associated with an origin, a destination, and the air corridor representative of airspace between the origin and the destination, wherein a volume of the air corridor (200) is divided into a plurality of spatio-temporal data cubes (206), wherein the trained air corridor model is configured to maintain safe separation distance between vehicles in the air corridor; identifying, by the computer processor, current position data representing a current position of the aerial vehicle in the air corridor; receiving, by the computer processor, agent position data associated with a position of at least one agent vehicle in the air corridor; and determining, by the computer processor, a next position of the aerial vehicle in the air corridor based on the trained air corridor model, the current position data, and the agent position data, wherein determining the next position of the aerial vehicle includes adapting the air corridor based on the trained air corridor model to optimize use of the air corridor by: subdividing a data cube of the air corridor into octant sub-cubes of the air corridor; and/or combining sub-cubes of the air corridor into a larger cube of the air corridor. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The present description will be better understood from the following detailed description read in light of the accompanying drawings, wherein: FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a system for enabling an aerial vehicle to travel in an air corridor while maintaining safe separation from other vehicles;FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an air corridor from an origin to a destination;FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating dynamic adaptation of an air corridor;FIGs. 4A-B are diagrams illustrating a determinat