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US 10,870,558 B2Granted
Integrated suspended load control apparatuses, systems, and methods
AssigneeVita Inclinata Technologies, Inc.
InventorsDerek Sikora, Caleb B. Carr, Adam L. K. Philipp
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Load control apparatuses, systems and methods to control a location, orientation, or rotation of a suspended load by imparting thrust vectors to the suspended load or to a structure that holds the load. The load control apparatuses, systems and method may be integrated into a structure that holds a load, such as a rescue litter. The load control apparatuses, systems, and methods may be modular. The modular load control apparatuses, systems, and methods may be secured to a load or to a structure that holds the load.
Claims18
A load control system to influence at least one of a position, orientation, or motion of a load suspended by a cable from a carrier, comprising:
- a litter frame, a plurality of thrusters, a sensor suite, a first fan unit and a second fan unit, wherein the first fan unit comprises a first thruster and a second thruster in the plurality of thrusters and wherein the second fan unit comprises a third thruster and a fourth thruster in the plurality of thrusters, and wherein the first fan unit and the second fan unit are at opposite ends of the litter frame, and a computer processor and memory, wherein the memory comprises a thrust control module which, when executed by the computer processor, determines a position, orientation, or motion based on a sensor data from the sensor suite and controls the plurality of thrusters according to the position, orientation, or motion to influence at least one of the position, orientation, or motion of the load and wherein the plurality of thrusters, sensor suite, and computer processor and memory are integrated into the litter frame.
A load control system to influence at least one of a position, orientation, or motion of a load suspended by a cable from a carrier, comprising:
- a litter frame, a plurality of thrusters, a sensor suite, and a computer processor and memory, wherein the memory comprises a thrust control module which, when executed by the computer processor, determines a position, orientation, or motion based on a sensor data from the sensor suite and controls the plurality of thrusters according to the position, orientation, or motion to influence at least one of the position, orientation, or motion of the load and wherein the plurality of thrusters, sensor suite, and computer processor and memory are integrated into the litter frame, wherein a sensor in the sensor suite is located in or proximate to one of a fan unit, a housing for the computer processor, a housing for a power controller, a housing for a power supply, the carrier, or a remote interface and wherein the sensor is located to provide a line-of-sight view of at least one of a ground surface or the carrier.
A load control system to influence at least one of a position, orientation, or motion of a load suspended by a cable from a carrier, comprising:
- a litter frame, a plurality of thrusters, a sensor suite, and a computer processor and memory, wherein the memory comprises a thrust control module which, when executed by the computer processor, determines a position, orientation, or motion based on a sensor data from the sensor suite and controls the plurality of thrusters according to the position, orientation, or motion to influence at least one of the position, orientation, or motion of the load and wherein the plurality of thrusters, sensor suite, and computer processor and memory are integrated into the litter frame, further comprising a first housing containing the processor and memory and a power supply and wherein the processor executes the thrust control module in the memory to control the plurality of thrusters to influence at least one of the position, orientation, or motion of the load to impart a torque on the load, the power supply is a first power supply and further comprising a second housing for a second power supply and wherein the processor executes the thrust control module in the memory to control the plurality of thrusters to influence at least one of the position, orientation, or motion of the load to impart one of the horizontal thrust vector or the torque on the load.
A computer implemented method to influence at least one of a position, orientation, or motion of a load suspended by a cable from a carrier, comprising:
- determining a position, orientation, or motion of the load based on a sensor data from a sensor suite and controlling a plurality of thrusters according to the position, orientation, or motion to influence at least one of the position, orientation, or motion of the load, wherein the plurality of thrusters, sensor suite, a computer processor and memory to implement the method are integrated into a litter frame, wherein the plurality of thrusters are in a first fan unit and a second fan unit, wherein the first fan unit and the second fan unit are at opposite ends of the litter frame, wherein the first fan unit comprises a first thruster and a second thruster in the plurality of thrusters, and further comprising drawing thrust fluid into the first fan unit through an air intake located between the first thruster and the second thruster.
A computer implemented method to influence at least one of a position, orientation, or motion of a load suspended by a cable from a carrier, comprising:
- determining a position, orientation, or motion of the load based on a sensor data from a sensor suite and controlling a plurality of thrusters according to the position, orientation, or motion to influence at least one of the position, orientation, or motion of the load, wherein the plurality of thrusters, sensor suite, a computer processor and memory to implement the method are integrated into a litter frame, further comprising determining the position, orientation, or motion by combining the sensor data from the sensor suite through a non-linear filter to determine a current state, wherein the current state comprises the position, orientation, or motion, further comprising projecting near-term future motion based on the current state, wherein projecting near-term future motion based on the current state comprises updating the current state with feedback from at least one of a functional mode or command state of an operational module, a thrust and orientation mapping, or a fan mapping.
A computer implemented method to influence at least one of a position, orientation, or motion of a load suspended by a cable from a carrier, comprising:
- determining a position, orientation, or motion of the load based on a sensor data from a sensor suite and controlling a plurality of thrusters according to the position, orientation, or motion to influence at least one of the position, orientation, or motion of the load, wherein the plurality of thrusters, sensor suite, a computer processor and memory to implement the method are integrated into a litter frame, and further comprising determining the position, orientation, or motion by combining the sensor data from the sensor suite through a non-linear filter to determine a current state, wherein the current state comprises the position, orientation, or motion, and further comprising projecting near-term future motion based on the current state, wherein projecting near-term future motion based on the current state comprises updating the current state with feedback from at least one of a functional mode or command state of an operational module, a thrust and orientation mapping, or a fan mapping and further comprising controlling the plurality of thrusters to control the motion of the load by outputting an output control to the plurality of thrusters based on the fan mapping.
An apparatus for control of a motion of a load suspended by a cable from a carrier, comprising:
- means comprising a computer processor and memory to determine a position, orientation, or motion based on a sensor data from a sensor suite and means to control a plurality of thrusters according to the position, orientation, or motion to influence at least one of the position, orientation, or motion of the load, wherein the plurality of thrusters, sensor suite, the computer processor and memory are integrated into a litter frame, wherein a sensor in the sensor suite is located in or proximate to one of a fan unit, a housing for the computer processor, a housing for a power controller, a housing for a power supply, the carrier, or a remote interface and wherein the sensor is located to provide a line-of-sight view of at least one of a ground surface or the carrier.
One or more non-transitory computer-readable media comprising instructions that cause a computer device, in response to execution of the instructions by a processor of the computer device, to:
- determine a position, orientation, or motion of a load suspended by a cable from a carrier based on a sensor data from a sensor suite and control a plurality of thrusters according to the position, orientation, or motion to influence at least one of the position, orientation, or motion of the load, wherein the plurality of thrusters, sensor suite, the computer processor, and a memory comprising the instructions are integrated into a litter frame and wherein the load comprises the litter frame and wherein a sensor in the sensor suite is located in or proximate to one of a fan unit, a housing for the computer processor, a housing for a power controller, a housing for a power supply, the carrier, or a remote interface and wherein the sensor is located to provide a line-of-sight view of at least one of a ground surface or the carrier.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.