Load placement system
AssigneeColumbia Helicopters, Inc.
InventorsRobert Lee Roedts, II, Steven Edmund Bandy
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A load placement system precisely places slung loads by allowing a helicopter pilot to essentially reel the load to the ground. The placement system uses lead lines on the slung load that can be connected to the ground by support personnel. A winch system is connected to the lead lines and guides the load to an intended location. The placement system eliminates at least some of the ground personnel previously needed for pulling the load to a target location and orientation. The placement system may eliminate substantially all ground personnel by using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to automatically connect the lead lines to the ground. The UAVs also may actively control the slung load while in flight to reduce pilot workload and enable higher transport speeds.
Claims23
A load placement system, comprising:
- one or more lead lines configured to attach to a load carried by a helicopter;
- and
- a winch system configured to attach to the helicopter and including one or more reels for reeling the lead lines in and out, the winch system further configured to slacken the lead lines so lower ends of the lead lines can connect to a target location on a ground surface and reel in and tighten the lead lines so the load while being carried by the helicopter is guided onto the target location on the ground surface.
A load placement system for controlling one or more lead lines attached to a load carried by a helicopter, the load placement system comprising:
- one or more unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) configured to attach to lower ends of the lead lines;
- and
- processing devices located in the UAVs configured to move the lower ends of the lead lines to a target location on a ground surface.
A load placement system for controlling a load carried by a helicopter, the load placement system comprising:
- one or more unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) configured to attach to the load;
- and
- processing devices located in the UAVs configured to track movements of the helicopter, move the load in a same direction as the helicopter, and align the load with a target location on a ground surface.
A computer program stored on a non-transitory storage medium and used for controlling a winch system attached to a helicopter and carrying a load, the winch system including one or more reels for reeling lead lines in and out, the computer program comprising a set of instructions, when executed by a hardware processor, cause the hardware processor to:
- send commands to the winch system to slacken the lead lines and lower ends of the lead lines to connect to a target location on a ground surface;
- and
- send commands to the winch system to reel in and tighten the lead lines so the load while being carried by the helicopter is guided onto the target location on the ground surface.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.