Methods of operating one or more unmanned aerial vehicles within an airspace

Abstract

In various embodiments, a safety system for an unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) enable the safe operation of the UAV, alone or with other UAVs, within an airspace by initiating various actions based on the position of the UAV and/or one or more of the other UAVs relative to one or more flight zones and/or relative to other aircraft in the airspace.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of establishing communication between a plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) operating within an airspace and an aircraft within the airspace, the method comprising:
 establishing a wireless ad hoc network among the plurality of UAVs, a first UAV being selected as a master node in the network; and   broadcasting a collision alert from only the first UAV when a distance between the aircraft and any one of the UAVs decreases below a first threshold distance.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the collision alert comprises at least one of:
 an automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) transmission; or   a traffic collision avoidance system (TCAS) transmission.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising controlling a range of the collision alert to be sufficient to be received only by the aircraft. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein controlling the range of the collision alert comprises limiting at least one of a power of the ADS-B transmission or a power of the TCAS transmission. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first UAV is selected as the master node in the network based at least in part upon proximity of the first UAV to the aircraft. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein at least one UAV in the network other than the first UAV lacks capability to broadcast the collision alert. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising, based at least in part on a change in distance between the aircraft and at least one UAV in the network, selecting a second UAV as the master node in the network and broadcasting the collision alert to the aircraft only with the second UAV, the first UAV being designated as a slave node in the network. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein all of the UAVs in the network are under control of a common operator. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein at least two of the UAVs in the network are controlled by different operators. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein establishing the wireless ad hoc network among the plurality of UAVs comprises:
 detection, by at least one UAV, of one or more UAVs proximate the at least one UAV; and   initiation of a bi-directional wireless communication link between the at least one UAV and at least one of the one or more UAVs.   
     
     
         11 .- 20 . (canceled) 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the first UAV is selected as the master node when the first UAV is the closest UAV to the aircraft. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the aircraft is not within the wireless ad hoc network. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising determining whether the aircraft is a second UAV or a manned aircraft. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first UAV is selected as the master node based on, at least in part, a size of the first UAV. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first UAV is selected as the master node based on, at least in part, a transmission power of a radio transceiver of the first UAV. 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first UAV is selected as the master node based on, at least in part, a remaining power supply of the first UAV.