Transportable ground station for an unmanned aerial vehicle
AssigneeSwift Engineering, Inc.
InventorAndrew Streett
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A transportable ground station for a UAV includes a container in which the UAV may be transported and housed. The container includes a wireless or contact-based recharging station that recharges the UAV's batteries or other power sources after the UAV returns from a mission. The recharging station may be directly or indirectly connected to one or more solar panels that generate energy to power the recharging station. The ground station may be deployed virtually anywhere, from any vehicle (e.g., plane, train, boat, truck, etc.), and may operate over an extended period of time without human intervention.
Claims20
An unmanned ground station for an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), the ground station comprising:
- a wheeled structure, wherein the wheels facilitate movement of the ground station;
- a support structure positioned in the wheeled structure and configured to receive a UAV;
- and
- circuitry in or on the wheeled structure configured to facilitate remote or autonomous control of the wheels to transport the ground station.
An unmanned ground station for an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), the ground station comprising:
- a housing;
- a support structure positioned in the housing and configured to receive a UAV;
- and
- means for facilitating transportation of the housing, wherein the housing is configured for autonomous self-transportation.
An unmanned ground station for an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), the ground station comprising:
- a housing;
- a support structure positioned in the housing and configured to receive a UAV;
- a recharging station positioned in the housing and configured to charge a battery of the UAV;
- at least one of a plurality of wheels or a marine propulsion system attached to the housing and configured to transport the ground station;
- and
- circuitry in or on the housing that allows movement of the ground station to be controlled remotely.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.