Ground support equipment for a high altitude long endurance aircraft
AssigneeAeroVironment, Inc.
InventorTom Millspaugh
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Systems, devices, and methods for a ground support system for an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) including: at least one handling fixture, where each handling fixture is configured to support at least one wing panel of the UAV; and at least one dolly, where each dolly is configured to receive at least one landing pod of the UAV, and where each landing pod supports at least one wing panel of the UAV; where the at least one handling fixture and the at least one dolly are configured to move and rotate two or more wing panels to align the two or more wing panels with each other for assembly of the UAV; and where the at least one dolly further allows for transportation of the UAV over uneven terrain.
Claims20
A ground support system for an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) comprising:
- at least one or more handling fixtures, wherein each handling fixture is configured to support at least one wing panel of the UAV;
- and
- at least one or more dollys, wherein each dolly is configured to receive at least one landing pod of the UAV, and wherein each landing pod supports at least one wing panel of the UAV;
- wherein two or more wing panels of the UAV are configured to align with each other, by at least one of:
- the at least one or more handling fixtures and the at least one or more dollys, for assembly of the UAV.
A method for ground support for an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) comprising:
- supporting at least one wing panel of the UAV by at least one or more handling fixtures;
- receiving at least one landing pod of the UAV by at least one or more dollys, wherein each landing pod supports at least one wing panel of the UAV;
- and
- aligning two or more wing panels with each other for assembly of the UAV by at least one or more of:
- the at least one or more handling fixtures and the at least one or more dollys.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.