Altitude control system

A system comprising:

• an altitude control system for an unmanned aerial vehicle comprising:
• a compressor assembly including:
• a compressor housing comprised of a first material having a first coefficient of thermal expansion (“CTE”);
• a rotating shaft assembly coupled to the compressor housing and including:
• a driveshaft comprised of a second material having a second CTE;
• and
• a bearing assembly coupled to the driveshaft, the bearing assembly including an interior race extending around the driveshaft and a distal race extending around and spaced apart from the interior ring;
• an axially movable bearing carrier housing the bearing assembly, the bearing carrier including a first upper portion, a second lower portion, and an intermediate projection therebetween;
• a motor coupled to the rotating shaft assembly;
• and
• a biasing element coupled to the bearing carrier and configured to bias the bearing carrier toward the bearing assembly so as to preload the bearing assembly;
• and
• an envelope configured to retain a ballast gas therein, wherein the compressor assembly is configured to regulate an amount of air within the envelope, and wherein the first CTE and the second CTE are different such that the first material is configured to expand at a rate that is different than the second material as ambient temperature changes.

A system comprising:

• an altitude control system for an unmanned aerial vehicle comprising:
• a compressor assembly comprising:
• a compressor housing comprised of a first material having a first coefficient of thermal expansion (“CTE”);
• a rotating driveshaft coupled to the compressor housing, the rotating driveshaft comprised of a second material having a second CTE;
• a bearing assembly coupled to the driveshaft, the bearing assembly including an interior race extending around the driveshaft, a distal race extending around and spaced apart from the interior race by ball bearings positioned between the interior and distal races;
• and
• a preloading mechanism configured to dynamically compensate for differences in the first CTE and second CTE throughout a flight of the unmanned aerial vehicle by continually changing a preloading force applied to the bearing assembly.

A system comprising:

• an altitude control system for an unmanned aerial vehicle comprising:
• an inlet opening to an interior portion of the unmanned aerial vehicle, the inlet opening having a circumferential area;
• a diffuser above the inlet, the diffuser includes a passageway between an upper portion of the diffuser and a lower portion of the diffuser;
• wherein the diffuser is configured to allow air to exit radially outward from the system;
• and
• a valve assembly coupled to the inlet opening including:
• a valve head configured to move into and away from the inlet opening so as to change a size of the circumferential area of the inlet opening;
• a driveshaft coupled to the valve head at a first end;
• and
• a motor assembly coupled to a second end of the driveshaft, wherein the valve head is configured to move between a first fully extended position within the inlet opening and a second retracted position away from the inlet opening, and wherein when the valve head is in the first fully extended position, the valve head is arranged to occupy an entire circumferential area of the inlet opening thereby prohibiting free flow of contents into and out of the inlet opening.

An altitude control system for an unmanned aerial vehicle comprising:

• a compressor assembly including:
• a compressor housing including an inlet, an entrance to the inlet, an outlet, and a central cavity extending therethrough and joining the inlet to the outlet;
• a diffuser coupled to the compressor housing;
• the diffuser having a lower portion, an upper portion and a passageway extending between the lower portion and the upper portion;
• a motor housing disposed within the central cavity at the inlet of the compressor housing;
• a motor disposed within the motor housing;
• an impeller disposed at an outlet of the compressor housing, the impeller coupled to a driveshaft for rotation therewith, wherein the impeller overlies the motor housing such that the motor housing is positioned between the impeller and the entrance to the inlet;
• wherein the diffuser has a planar configuration;
• wherein the lower portion is curved and the upper portion is curved and
• wherein the passageway exhausts radially outward proximate to a perimeter of the lower portion and a perimeter of the upper portion.

A system comprising:

• an altitude control system for an unmanned aerial vehicle comprising:
• an inlet opening to an interior portion of the unmanned aerial vehicle, the inlet opening having a circumferential area;
• a valve assembly coupled to the inlet opening including:
• a valve head configured to move into and away from the inlet opening so as to change a size of the circumferential area of the inlet opening;
• a driveshaft coupled to the valve head at a first end;
• and
• a motor assembly coupled to a second end of the driveshaft, wherein the valve head is configured to move between a first fully extended position within the inlet opening and a second retracted position away from the inlet opening, and wherein when the valve head is in the first fully extended position, the valve head is arranged to occupy an entire circumferential area of the inlet opening thereby prohibiting free flow of contents into and out of the inlet opening;
• wherein the shape of the diffuser has a planar configuration and is configured to distribute the air radially away from the system.