# How Autonomous Air Taxis Use Hand Gestures and 3D Mapping > A system for operating air taxis that uses hand gestures for control and crowd-sourced 3D mapping to navigate urban environments. - **Patent:** US 11513606 - **Original title:** Air transportation systems and methods - **Owner:** Individual - **Granted:** 2022 - **Status:** Active - **Times cited:** 1 - **Field:** aerospace, telecommunications, ai_ml, consumer_electronics ## What it does This patent describes a method for operating personal air vehicles, specifically focusing on how a passenger interacts with the craft and how the craft perceives its surroundings. It features a propulsion unit that moves between a lift-off position and a lateral flight position to transition from vertical takeoff to forward movement. The system interprets specific hand, palm, or finger gestures captured by internal cameras to issue flight commands. Simultaneously, it builds a 3D map of the airspace by combining sensor data from multiple vehicles and 5G infrastructure, allowing for real-time navigation in a 3D environment. ## What it does NOT cover - Does not cover voice-activated flight controls or physical joystick-based steering systems. - Does not cover ground-based autonomous vehicles that lack the specific propulsion-shifting mechanism described. - Does not cover traditional aircraft that rely solely on pre-programmed flight paths without dynamic gesture-based input. - Does not cover flight systems that operate without the use of 5G or edge-based processing for mapping. ## The clever bit The patent proposes 'crowd-sourcing' 3D maps from a fleet of air vehicles, effectively turning every taxi into a sensor node that keeps the entire network's map updated in real-time. ## Real-world examples 1. Autonomous electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) air taxis 2. Urban air traffic management systems 3. 5G-enabled edge computing for robotics ## Why it matters As urban air mobility (UAM) moves from concept to reality, the challenge of intuitive vehicle control and shared environmental awareness becomes critical. This patent attempts to solve the 'pilot interface' problem for non-pilots by using natural gestures, while leveraging the 5G network to offload the heavy computational burden of 3D mapping from the vehicle itself. ## Frequently asked questions ### What does How Autonomous Air Taxis Use Hand Gestures and 3D Mapping cover? A system for operating air taxis that uses hand gestures for control and crowd-sourced 3D mapping to navigate urban environments. ### Who owns patent US 11513606? Individual owns this patent, granted in 2022. ### When does this patent expire? This patent is expected to expire on November 29, 2042, when the invention enters the public domain. ### What is patent US 11513606 cited by? This patent has been cited by 1 later patents that build on its ideas. ### What problem does this patent solve? As urban air mobility (UAM) moves from concept to reality, the challenge of intuitive vehicle control and shared environmental awareness becomes critical. This patent attempts to solve the 'pilot interface' problem for non-pilots by using natural gestures, while leveraging the 5G network to offload the heavy computational burden of 3D mapping from the vehicle itself. ### What does this patent NOT cover? Does not cover voice-activated flight controls or physical joystick-based steering systems. **Full plain-English explainer:** https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/11513606/universal-control **Original patent:** https://patents.google.com/patent/US11513606 --- _Source: PatentBrief — https://patentbrief.org. Patent facts are from public records; the plain-English explanation is PatentBrief's._ ## Related patents Semantically similar inventions in the PatentBrief corpus: - [How Computers Understand Hand Movements in the Air](https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/12737050/user-interfaces-for-gesture-detection) — This patent describes a computer system that recognizes hand movements in the air, called air gestures, to control different operations without needing to touch a screen or device. - [Drone Navigation Using Cameras and Echolocation](https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/9562773/autonomous-vehicle-navigation-system-and-method) — This 2017 patent describes a drone navigation system that uses both cameras and echolocation sensors to detect obstacles and find its way, with echolocation taking priority for immediate threats. - [Using a Smartphone to Autonomously Control a Vehicle's Direction](https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/9518821/vehicle-control-system) — This patent describes a system where a smartphone, rigidly mounted to a vehicle, uses its internal sensors to track the vehicle's orientation and then autonomously sends signals to control the vehicle's movement. - [How a Drone Flies Ahead of a Moving Ground or Water Vehicle](https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/20180321681/leading-drone-method) — This patent describes a method where an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) flies ahead of a mobile base station, like a boat or ground vehicle, by predicting the base station's future path and scouting the area in advance. - [How Screens Change What They Show Based on Your Hand Distance](https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/10303266/apple-pencil) — A method for changing the menu options shown on a screen depending on how close or far away your hand is hovering above it.