System and method for supporting movable object application development

What is this patent about?

’785 is related to the field of software development for movable objects, such as unmanned aerial vehicles, robots, and handheld devices. It specifically addresses the technical challenges of creating third-party applications that need to interact with complex, multi-module hardware systems in real-time. The background context involves the increasing use of drones in specialized industries like disaster relief and environmental monitoring, where developers require a standardized way to interface with proprietary flight hardware and sensors.

The underlying idea behind ’785 is the creation of a specialized middleware layer, referred to as a movable object manager, that acts as a bridge between high-level software applications and low-level hardware firmware. By abstracting the communication protocols and hardware-specific data formats, the invention allows developers to interact with a drone or robot through a unified software development kit (SDK). This insight simplifies the development process by decoupling the application logic from the underlying physical link technologies and internal hardware complexities.

The claims of ’785 focus on a movable object manager that establishes a bidirectional connection between a movable object and a user terminal. The independent claims specifically cover the mechanism of receiving data packets from the object that correspond to its hardware modules—such as cameras, gimbals, or flight controllers—and providing that information to an application. Crucially, the claims also encompass the reverse flow, where the manager translates application-level commands into instructions that control the specific hardware modules on the movable object.

In practice, the invention works by implementing a structured communication protocol abstraction that handles data framing, error checking, and routing across different physical layers like WiFi, Bluetooth, or radio frequency links. The movable object manager can reside on the user terminal, a remote server, or the object itself, providing a consistent interface for various apps. This architecture allows for a distributed computing model where the application can receive asynchronous updates from the hardware via callback functions, ensuring the user interface remains responsive to real-time flight status changes.

This approach differs from prior solutions by providing a comprehensive security and privilege model integrated directly into the development environment. Unlike traditional direct-link controllers, this system uses an authentication server to validate application identifiers and keys, granting specific access levels to sensitive hardware functions like ground station controls. By managing installation counts and enforcing policies, the invention provides a controlled ecosystem that prevents unauthorized or malicious software from accessing critical flight systems while maintaining a flexible environment for legitimate developers.