Remote Vehicle Missions and Systems for Supporting Remote Vehicle Missions

Abstract

An operator control unit includes a user interface that allows a user to control a remote vehicle, a transmission unit configured to transmit data to the remote vehicle, and a receiver unit configured to receive data from the remote vehicle. The data received from the remote vehicle includes image data captured by the remote vehicle. The operator control unit includes a display unit configured to display the user interface including the image data received from the remote vehicle and icons representing a plurality of controllable elements of the remote vehicle, and configured to allow the user to input a control command to control at least one of the plurality of controllable elements.

1 - 17 . (canceled) 
     
     
         18 . A method comprising:
 rendering on a display in communication with a computing device a top-down coordinate map of a mission environment of a remote vehicle in communication with the computing device, the top-down coordinate map having tags associated with coordinate locations on the top-down coordinate map, each tag comprising sensor data captured by the remote vehicle at the corresponding coordinate location in the mission environment, the sensor data comprising:
 location data of the remote vehicle; 
 image data including still-image data and/or video-image data of the mission environment about the remote vehicle; and 
 wireless communications connectivity data of the remote vehicle; 
   receiving, at the computing device, a selection of a target coordinate location on the top-down coordinate map;   rendering on the display, using the computing device, the sensor data associated with any tag associated with the selected target coordinate location; and   issuing drive commands from the computing device to the remote vehicle to drive the remote vehicle to the selected target coordinate location.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , further comprising receiving, at the computing device, a drive selection of teleoperation, waypoint-guided piloting, or endpoint-guided piloting for driving the remote vehicle, the drive commands being based on the drive selection. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein, when the selected target coordinate location has an associated tag identifying an object in the mission environment, the drive commands cause the remote vehicle to approach the identified object according to a tactical approach procedure. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 18 , further comprising determining, using the computing device, a set of sequence behaviors to form an autonomous sequence, the autonomous sequence instructing the remote vehicle to autonomously perform exploratory and mapping functions about the mission environment, each sequence behavior of the autonomous sequence sequentially commencing when a sensor condition is satisfied or a preceding sequence behavior is complete. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 18 , further comprising receiving, at the computing device, an indication to commence a mission having at least one mission phase comprising a temporal grouping of tasks collectively having a beginning and an end. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 22 , wherein the mission comprises a pan/scan mission configured to pan an imaging device of the remote vehicle to scan and capture the image data of the mission environment for a threshold period of time or until deactivated. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 22 , wherein the mission comprises an auto tag mission configured to associate the tags with the coordinate locations of the remote vehicle on the top-down coordinate map as the remote vehicle drives about the mission environment. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 22 , wherein the mission comprises an investigate waypoint mission configured to cause the remote vehicle to drive and investigate the mission environment at one or more waypoints by capturing the image data of the mission environment at the one or more waypoints. 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 22 , wherein the mission comprises a connectivity map mission configured to generate a connectivity map indicating a strength and/or availability of wireless communications connectivity of the remote vehicle throughout execution of the mission. 
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 22 , wherein the mission comprises a route mission configured to cause the remote vehicle to drive along a predefined route within the mission environment. 
     
     
         28 . A method for conducting a remote vehicle mission, the method comprising:
 receiving, at a computing device, an indication to commence a mission having at least one mission phase comprising a temporal grouping of tasks collectively having a beginning and an end, at least one task comprising driving a remote vehicle in a mission environment;   receiving, at the computing device, sensor data captured by the remote vehicle while executing the mission, the sensor data comprising:
 location data of the remote vehicle; 
 image data including still-image data and/or video-image data of the mission environment about the remote vehicle; and 
 wireless communications connectivity data of the remote vehicle; 
   associating, using the computing device, tags with coordinate locations on a top-down coordinate map of the mission environment, each tag including information identified by the remote vehicle about the mission environment at the corresponding coordinate location on the top-down coordinate map, the information comprising the sensor data captured by the remote vehicle at the corresponding coordinate location; and   transmitting the sensor data from the computing device to one or more of a local non-transitory data storage device, a local transmission repeater, and a remote non-transitory data storage device.   
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 28 , further comprising rendering on a display in communication with the computing device, the top-down coordinate map including the tags, each tag being selectable to access the sensor data captured at the corresponding coordinate location of the tag. 
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 29 , further comprising:
 receiving, at the computing device, a selection of a target coordinate location on the top-down coordinate map; and   rendering on the display, using the computing device, the sensor data associated with any tag associated with the selected target coordinate location.   
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 29 , further comprising:
 receiving, at the computing device, a selection of a target coordinate location on the top-down coordinate map; and   issuing drive commands from the computing device to the remote vehicle to drive the remote vehicle to the selected target coordinate location.   
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 31 , wherein, when the selected target coordinate location has an associated tag identifying an object in the mission environment, the drive commands cause the remote vehicle to approach the identified object according to a tactical approach procedure. 
     
     
         33 . The method of  claim 28 , further comprising receiving, at the computing device, additional sensor data from at least one other remote vehicle in the mission environment. 
     
     
         34 . The method of  claim 28 , wherein the at least one mission phase comprises a defined criteria for executing the temporal grouping of tasks according to defined rules of engagement and tactics. 
     
     
         35 . The method of  claim 28 , further comprising:
 receiving, at the computing device, a drive selection of teleoperation, waypoint-guided piloting, or endpoint-guided piloting for driving the remote vehicle; and   issuing drive commands from the computing device to the remote vehicle based on the drive selection.   
     
     
         36 . The method of  claim 28 , further comprising generating the top-down coordinate map using the sensor data. 
     
     
         37 . The method of  claim 28 , wherein the top-down coordinate map comprises at least one of coordinates, an occupancy map, a free space map, a connectivity success map, or a photographic map. 
     
     
         38 . The method of  claim 28 , further comprising determining, using the computing device, a set of sequence behaviors to form an autonomous sequence, the autonomous sequence instructing the remote vehicle to autonomously perform exploratory and mapping functions about the mission environment, each sequence behavior of the autonomous sequence sequentially commencing when a sensor condition is satisfied or a preceding sequence behavior is complete.