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US 2019/0315458 A1Published application
Method of preparing a drone for takeoff, and an associated drone and preparation system
AssigneeAirbus Helicopters
InventorsMarc GAZZINO, Christophe MOUTON
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method of preparing a drone for takeoff, to a drone, and to a system for preparing the drone for takeoff. According to the invention, such a drone has at least one first control member and at least one second control member that are suitable for being actuated manually by at least one person in charge of preparing the drone for takeoff. Such a drone also includes a navigation light and at least one anticollision light for generating various mutually different light signals in a predetermined switch-on sequence.
Claims16
A method of preparing a drone for takeoff, the method comprising at least:
- a first manual actuation step of at least one person in charge of the preparation of the drone for takeoff actuating at least one first control member manually, the first actuation step serving to power electrically first calculation means and at least one electronic piloting system of the drone;
- and
- a first test step performed by the first calculation means, the first test step serving to perform at least one test of the operation of the electronic piloting system(s);
- wherein the method further comprises at least:
- a first switch step of switching on at least one navigation light arranged on the drone, the first switch step generating a first light signal representative of a positive result of the test(s) of the operation of the electronic piloting system(s);
- a second manual actuation step of the at least one person in charge of the preparation of the drone for takeoff actuating at least one second control member manually, the second actuation step serving to power electrically second calculation means and at least one control of at least one motor suitable for driving a rotor in rotation in order to provide the drone with propulsion and/or lift;
- a second switch step of switching on at least one anticollision light arranged on the drone, the second switch step generating a second light signal different from the first light signal, the second light signal being representative of electrically powering the second calculation means and the control(s) of the motor(s);
- a second test step performed by the second calculation means, the second test step serving to perform at least one test of the operation of the control(s) of the motor(s);
- and
- a third switch step of switching on the anticollision light(s) arranged on the drone, the third switch step generating a third light signal different from the first and second light signals, the third light signal being representative of a positive result of the test(s) of the operation of the control(s) of the motor(s) and of the preparation for takeoff of the drone coming to an end.
7 more elements
A drone including first calculation means and at least one electronic piloting system for piloting the drone, and
- at least a first control member suitable for being actuated manually by at least one person in charge of preparing the drone for takeoff, the first control member(s) presenting:
- a first state Si for electrically switching off the first calculation means and the electronic piloting system(s);
- and
- a second state S2 for electrically powering the first calculation means and the electronic piloting system(s), the first calculation means performing at least one test of the operation of the electronic piloting system(s);
- wherein the drone further comprises:
- at least one navigation light generating a first light signal representative of a positive result of the test(s) of the operation of the electronic piloting system(s);
- at least one second control member suitable for being actuated manually by the at least one person in charge of preparing the drone for takeoff, the second control member(s) being different from the first control member(s), and presenting:
- a first state S3 for switching off electrical power to second calculation means and to at least one control of at least one motor suitable for driving a rotor in rotation in order to provide the drone with propulsion and/or with lift;
- a second state S4 for electrically powering the second calculation means and the control(s) of the motor(s), the second calculation means performing at least one test of the operation of the control(s) of the motor(s);
- at least one anticollision light generating a second light signal different from the first light signal, the second light signal being representative of electrically powering the second calculation means and the control(s) of the motor(s), the anticollision light(s) generating a third light signal different from the first and second light signals, the third light signal representing a positive result of the test(s) of the operation of the control(s) of the motor(s) and of the preparation of the drone (1) for takeoff coming to an end.
7 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.