Subminiature drone comprising rotary artificial muscle motor and operating method thereof
AssigneeIucf-Hyu (Industry-University Cooperation Foundation Hanyang University)
InventorsSeon Jeong KIM, Jae Sang HYEON
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Abstract
A subminiature drone including a rotary artificial muscle motor and a method of operating the same are provided. The subminiature drone includes a plurality of rotary artificial muscle motors that generate rotational force by repeatedly twisting and untwisting depending on whether a voltage is applied, and it alternately secures propulsion through a multicopter structure in which the propellers are rotated in a single direction by one-way clutches, thereby enabling the implementation of an ultra-small-sized drone.
Claims20
A subminiature drone comprising:
- a body unit;
- an upper fixing member connected to an upper end of the body unit;
- a lower fixing member connected to a lower end of the body unit;
- a plurality of artificial muscle motors disposed on the side of the body unit, positioned between and fixed to the upper and lower fixing members, generating rotational force by repeating twisting and untwisting;
- a plurality of propellers respectively connected to the artificial muscle motors to receive and rotate by the rotational force;
- a plurality of one-way clutches respectively arranged between the artificial muscle motors and the propellers to allow the propellers to rotate in one direction while restricting rotation in the opposite direction ;
- and
- a battery unit electrically connected to the artificial muscle motors.
A method of operating a subminiature drone, the method comprising:
- providing a subminiature drone including a body unit;
- an upper fixing member connected to an upper end of the body unit;
- a lower fixing member connected to a lower end of the body unit;
- a plurality of artificial muscle motors disposed on the side of the body unit, positioned between and fixed to the upper and lower fixing members, generating rotational force by repeating twisting and untwisting;
- a plurality of propellers respectively connected to the artificial muscle motors to receive and rotate by the rotational force;
- a plurality of one-way clutches respectively arranged between the artificial muscle motors and the propellers to allow the propellers to rotate in one direction while restricting rotation in the opposite direction;
- and a battery unit electrically connected to the artificial muscle motors.
- applying an ON voltage from the battery unit to both ends of the artificial muscle motors to allow the voltage-applied artificial muscle motors to rotate in a first direction and allow the propellers to rotate in the first direction by transmitting the rotation of the artificial muscle motors through the one-way clutches to the propellers;
- and
- removing the applied voltage or applying a reference voltage lower than the ON voltage to the artificial muscle motors to allow the artificial muscle motors to rotate in a second direction opposite to the first direction and restrict the propellers from rotating in the second direction due to the one-way clutches not transmitting the rotation of the artificial muscle motors to the propellers.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.