US-12628062-B2 - Apparatuses, computer-implemented methods, and computer program products for vehicle handover and roaming using ground control stations

Abstract

Embodiments of the disclosure provide for handover or roaming of unmanned vehicles and missions between ground control stations (GCSs) of the same or different ground control centers (GCCs). Some embodiments receive a control change indication indicative of reassignment of a vehicle associated with a first GCS that is associated with a first GCC. Some embodiments reassign the vehicle from a first GCS to a second GCS associated with the GCC to enable the second GCS to newly access data corresponding to the vehicle via the master control system to enable control of the vehicle. Some embodiments reassign the vehicle from a first GCC to a second GCC by copying data corresponding to the vehicle from the master control system of the first GCC to a second master control system of a second GCC to enable control of the vehicle via at least one GCS of the second GCC.

Inventors

• Tomas Bouda
• Jan Beran
• Eva Josth Adamova
• Pavel Kolcarek

Assignees

• HONEYWELL AEROSPACE SAS

Dates

Publication Date

20260512

Application Date

20230807

Claims (20)

1. 1 . A computer-implemented method comprising: establishing a connection between a first ground control station (GCS) and a ground control center (GCC), the GCC associated with a master control system connected to the first GCS, wherein: the first GCS is assigned at least one vehicle to enable control of each vehicle of the at least one vehicle; and a respective vehicle of the at least one vehicle is associated with one of a plurality of mission data objects stored via the master control system of the GCC; receiving a control change indication from the first GCS or the master control system of the GCC, the control change indication indicative of reassignment of a subset of the at least one vehicle; and reassigning, in real-time from receiving the control change indication, the subset of the at least one vehicle from the first GCS to a second GCS associated with the GCC, wherein the reassignment to the second GCS enables the second GCS to control the subset of the at least one vehicle by newly accessing data corresponding to the subset of the at least one vehicle via the master control system.
2. 2 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising: in response to reassigning the subset of the at least one vehicle from the first GCS to the second GCS, causing rendering of a ground control interface on the second GCS, wherein: the ground control interface comprises mission data indicative of a subset of the plurality of mission data objects; and the mission data is based on the data corresponding to the subset of the at least one vehicle that were reassigned.
3. 3 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising: receiving the control change indication in response to a workload at the first GCS exceeding a predetermined threshold.
4. 4 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein: the data corresponding to the subset of the at least one vehicle is centrally stored at the GCC.
5. 5 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising: receiving the control change indication in response to detection of an off-nominal event at the first GCS or at one of the subset of the at least one vehicle.
6. 6 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising: receiving the control change indication in response to receipt of a user input at the first GCS, wherein the user input indicates a request to reassign the subset of the at least one vehicle.
7. 7 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising: receiving the control change indication in response to detection of a fault at the first GCS.
8. 8 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising: receiving the control change indication in response to detection of an emergency at the first GCS or an operating entity of the GCS.
9. 9 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein: the GCC is a first GCC; and the method further comprises: receiving a location for each of the at least one vehicle; and detecting an indication that the location of a particular vehicle of the subset of the at least one vehicle is outside of a first geozone associated with the first GCC or is within a threshold distance of a second geozone associated with a second GCC.
10. 10 . The computer-implemented method of claim 9 , further comprising: in real-time from detecting the indication, reassigning the particular vehicle from the first GCC to the second GCC by copying the data corresponding to the particular vehicle from the master control system of the first GCC to a second master control system of the second GCC to enable control of the particular vehicle via at least one GCS of the second GCC.
11. 11 . An apparatus comprising at least one processor and at least one non-transitory memory having computer-coded instructions stored thereon that, in execution with at least one processor, cause the apparatus to: establish a connection between a first ground control station (GCS) and a ground control center (GCC), the GCC associated with a master control system connected to the first GCS, wherein: the first GCS is assigned at least one vehicle to enable control of each vehicle of the at least one vehicle; and a respective vehicle of the at least one vehicle is associated with one of a plurality of mission data objects stored via the master control system of the GCC; receive a control change indication from the first GCS or the master control system of the GCC, the control change indication indicative of reassignment of a subset of the at least one vehicle; and reassign, in real-time from receiving the control change indication, the subset of the at least one vehicle from the first GCS to a second GCS associated with the GCC, wherein the reassignment to the second GCS enables the second GCS to control the subset of the at least one vehicle by newly accessing data corresponding to the subset of the at least one vehicle via the master control system.
12. 12 . The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein: the data corresponding to the subset of the at least one vehicle comprises one or more vehicle statuses.
13. 13 . The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein: the data corresponding to the subset of the at least one vehicle further comprises a flight plan.
14. 14 . The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein: the data corresponding to the subset of the at least one vehicle further comprises a history of communication with one or more airspace-controlling entities.
15. 15 . The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein: the computer-code instructions, in execution with the at least one processor, further cause the apparatus to: cause rendering of a ground control interface at the second GCS, wherein: the ground control interface comprises: a user input field indicative of a request to reassign the at least one vehicle from the first GCS to the second GCS; and mission data indicative of a subset of the plurality of mission data objects, wherein the mission data is based on the data corresponding to the subset of the at least one vehicle that were reassigned.
16. 16 . The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein: the computer-code instructions, in execution with the at least one processor, further cause the apparatus to: receive, from the second GCS, user input to the user input field of the ground control interface, wherein: the user input is indicative of an acceptance of reassignment of the subset of the at least one vehicle to the second GCS; and the apparatus reassigns, in real-time from receiving the user input, the subset of the at least one vehicle from the first GCS to the second GCS.
17. 17 . The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein: the computer-code instructions, in execution with the at least one processor, further cause the apparatus to: update a rendering of a ground control interface at the first GCS to indicate reassignment of the subset of the at least one vehicle from the first GCS to the second GCS.
18. 18 . The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein: the computer-code instructions, in execution with the at least one processor, further cause the apparatus to: enable an application server associated with the second GCS to access the data corresponding to the subset of the at least one vehicle.
19. 19 . The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein: the computer-code instructions, in execution with the at least one processor, further cause the apparatus to: provide to the first GCS a notification indicating the reassignment of the subset of the at least one vehicle from the first GCS to the second GCS.
20. 20 . A computer program product comprising at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer program code stored thereon that, in execution with at least one processor, is configured to: establish a connection between a first ground control station (GCS) and a ground control center (GCC), the GCC associated with a master control system connected to the first GCS, wherein: the first GCS is assigned at least one vehicle to enable control of each vehicle of the at least one vehicle; and a respective vehicle of the at least one vehicle is associated with one of a plurality of mission data objects stored via the master control system of the GCC; receive a control change indication from the first GCS or the master control system of the GCC, the control change indication indicative of reassignment of a subset of the at least one vehicle; and reassign, in real-time from receiving the control change indication, the subset of the at least one vehicle from the first GCS to a second GCS associated with the GCC, wherein the reassignment to the second GCS enables the second GCS to control the subset of the at least one vehicle by newly accessing data corresponding to the subset of the at least one vehicle via the master control system.

