Invertible aircraft
AssigneeAeroVironment, Inc.
InventorsMatthew Todd Keennon, Karl Robert Klingebiel
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A rotorcraft including a fuselage, one or more motor-driven rotors for vertical flight, and a control system. The motors drive the one or more rotors in either of two directions of rotation to provide for flight in either an upright or an inverted orientation. An orientation sensor is used to control the primary direction of thrust, and operational instructions and gathered information are automatically adapted based on the orientation of the fuselage with respect to gravity. The rotors are configured with blades that invert to conform to the direction of rotation.
Claims12
A rotorcraft, comprising:
- a fuselage defining a vertical dimension with respect to the fuselage, the fuselage being characterized by having a right-side-up orientation and an upside-down orientation with respect to gravity;
- one or more rotors generally having vertically oriented for vertical thrust axes of rotation with respect to the fuselage;
- one or more motors connected to the one or more rotors;
- and a control system controlling a speed with which the one or more motors drives the one or more rotors in rotor rotation, and controlling the direction of thrust generated by the rotors;
- wherein the control system reverses the direction of thrust when the fuselage has switched between the right-side-up orientation and the upside-down orientation.
An aerial vehicle, comprising:
- a body having by a right-side-up orientation and an upside-down orientation with respect to gravity;
- one or more thrusters providing thrust in a primary direction of thrust with respect to the body;
- a control system controlling the primary direction of thrust with respect to the body in which the one or more thrusters provides thrust;
- and
- an orientation sensor sensing the orientation of the body with respect to gravity;
- wherein the control system reverses the direction of thrust based on a signal from the orientation sensor that indicates the orientation of the body with respect to gravity has switched between the right-side-up orientation and the upside-down orientation.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.