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US 11,077,935 B2Granted
Thruster based locomotion for perched unmanned aerial vehicles
AssigneeSaudi Arabian Oil Company
InventorsPablo Carrasco Zanini, Hassane Trigui
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A system for landing and locomoting on a surface of a structure comprises an unmanned aerial vehicle having a plurality of independently controllable thrusters and an undercarriage including a frame with wheels at corners. The undercarriage further includes a plurality of bars pivotally coupled at respective first ends to the frame and coupled at respective second ends to the unmanned aerial vehicle; wherein the unmanned aerial vehicle is operative to differentially activate the plurality of thrusters so as to tilt with respect to the frame of the undercarriage and to cause a net resultant force on the undercarriage to locomote on the surface of the structure.
Claims17
A system for landing and locomoting on a surface of a structure comprising:
- an unmanned aerial vehicle having a plurality of independently controllable thrusters;
- and an undercarriage including a frame having a plurality of corners, a set of wheels with each wheel coupled to a respective corner of the frame, and a plurality of bars pivotally coupled at respective first ends to the frame and coupled at respective second ends to the unmanned aerial vehicle,
- wherein the unmanned aerial vehicle is operative to differentially activate the plurality of thrusters so as to tilt with respect to the frame of the undercarriage and to exert a net resultant force that causes the undercarriage to locomote on the surface of the structure,
- wherein the unmanned aerial vehicle includes a processor configured with program code for controlling kinetic behavior of the unmanned aerial vehicle according to a flight mode, a locomotion mode, and a perch mode,
- wherein in flight mode, the processor determines a location and orientation of the surface of the structure relative to the unmanned aerial vehicle and calculates a) a trajectory for landing the unmanned aerial vehicle onto a target location on the surface of the structure from an airborne position based on the determined location and orientation, and b) a sequence in which to activate and deactivate the thrusters in order to move in the calculated trajectory.
2 more elements
A system for landing and locomoting on a surface of a structure comprising:
- an unmanned aerial vehicle having a plurality of independently controllable thrusters;
- and an undercarriage including a frame having a plurality of corners, a set of wheels with each wheel coupled to a respective corner of the frame, and a plurality of bars pivotally coupled at respective first ends to the frame and coupled at respective second ends to the unmanned aerial vehicle,
- wherein the unmanned aerial vehicle is operative to differentially activate the plurality of thrusters so as to tilt with respect to the frame of the undercarriage and to exert a net resultant force that causes the undercarriage to locomote on the surface of the structure,
- wherein the unmanned aerial vehicle includes a processor configured with program code for controlling kinetic behavior of the unmanned aerial vehicle according to a flight mode, a locomotion mode, and a perch mode,
- wherein in perch mode, the processor determines an orientation of the undercarriage with respect to gravity and the surface of the structure and activates the thrusters so as to keep the wheels of the undercarriage in contact with the surface of the structure.
2 more elements
A system for landing and locomoting on a surface of a structure comprising:
- an unmanned aerial vehicle having a plurality of independently controllable thrusters;
- and an undercarriage including a frame having a plurality of corners, a set of wheels with each wheel coupled to a respective corner of the frame, and a plurality of bars pivotally coupled at respective first ends to the frame and coupled at respective second ends to the unmanned aerial vehicle,
- wherein the unmanned aerial vehicle is operative to differentially activate the plurality of thrusters so as to tilt with respect to the frame of the undercarriage and to exert a net resultant force that causes the undercarriage to locomote on the surface of the structure,
- wherein the unmanned aerial vehicle includes a processor configured with program code for controlling kinetic behavior of the unmanned aerial vehicle according to a flight mode, a locomotion mode, and a perch mode,
- wherein in locomotion mode, the processor determines a location and an orientation of the undercarriage with respect to gravity, and the surface of the structure and calculates a trajectory for locomoting the unmlanned aerial vehicle on the surface of the structure to a target location on the structure based on the determined location and orientation.
2 more elements
A method of landing and locomoting on a surface of a structure using an unmanned aerial vehicle having controllable thrusters, the method comprising:
- coupling an undercarriage including a frame having a plurality of corners, a set of wheels with each wheel coupled to a respective corner of the frame, and a plurality of pivotable bars to the unmanned aerial vehicle;
- controlling the thrusters of the unmanned aerial vehicle so as to tilt the pivotable bars of the undercarriage with respect to the frame and exert a resultant force on the undercarriage that causes the undercarriage to locomote on the surface of the structure;
- determining a kinetic mode for the unmanned vehicle consisting of one of a flight mode, a locomotion mode, and a perch mode;
- and
- in flight mode, determining a location and orientation of the surface of the structure relative to the unmanned aerial vehicle and calculating a) a trajectory for landing the unmanned aerial vehicle onto a target location on the surface of the structure from an airborne position based on the determined location and orientation, and b) a sequence in which to activate and deactivate the thrusters in order to move in the calculated trajectory.
2 more elements
A method of landing and locomoting on a surface of a structure using an unmanned aerial vehicle having controllable thrusters, the method comprising:
- coupling an undercarriage including a frame having a plurality of corners, a set of wheels with each wheel coupled to a respective corner of the frame, and a plurality of pivotable bars to the unmanned aerial vehicle;
- controlling the thrusters of the unmanned aerial vehicle so as to tilt the pivotable bars of the undercarriage with respect to the frame and exert a resultant force on the undercarriage that causes the undercarriage to locomote on the surface of the structure;
- determining a kinetic mode for the unmanned vehicle consisting of one of a flight mode, a locomotion mode, and a perch mode;
- and
- in perch mode, determining an orientation of the undercarriage with respect to gravity and the surface of the structure and activating the thrusters so as to keep the wheels of the undercarriage in contact with the surface of the structure.
2 more elements
A method of landing and locomoting on a surface of a structure using an unmanned aerial vehicle having controllable thrusters, the method comprising:
- coupling an undercarriage including a frame having a plurality of corners, a set of wheels with each wheel coupled to a respective corner of the frame, and a plurality of pivotable bars to the unmanned aerial vehicle;
- controlling the thrusters of the unmanned aerial vehicle so as to tilt the pivotable bars of the undercarriage with respect to the frame and exert a resultant force on the undercarriage that causes the undercarriage to locomote on the surface of the structure;
- determining a kinetic mode for the unmanned vehicle consisting of one of a flight mode, a locomotion mode, and a perch mode;
- and
- in locomotion mode, determining a location and an orientation of the undercarriage with respect to gravity and the surface of the structure and calculating a trajectory for locomoting the unmanned aerial vehicle on the surface of the structure to a target location on the structure based on the determined location and orientation.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.