It is important for Unmanned Autonomous Systems to find
ways to decrease the amount of data that their sensors accumulate over
time. Many vehicles due to the limited
space and power they possess, need to discard the data not longer used.
One data treatment method to consider by users and
developers of sensors for Unmanned Autonomous Vehicles is the one suggested by Andrew Christopher Tebay. According to
Mr. Tebay, “The data transfer system can include a first sensor
associated with the unmanned vehicle for collecting a first data set, and a
second sensor associated with the unmanned vehicle and for collecting a second
data set, wherein the second data set is associated with the first data set by
a predetermined association.” Tebay also suggest to use a transceiver that will
transmit data from the unmanned vehicle to a remote data storage system (Tebay,
2011). Another important element to consider will be a mass data storage
computer located on the unmanned vehicle.
This mass data storage computer will be able to store the first and
second data sets based on the predetermined association (Tebay, 2011). This same computer will also have the job to execute
the requests from the remote data storage system and transmit the first data
set from the unmanned vehicle to the remote data storage system (Tebay, 2011).
Other important functions will include the transfer of selected ones of the
second data set from the unmanned vehicle to the remote data storage system
(Tebay,2011).
The following pictures are diagrams of the suggested method.
A second data treatment method to consider could be one
suggested by Tiffiny Rossi on her article, Commercial drones bring valuable data but where is it stored? Imagine your
sensor data storage unit like the sim card in your phone. You always have the
option to delete the data that you do not need any longer or you could simply buy
a sim card with more space. Apply this idea to the sensor data storage unit of any
Unmanned Autonomous Systems. According to the general manager and vise-president
of Lexar, Wes Brewer, “8K resolution video, multiple sensor data, and
360-degree video capture will drive the need for greater performance and
capacity in removable storage. SD cards have several advantages over embedded
drone storage, including scalable capacity, higher-quality image storage, and
lower-power data transfer.”
Tuxera, a company that creates quality-assured software
for world-leading companies across the world to help store data, has focus their
attention now on how to help the developers and operators of sensors used by
Unmanned Autonomous Vehicles. Tuxera offers a software that according to Miss
Rossi, “gives some added benefits alongside those brought on by SD cards
including fail-safe data integrity in the event of power loss or crash, no longer SD card lifetime, fast data transfer speeds, and low write latency when saving data to the SD card."
The more commercial drones are used for commercial applications,
the more will be required to count with drones equipped with a storage unit capable
of handling so much data. The method proposed by Mr. Tebay as well as the
software offered by Tuxera, suggest good solutions to the problem of the amount
of data that sensors accumulate over time.
References
Stockton, S. G., & Tebay, A. C. (2016, March 8). United States
Patent No. US 9282144B2.
Retrieved from https://patents.google.com/patent/US9282144B2/en
Retrieved from https://patents.google.com/patent/US9282144B2/en
Rossi, Tiffiny.
(2016). Commercial drones bring valuable data – but where is it stored? https://www.tuxera.com/blog/commercial-drones-bring-valuable-data-but-where-is-it-stored/
