Morphing structures with light-responsive polymers
AssigneesToyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc., Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorsYuyang Song, Shailesh N. Joshi, Danil V. Prokhorov, Umesh N. Gandhi
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Abstract
A morphing aerodynamic structure includes a body with an outer covering, a bridle attached to the body, and a light-response polymer disposed on at least one of the outer covering and the bridle. The light-responsive polymer is configured to change shape when illuminated with a laser such that at least one of an angle of attack, roll, pitch and yaw of the morphing aerodynamic structure is at least partially controlled without the use of a mechanical or pneumatic control unit.
Claims17
A morphing aerodynamic structure comprising:
- a body with an outer covering;
- a bridle attached to the body;
- and
- a light-responsive polymer disposed on the bridle, the light-responsive polymer configured to change shape when illuminated with a laser such that the bridle changes shape and at least one of an angle of attack, roll, pitch, and yaw of the morphing aerodynamic structure is controlled when the light-responsive polymer is illuminated with the laser.
A morphing aerodynamic structure comprising:
- a body with an outer covering;
- a bridle attached to the body;
- a light-response polymer disposed on at least one of an outer surface and an inner surface of the outer covering such that a roll, pitch and yaw of the morphing aerodynamic structure is controlled when the light-responsive polymer is illuminated with a laser;
- and
- an air-based laser separate from the body configured to illuminate the light-responsive polymer with the laser,
- wherein the air-based laser is a balloon-based laser.
A morphing aerodynamic structure comprising:
- a body with an outer covering;
- a bridle attached to the body;
- a light-response polymer disposed on the bridle and at least one of an outer surface and an inner surface of the outer covering such that a roll, pitch and yaw of the morphing aerodynamic structure is controlled when the light-responsive polymer is illuminated with a laser;
- and
- a land-based laser configured to illuminate the light-responsive polymer with the laser.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.