Description

TECHNOLOGICAL FIELD Embodiments of the present disclosure are generally directed to control handover and roaming of remote pilotable vehicles using ground control stations. BACKGROUND Increasing adoption of different vehicle mobility uses, for example personal aerial vehicles and/or unmanned aerial mobility (UAM) infrastructure for various purposes may present challenges to ensuring air and ground safety. For example, existing air control infrastructure may be limited to manned aircraft management, such as dispatching of commercial jetliners and other manned aircraft using air-to-ground communications between a human pilot and human air traffic support personnel, or otherwise fail to sufficiently provide data between control systems. However, such approaches may be insufficient and/or improperly configured for managing missions of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), particularly those controlled from the ground as a cluster of several UAVs that transverse around various zones. Applicant has discovered various technical problems associated with management of vehicle missions and related data. Through applied effort, ingenuity, and innovation, Applicant has solved many of these identified problems by developing the embodiments of the present disclosure, which are described in detail below. BRIEF SUMMARY In general, embodiments of the present disclosure herein provide for automated transition of management for vehicle missions among remote ground operators, ground control stations (GCSs), and ground control centers (GCCs), such as in instances of mission handover between GCSs associated with a particular GCC, or mission roaming between a GCS of a first GCC to a GCS of at least one other GCC. Other implementations for vehicle mission handover and roaming will be, or will become, apparent to one with skill in the art upon examination of the following figures and detailed description. It is intended that all such additional implementations be included within this description be within the scope of the disclosure, and be protected by the following claims. In accordance with a first aspect of the disclosure, a computer-implemented method for vehicle handover is provided. The computer-implemented method is executable utilizing any of a myriad of computing device(s) and/or combinations of hardware, software, firmware. In some example embodiments an example computer-implemented method includes In some example embodiments an example computer-implemented method includes establishing a connection between a first ground control station (GCS) with a ground control center (GCC), the GCC associated with a master control system connected to the first GCS. In some example embodiments, the first GCS is assigned at least one vehicle to enable control of each vehicle of the at least one vehicle and each is associated with one of a plurality of mission data objects stored via the master control system of the GCC. In some example embodiments, the computer-implemented method includes receiving a control change indication from the first GCS or the master control system of the GCC, the control change indication indicative of reassignment of a subset of the at least one vehicle. In some example embodiments, the computer-implemented method includes reassigning, in real-time from receiving the control change indication, the subset of the at least one vehicle from the first GCS to a second GCS associated with the GCC, where the reassignment to the second GCS enables the second GCS to control the subset of the at least one vehicle by newly accessing data corresponding to the subset of the at least one vehicles via the master control system. In some example embodiments, the computer-implemented method further includes, in response to reassigning the subset of the at least one vehicle from the first GCS to the second GCS, causing rendering of a ground control interface on the second GCS. In some example embodiments, the ground control interface includes mission data indicative of a subset of the plurality of mission data objects and the mission data is based on the data corresponding to the subset of the at least one vehicles that were reassigned. In some example embodiments, the computer-implemented method includes receiving the control change indication in response to a workload at the first GCS exceeding a predetermined threshold. In some example embodiments, the data corresponding to the subset of the at least one vehicle is centrally stored at the GCC. In some example embodiments, the computer-implemented method includes receiving the control change indication in response to detection of an off-nominal event at the first GCS or at one of the subset of the at least one vehicle. In some example embodiments, the computer-implemented method includes receiving the control change indication in response to receipt of a user input at the first GCS, where the user input indicates a request to reassign the subset of the at least one vehicle. In some