US Patent 9073637 Flying vehicle guiding system and flying vehicle guiding method

A flying vehicle guiding system comprises a remotely controllable flying vehicle system, a surveying instrument able to measure distance, angle, and track, and a ground base station for controlling a flight of the flying vehicle system based on measuring results by the surveying instrument. The flying vehicle system has a retro-reflector. The surveying instrument has a non-prism surveying function for performing distance measurement and angle measurement without a retro-reflector, a prism surveying function for performing distance measurement and angle measurement with respect to the retro-reflector, and a tracking function for tracking the retro-reflector and for performing distance measurement and angle measurement. The surveying instrument performs non-prism measurement on a scheduled flight area. The ground base station sets a safe flight area based on the results of the non-prism measurement, and controls so that the flying vehicle system flies in the safe flight area based on the results of tracking measurement.