Methods of climb and glide operations of a high altitude long endurance aircraft
AssigneeAeroVironment, Inc.
InventorsDerek Lisoski, Bart Dean Hibbs
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Systems, devices, and methods including: at least one unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV); at least one battery pack comprising at least one battery; and at least one motor of the at least one UAV, where the at least one battery is configured to transfer energy to the at least one motor; where power from the at least one motor is configured to ascend the at least one UAV to a second altitude when the at least one battery is at or near capacity, and where the second altitude is higher than the first altitude; and where power from the at least one motor is configured to descend the at least one UAV to the first altitude after the Sun has set to conserve energy stored in the at least one battery.
Claims20
A system, comprising:
- at least one battery pack comprising at least one battery and at least one power tracker, wherein the power tracker is configured to:
- receive energy from at least one solar array;
- and
- regulate and supply the received energy to the at least one battery based on a time of day;
- wherein when the at least one battery is at or near capacity as the solar array is still capturing solar radiation, excess energy dissipated from the at least one solar array is configured to be transferred to at least one motor;
- wherein the excess energy from the at least one motor is configured to ascend at least one unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to a second altitude, and wherein the second altitude is higher than the first altitude;
- and
- wherein power from the at least one motor is configured to descend the at least one UAV to the first altitude after the Sun has set to conserve energy stored in the at least one battery.
A method, comprising:
- transferring energy stored in at least one battery to at least one motor of at least one unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), wherein the at least one UAV is at a first altitude, wherein when the at least one battery is at or near capacity as at least one solar array is still capturing solar radiation, excess energy dissipated from the at least one solar array is configured to be transferred to the at least one motor;
- ascending, by the at least one UAV, via using the transferred excess energy of the at least one motor of the at least one UAV, to a second altitude, wherein the second altitude is higher than the first altitude;
- and
- descending, by the at least one UAV, from the second altitude to the first altitude after the Sun has set to conserve energy stored in the at least one battery.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.