UAV Enabled Vehicle Perimeters
DRIVE
May 12, 2022
The technical description relates to perimeters for vehicles. Specific examples relate to vehicle perimeters established by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), such as autonomous drones, for a variety of vehicle types, including manually-driven, partially autonomous, and fully autonomous vehicles. Perimeter devices, vehicles, including autonomous vehicles and human-controlled vehicles, UAVs, and related systems and methods are described. Perimeter devices respond to triggering events, such as vehicle-immobilizing events, GPS-based events, and environment-based events, to establish a perimeter adjacent a vehicle such that observers can visually detect the presence of a signal member, such as a warning triangle having a reflective surface. An example vehicle includes a tractor unit, a trailer connected to the tractor unit, a storage enclosure associated with the tractor unit, and a plurality of perimeter devices disposed in the chamber. Each perimeter device of the plurality of perimeter devices includes a triangular signal member, a base member, and a UAV. Each perimeter device is adapted to deploy from the chamber and establish a perimeter by the vehicle in response to a triggering event, such as parking of the vehicle in a location for which a perimeter must be established, impact of the vehicle with another object, such as during a traffic accident, rollover of the vehicle, or mechanical and/or electrical failure of the vehicle.
Discussion in the ATmosphere