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AssigneeAltaeros Energies, Inc.
InventorsBenjamin William Glass, Benjamin Ryan Bollinger, Igor Braverman, Peter Carleton Mitton, Jr., Ephraim R. Lanford
Estimating the term…
Embodiments disclosed herein enable routine autonomous execution of at least some major phases of aerostat operation in response to commands from human or automated external operators, a built-in decision-making capacity, or both. Various embodiments combine one or more actively controlled tethers, aerodynamic aerostat control surfaces, mechanical assistive devices (e.g., jointed arms attached to a ground station), and/or active propulsors attached to the aerostat to govern aerostat behavior during launch, flight, and landing phases of operation. Some embodiments enable automatic autonomous performance of all phases of routine post-commissioning aerostat operation, including launch, flight, and landing, without any routine need for availability of a human crew.
A method of controlling landing of an aerostat with a computerized flight controller, the aerostat being attached to a ground station with one or more tethers, the method comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.