METHODS, APPARATUS AND SYSTEMS FOR ENHANCED SYNTHETIC VISION AND MULTI-SENSOR DATA FUSION TO IMPROVE OPERATIONAL CAPABILITIES OF UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES

摘要

The invention provides, in some aspects, improved methods, apparatus and systems for unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) operation that utilize multiple data links between a UAV and a control station in order to transmit control and actionable intelligence data. Such methods, apparatus and systems can be used, for example, to monitor a selected environment (e.g., an oil field or other terrain/environment of interest). In a related aspect, such data links comprise satellite communication channels.