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US 10,399,400 B2Granted
Extended duration autonomous craft
AssigneeThe Boeing Company
InventorsScott Hartshorn, Keith Daniel Humfeld
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Autonomous craft capable of extended duration operations as lighter-than-air craft, having the ability to alight on the surface of a body of water and generate hydrogen gas for lift via electrolysis using power derived from a photovoltaic system, as well as methods of launching an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) having a deployable envelope from a surface of a body of water.
Claims23
An autonomous craft, comprising:
- a hull structure configurable to support the craft on a surface of a body of water;
- an inflatable envelope coupled to the hull structure, the envelope capable of containing an amount of hydrogen gas sufficient to render the autonomous craft lighter-than-air;
- a storage battery electrically coupled to an electrical network that is configured to store electricity from the network and discharge electricity into the network;
- a photovoltaic system that is coupled to the electrical network, the photovoltaic system including one or more photovoltaic panels and configured to generate electricity from light on the photovoltaic panels;
- an electrolysis apparatus coupled to and powered by the electrical network, configured to electrolyze ambient water to generate hydrogen gas when the craft is near to or supported on the surface of the body of water;
- a hydrogen gas handling system, including a storage tank, where the gas handling system is configured to compress and store hydrogen gas generated by the electrolysis apparatus in the storage tank;
- to release compressed hydrogen gas from the storage tank into the inflatable envelope;
- and to compress and store hydrogen withdrawn from the inflatable envelope in the storage tank;
- and
- a processing system configured to control the electrical network, the photovoltaic system, the storage battery, and the electrolysis apparatus;
- wherein the processing system is configured to control a buoyancy of the autonomous craft by varying an amount of hydrogen contained within the envelope.
8 more elements
An autonomous craft comprising:
- a vessel configured to alternately float upon a water surface and to float aloft as a lighter-than-air craft using a hydrogen gas supply for buoyancy;
- the vessel including a photovoltaic array for providing power and an electrolysis apparatus for electrolyzing water while floating on the water surface to replenish the hydrogen gas supply.
A method of launching an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) having a deployable envelope from a surface of a body of water, comprising:
- electrolyzing by the UAV water from the body of water to generate hydrogen gas;
- adding the hydrogen gas to the deployable envelope to increase the buoyancy of the UAV;
- and
- lifting the UAV from the surface of the body of water.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.