System, method and apparatus for airship manufacture using robotics
AssigneeH2 Clipper, Inc.
InventorsRinaldo S. Brutoco, Robert H. Shelton, Michael R. Everman
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A system, method and apparatus are proposed to assist in assembling the frame, attaching the skin, and performing other tasks in manufacturing an airship and constructing other structures that are otherwise challenging, inefficient, or unsuitable for humans to perform, and/or that traditionally require significant investments in capital intensive manufacturing facilities. Several embodiments are proposed in which these and other recurring manufacturing tasks can be performed safely and efficiently with the assistance of autonomous, semi-autonomous, and/or human-directed robots, acting independently and in robot swarms.
Claims30
A method of robotically manufacturing an airship from the top down, the method comprising:
- placing a partial airship hull onto at least one truss held by at least one supporting robot;
- using one or more specialized robot worker classes to complete a construction task cycle on a selected work surface of said partial airship hull assembly thereby completing a construction task cycle on upper sections of the airship;
- robotically elevating the active assembly work surface of said partial airship hull assembly with at least one supporting lift robot;
- selecting a further lower active assembly work surface and robotically completing a construction task cycle on said further selected lower assembly work surface;
- and
- repeatedly elevating subsequent lower active assembly work surface and robotically completing a construction task cycle on subsequent selected lower active assembly work surfaces until the airship has been fully constructed.
A method of robotically manufacturing an airship,
- the method comprising:
- attaching a partially completed airship exoskeleton to a sled;
- inserting at least one post into at least one hub of the exoskeleton of the airship;
- attaching at least one cable to the at least one post;
- attaching at least one robot to the at least one cable;
- and
- utilizing the at least one robot to complete construction of the lighter than air airship, and
- wherein the at least one robot is in communication with one or more robots having a homogenous or heterogenous function forming a robotic swarm.
A method of robotically manufacturing an airship, the method comprising:
- placing part of the airship onto at least one truss held by at least one supporting robot;
- robotically completing part of a construction task on the airship;
- releasing at least one grip node of the at least one supporting robot and raising the at least one truss by rotating at least one recirculating track;
- robotically completing a construction task cycle on the airship;
- and
- repeating construction task cycle until the airship has been fully constructed.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.