The Boeing Company
Unmanned aerial vehicle escape route planning

Abstract:

A method includes separating a flight plan of a vehicle into a number of portions with each portion including a particular length that is determined based on a complexity of an environment where the flight plan takes place. The complexity of the environment is based on at least one of a set of factors including at least one of a terrain of the environment, one or more obstacles, one or more no-fly zones, or one or more no-landing zones within the environment. The method also includes determining an escape route for each portion of the flight plan. The escape route includes a route to a safe landing site in response to a failure of a system onboard the vehicle. The method additionally includes generating an escape route plan for the flight plan in response to all portions of the flight plan being assigned at least one escape route.