Unmanned aerial vehicle for painting structures
AssigneeGraco Minnesota Inc.
InventorsDavid J. Thompson, Dale D. Johnson
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) includes a sprayer configured to generate a pressurized fluid flow and a nozzle configured to receive the pressurized fluid from the sprayer and to generate a spray fan to apply the fluid to a surface. The UAV includes sensors and a control unit to control both flight of the UAV and spraying by the sprayer. The fluid can be stored onboard the UAV in a reservoir or can be remotely stored and pumped to the UAV. The UAV control unit can be preloaded with a spray plan and a flight plan, or the UAV can be controlled by a user.
Claims20
An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for spraying a fluid on a surface of a structure, the UAV comprising:
- a UAV body supporting at least one lift rotor configured to operationally drive the UAV body;
- a nozzle supported by the UAV body, the nozzle configured to release the fluid as a spray on the surface;
- a first arm extending from the UAV body and supporting a first lift rotor;
- a second arm extending from the UAV body and supporting a second lift rotor;
- and
- a control unit supported by the UAV body, the control unit configured to implement a force compensation routine in response to a start spray command, the force compensation routine causing a forward thrust to be applied to the UAV body to counteract a rearward thrust generated by release of the fluid through the nozzle and such that generation of the forward thrust is initiated prior to the release of the fluid.
An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for spraying a fluid on a surface of a structure, the UAV comprising:
- a UAV body supporting at least one lift rotor configured to operationally drive the UAV body;
- a nozzle supported by the UAV body, the nozzle configured to release the fluid as a spray on the surface;
- a first arm extending from the UAV body and supporting a first lift rotor;
- a second arm extending from the UAV body and supporting a second lift rotor;
- and
- a control unit supported by the UAV body, the control unit configured to:
- cause release of the fluid through the nozzle in response to a start spray command;
- and
- causing a force compensation rotor to generate forward thrust to counteract rearward thrust generated by the release of the spray fluid through the nozzle;
- wherein the control unit is configured to implement a delay between causing the generation of the forward thrust and causing release of the fluid through the nozzle.
A method of spraying with an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), the method comprising:
- receiving a start spray command at a control unit of the UAV;
- causing, by the control unit and in response to the start spray command, a forward thrust to be applied to the UAV body;
- and
- after initiating the forward thrust, causing, by the control unit and in response to the start spray command, release of a spray of spray fluid from a nozzle supported by a UAV body of the UAV, the UAV body supporting at least one lift rotor configured to operationally drive the UAV body.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.