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US 11,442,474 B2Granted
Adjusting load on tethered aircraft
AssigneeKitty Hawk Corporation
InventorsDamon Vander Lind, Gregory Mainland Horn
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A system for adjusting a load on a tethered aircraft is disclosed. The aircraft is tethered to a payload. The system determines a new position for the tethered aircraft in the event that due to environmental effects, e.g., the aircraft is flying upwind or downwind, the load experienced by the tethered aircraft is not optimal.
Claims21
A system to adjust a load including:
- an interface to receive wind information associated with a first aircraft included in a plurality of aircraft, wherein the plurality of aircraft includes a second aircraft, wherein the first aircraft and the second aircraft fly opposite from each other in an original elliptical trajectory;
- and
- a processor configured to:
- determine based at least in part on the wind information whether the first aircraft included in the plurality of aircraft tethered to a payload and flying initially in the original elliptical trajectory is flying upwind or downwind;
- in the event the first aircraft is determined to be flying downwind, cause the first aircraft to fly further from a vertical axis of the payload than a corresponding distance associated with the original elliptical trajectory;
- and
- in the event the first aircraft is determined to be flying upwind, cause the first aircraft to fly nearer to the vertical axis of the payload than a corresponding distance associated with the original elliptical trajectory, wherein:
- the first aircraft and the second aircraft maintain a set phase difference between each other;
- and
- in response to a determination that a variance in the set phase difference between the first aircraft and the second aircraft has been detected, perform one or more of the following:
- adjust a trajectory of at least one of the first aircraft and the second aircraft to maintain the set phase difference;
- adjust a throttle of at least one of the first aircraft and the second aircraft to maintain the set phase difference;
- and/or
- adjust a load of at least one of the first aircraft and the second aircraft to maintain the set phase difference.
11 more elements
A method for adjusting a load on a tethered aircraft, comprising:
- receiving wind information associated with a first aircraft included in a plurality of aircraft, wherein the plurality of aircraft includes a second aircraft, wherein the first aircraft and the second aircraft fly opposite from each other in an original elliptical trajectory;
- determining based at least in part on the wind information whether the first aircraft included in the plurality of aircraft tethered to a payload and flying initially in the original elliptical trajectory is flying upwind or downwind;
- in the event the first aircraft is determined to be flying downwind, causing the first aircraft to fly further from a vertical axis of the payload than a corresponding distance associated with the original elliptical trajectory;
- and
- in the event the first aircraft is determined to be flying upwind, causing the first aircraft to fly nearer to the vertical axis of the payload than a corresponding distance associated with the original elliptical trajectory, wherein:
- the first aircraft and the second aircraft maintain a set phase difference between each other;
- and
- in response to a determination that a variance in the set phase difference between the first aircraft and the second aircraft has been detected, perform one or more of the following:
- adjusting a trajectory of at least one of the first aircraft and the second aircraft to maintain the set phase difference;
- adjusting a throttle of at least one of the first aircraft and the second aircraft to maintain the set phase difference;
- and/or
- adjusting a load of at least one of the first aircraft and the second aircraft to maintain the set phase difference.
9 more elements
A non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising computer instructions for:
- receiving wind information associated with a first aircraft included in a plurality of aircraft, wherein the plurality of aircraft includes a second aircraft, wherein the first aircraft and the second aircraft fly opposite from each other in an original elliptical trajectory;
- determining based at least in part on the wind information whether the first aircraft included in the plurality of aircraft tethered to a payload and flying initially in the original elliptical trajectory is flying upwind or downwind;
- in the event the first aircraft is determined to be flying downwind, causing the first aircraft to fly further from a vertical axis of the payload than a corresponding distance associated with the original elliptical trajectory;
- and
- in the event the first aircraft is determined to be flying upwind, causing the first aircraft to fly nearer to the vertical axis of the payload than a corresponding distance associated with the original elliptical trajectory, wherein:
- the first aircraft and the second aircraft maintain a set phase difference between each other;
- and
- in response to a determination that a variance in the set phase difference between the first aircraft and the second aircraft has been detected, perform one or more of the following:
- adjusting a trajectory of at least one of the first aircraft and the second aircraft to maintain the set phase difference;
- adjusting a throttle of at least one of the first aircraft and the second aircraft to maintain the set phase difference;
- and/or
- adjusting a load of at least one of the first aircraft and the second aircraft to maintain the set phase difference.
9 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.