Unmanned aerial vehicle with underwater sonar scanning capability
AssigneeHydronalix, Inc.
InventorsAnthony C. Mulligan, Jaime Lara-Martinez, Drey Platt, Dylan Gutierrez, Eva Huie
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Abstract
An unmanned aerial system includes an unmanned aerial vehicle having a body and a primary propulsion system coupled to the body. The primary propulsion system includes at least one propeller and at least one motor coupled to the at least one propeller. The unmanned aerial system also includes a pair of landing gears coupled to the body of the unmanned aerial vehicle. Each landing gear of the pair of landing gears includes a buoyant elongated float. The unmanned aerial system also includes a SONAR device coupled to the unmanned aerial vehicle.
Claims21
An unmanned aerial system comprising:
- an unmanned aerial vehicle comprising:
- a body;
- and
- a primary propulsion system coupled to the body, the primary propulsion system comprising at least one propeller and at least one motor coupled to the at least one propeller;
- a pair of landing gears coupled to the body of the unmanned aerial vehicle, each landing gear of the pair of landing gears comprising a buoyant elongated float;
- a secondary propulsion system coupled to the pair of landing gears, the secondary propulsion system comprising a pump comprising an exit nozzle, and a motor coupled to the pump;
- a SONAR device coupled to the unmanned aerial vehicle;
- and
- a memory device coupled to the unmanned aerial vehicle and configured to contain a flight path planning algorithm and/or instructions for identifying and/or classifying objects detected by the SONAR device,
- wherein the unmanned aerial system is configured to generate a SONAR image while stationary on a surface of a body of water and while traversing along the surface of the body of water.
An unmanned aerial system comprising:
- an unmanned aerial vehicle comprising:
- a body;
- and
- a primary propulsion system coupled to the body;
- a pair of landing gears coupled to the body, each landing gear of the pair of landing gears comprising a buoyant elongated float;
- a secondary propulsion system coupled to the pair of landing gears, the secondary propulsion system comprising a pump comprising an exit nozzle, and a motor coupled to the pump;
- a SONAR device coupled to the unmanned aerial vehicle;
- a camera coupled to the body of the unmanned aerial vehicle;
- a weather station coupled to the body of the unmanned aerial vehicle;
- and
- a memory device coupled to the unmanned aerial vehicle and configured to contain a flight path planning algorithm and/or instructions for identifying and/or classifying objects detected by the SONAR device and/or the camera,
- wherein the unmanned aerial system is configured to generate a SONAR image while stationary on a surface of a body of water and while traversing along the surface of the body of water.
A method of surveying an environment, the method comprising:
- landing an unmanned aerial vehicle on a surface of a body of water;
- propelling the unmanned aerial vehicle along the surface of the body of water using a propulsion system of the unmanned aerial vehicle, the propulsion system comprising a pump comprising an exit nozzle, and a motor coupled to the pump;
- and
- scanning the body of water with a SONAR device of the unmanned aerial vehicle to generate an underwater topological map of the body of water,
- wherein a memory device of the unmanned aerial vehicle is configured to contain a flight path planning algorithm and/or instructions for identifying and/or classifying objects detected by the SONAR device, and
- wherein the unmanned aerial vehicle is configured to generate a SONAR image while stationary on the surface of the body of water and while traversing along the surface of the body of water.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.