Cooling systems for unmanned aerial vehicles
AssigneeSkydio, Inc.
InventorsYevgeniy Andreyevich Kozlenko, Asher Mendel Robbins-Rothman, Kellen James Waterman O'Rourke, Benjamin Scott Thompson, Brett Nicholas Randolph, Enyu Luo, Jack Zi Qi Ye
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that includes: a front chassis defining an intake port; a rear chassis defining an exhaust port and providing a heatsink for the UAV; and a blower that is located immediately rearward of the intake port so as to facilitate unobstructed airflow through the intake port and into the blower. The blower is configured to direct air through the UAV along an airflow path that extends from the intake port to the exhaust port to thereby cool the UAV.
Claims17
An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) comprising:
- front arms;
- front propellers supported by the front arms;
- rear arms;
- rear propellers supported by the rear arms;
- a chassis including:
- a front chassis defining an intake port and supporting the front arms;
- and
- a rear chassis defining an exhaust port, wherein the rear chassis includes a heatsink for the UAV and supports the rear arms such that the front arms and the rear arms extend outwardly from the chassis;
- and
- a blower located immediately rearward of and positioned adjacent to the intake port so as to facilitate unobstructed airflow through the intake port and into the blower, wherein the blower is configured to direct air through the UAV along an airflow path that extends from the intake port to the exhaust port to cool the UAV, wherein the blower is configured to draw air into the intake port along a first axis and redirect the air along a second axis oriented in substantially orthogonal relation to the first axis, wherein the intake port and the exhaust port are spaced axially along an overall length of the UAV and define transverse cross-sectional dimensions extending in substantially perpendicular relation to the overall length of the UAV, wherein the first axis is oriented in substantially parallel relation to the overall length of the UAV.
An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) comprising:
- a chassis defining an intake port located at a front end of the UAV and an exhaust port located at a rear end of the UAV such that the intake port and the exhaust port are spaced along an overall length of the UAV, wherein the chassis provides a heatsink for the UAV, wherein the intake port and the exhaust port define transverse cross-sectional dimensions extending in substantially perpendicular relation to the overall length of the UAV;
- at least one processor supported by the heatsink such that the heatsink distributes heat away from the at least one processor;
- and
- a blower located rearwardly of the intake port and configured to draw air into the intake port along a first axis extending in substantially parallel relation to the overall length of the UAV and redirect the air along a second axis oriented in substantially orthogonal relation to the first axis so as to direct the air across the heatsink and remove heat from the UAV through the exhaust port.
A method of cooling an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), the method comprising:
- drawing air into the UAV through an intake port using a blower located adjacent to the intake port so as to facilitate unobstructed airflow through the intake port and into the blower;
- redirecting airflow by approximately 90 degrees such that the air is directed across a heatsink in the UAV to distribute heat away from at least one processor secured to the heatsink;
- and
- directing the air through an exhaust port to remove heat from the UAV, wherein the intake port and the exhaust port are spaced along an overall length of the UAV and define transverse cross-sectional dimensions extending in substantially perpendicular relation to the overall length of the UAV, wherein the air is drawn into the UAV along an axis extending in substantially parallel relation to the overall length of the UAV.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.