Methods and systems for retaining lateral control of an unmanned aerial vehicle during landing with leveled inboard propellers
AssigneeAeroVironment, Inc.
InventorBart Dean Hibbs
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Systems, devices, and methods including an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV); one or more inner wing panels of the UAV; one or more outer wing panels of the UAV; at least one inboard propeller attached to at least one engine disposed on the one or more inner wing panels; at least one tip propeller attached to at least one engine disposed on the one or more outer wing panels; at least one microcontroller configured to: determine an angular position of the at least one inboard propeller; and send a signal to halt rotation of the at least one inboard propeller such that the at least one inboard propeller is held in an attitude that provides for clearance of the propeller blade to the ground upon landing.
Claims20
A system comprising:
- an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV);
- one or more inner wing panels of the UAV;
- at least one inboard propeller attached to at least one engine disposed on the one or more inner wing panels;
- at least one microcontroller in communication with the at least one engine disposed on the one or more inner wing panels, wherein the at least one microcontroller is configured to:
- determine an angular position of the at least one inboard propeller;
- send a signal to halt rotation of the at least one inboard propeller such that the at least one inboard propeller is held in an attitude that provides for clearance of a propeller blade to the ground upon landing;
- and
- wherein the at least one inboard propeller would strike the ground during rotation of the at least one inboard propeller when the UAV is on the ground.
A method comprising:
- determining, by at least one microcontroller in communication with at least one engine of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), an angular position of at least one inboard propeller connected to the at least one engine, wherein the at least one inboard propeller is disposed on one or more inner wing panels;
- sending, by the at least one microcontroller, a signal to halt rotation of the at least one inboard propeller such that the at least one inboard propeller is held in an attitude that provides for clearance of a propeller blade to a ground upon landing;
- and
- wherein the at least one inboard propeller would strike the ground during rotation of the at least one inboard propeller when the UAV is on the ground.
A system comprising:
- at least one microcontroller in communication with at least one engine of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), wherein at least one inboard propeller is attached to the at least one engine of the UAV, and wherein the at least one microcontroller is configured to:
- determine an angular position of the at least one inboard propeller;
- and
- send a signal to the at least one inboard propeller such that the at least one inboard propeller is held in an attitude that provides for clearance of a propeller blade to a surface, wherein at least a portion of the at least one inboard propeller would contact the surface during rotation of the at least one inboard propeller when the UAV is located on the surface.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.