US 12,600,473 B1Granted

Aeromechanical line climber

AssigneeUnited States of America as represented by the Administrator of NASA

InventorsGeoffrey Bland, Joseph Bretthauer, Ted Miles, Kay Rufty, Douglas Stout

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Abstract

Embodiments may provide a “aeromechanical line climber” device that uses aerodynamic forces and moments to alternatively ascend and descend a line, or tether, fixed to an airborne platform, such as a kite, a balloon, a blimp, an aircraft, etc. In various embodiments, an aeromechanical line climber may alternatively ascend and descend a line, or tether, fixed to an airborne platform, such as a kite, a balloon, a blimp, an aircraft, etc., without use of energy provided from an energy storage and/or generation system, such as without electrical and/or kinetic energy storage and/or generation system, and the aeromechanical line climber may alternatively ascend and descend the line, or tether, fixed to the airborne platform without use of an active control system to effect a change in lift of the aeromechanical line climber.

Claims18

Dependent claims

An airborne system, comprising:

an airborne platform;
an anchor system positioned on a first surface;
a tether connected to the airborne platform and to the anchor system;
an upper mechanical stop connected to the tether;
a lower mechanical stop connected to the tether;
and
an aeromechanical line climber having a lifting surface and a pivot point, the lifting surface having a leading edge, the aeromechanical line climber is configured to moveably couple to the tether between the upper mechanical stop and the lower mechanical stop,
wherein, when the airborne platform is supporting the tether aloft above the first surface a and the aeromechanical line climber is coupled to the tether and aloft above the first surface, the aeromechanical line climber is configured to repeatedly ascend and descend the tether relative to the first surface between the upper mechanical stop and the lower mechanical stop in response to a lifting force acting on the aeromechanical line climber and mechanical forces generated by interactions of the aeromechanical line climber with the upper mechanical stop and the lower mechanical stop,
wherein the airborne platform and the anchor system are controlled based on attachment to the tether with said upper mechanical stop, a tether length “tL”, and a line angle θ, wherein the upper mechanical stop is held at a selected upper altitude (uA) representing a selected highest climb altitude for the aeromechanical line climber above the lifting surface, and the airborne platform and anchor system are controlled based on attachment to the tether of the lower mechanical stop, the tether length “tL”, and the line angle θ,
wherein the aeromechanical line climber in a first position has the leading edge of the lifting surface pitched up away from the first surface such that the aeromechanical line climber is configured to climb the tether toward the upper mechanical stop, and
wherein the aeromechanical line climber in a second position has the leading edge of the lifting surface pitched down toward the first surface such that the aeromechanical line climber is configured to descend the tether toward the lower mechanical stop, wherein the pivot point is located aft of the lifting surface on the aeromechanical line climber in the second position.

8 more elements

An aeromechanical line climber, comprising:

a lifting surface having a leading edge;
a line attachment system configured to moveably couple the aeromechanical line climber to a tether;
and
a hinged connection configured to enable the lifting surface to pivot and change an angle of attack of the lifting surface when the aeromechanical line climber is coupled to the tether and aloft between an upper mechanical stop on the tether and a lower mechanical stop on the tether,
wherein, while the aeromechanical line climber is coupled to the tether and aloft between the upper mechanical stop on the tether and the lower mechanical stop on the tether,
wherein the aeromechanical line climber is configured to repeatedly ascend and descend the tether between the upper mechanical stop and the lower mechanical stop in response to a lifting force acting on the lifting surface and mechanical forces generated by interactions of the aeromechanical line climber with the upper mechanical stop and the lower mechanical stop,
wherein the aeromechanical line climber in a first position has the leading edge of the lifting surface pitched up away from the lower mechanical stop such that the aeromechanical line climber is configured to climb the tether toward the upper mechanical stop,
wherein the aeromechanical line climber in a second position has the leading edge of the lifting surface pitched down away from the upper mechanical stop such that the aeromechanical line climber is configured to descend the tether toward the lower mechanical stop, and
a wherein the hinged connection is located aft of the lifting surface in the second position.

6 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.