Submersible drone delivery and recovery system using waterproof aerial drone
AssigneeTextron Innovations Inc.
InventorsBrian Erik Barnes, Gary Miller
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A submersion system for a rotorcraft is described and includes a control module for controlling a depth to which the rotorcraft is submerged in a body of water; a compressed air chamber associated with the control module; and at least one flotation pod including a sealable opening on a top surface thereof and an opening on a bottom surface thereof. The control module selectively causes water to be taken into the at least one flotation pod to cause the submersion system to submerge in the body of water and selectively causes water to be evacuated from the at least one flotation pod to cause the submersion system to float in the body of water.
Claims12
A submersible rotorcraft, comprising:
- a pair of wings;
- tail booms attached to opposite outboard ends of the wings;
- a control module for controlling a depth to which the rotorcraft is submerged in a body of water;
- a compressed air chamber associated with the control module;
- and
- flotation pods attached to ends of each of the tail booms distal to ends of the tail booms attached to the wings, each of the flotation pods including a sealable opening on a top surface thereof and an opening on a bottom surface thereof;
- wherein the control module selectively causes water to be taken into the flotation pods to cause the submersion system to submerge in the body of water and selectively causes water to be evacuated from the flotation pods to cause the rotorcraft to float in the body of water such that the wings are supported by the tail booms above a surface of the body of water;
- and
- wherein the control module selectively causes pressurized air from the compressed air chamber to be injected into the flotation pods.
A system comprising:
- a tail sitter aircraft, comprising:
- a pair of wings;
- and
- tail booms attached to opposite outboard ends of the wings;
- a submersion system connected to the tail sitter aircraft, the submersion system comprising:
- a control module for controlling a depth to which the tail sitter aircraft is submerged in a body of water;
- a compressed air chamber associated with the control module;
- and
- flotation pods attached to ends of each of the tail booms distal to ends of the tail booms attached to the wings, each of the flotation pods including a sealable opening on a top surface thereof and an opening on a bottom surface thereof;
- and
- an unmanned submersible exploration device, wherein the tail sitter aircraft is configured to provide aerial transportation for the unmanned submersible exploration device;
- wherein the control module selectively causes water to be taken into the flotation pods to cause at least a portion of the tail sitter aircraft to submerge in the body of water and selectively causes water to be evacuated from the flotation pods to cause the tail sitter aircraft to float in the body of water such that the wings are supported above a surface of the body of water by the tail booms;
- and
- wherein the control module selectively causes pressurized air from the compressed air chamber to be injected into the flotation pods.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.