Patent attributes
Methods, systems and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer storage media for unmanned aerial vehicle flight operations near physical structures or objects. In particular, a point cloud of the physical structure is generated using aerial images of the structure. The point cloud is then referenced to determine a flight path for the UAV to follow around the physical structure, determine whether a planned flight path to desired locations around the structure is possible, determine the fastest route to return home and land from a given position around the physical structure, determine possibility of inflight collision to surface represented in point cloud, or determine an orientation of a fixed or gimbaled camera given a position of the UAV relative the point cloud.
