UAV payload module camera assembly and retraction mechanism

#Reducing weight and size are paramount in the design of small unmanned vehicles. Small unmanned aerial vehicles or UAVs typically are designed to be launched from, and land on dry land. Such vehicles are now being sought that can operate while being exposed to, or after being exposed to aquatic environments. For example, it may be preferred to land an unmanned aerial vehicle on water, rather than on land, either to lessen the impact of landing, or because it is more easily retrievable location. Typically, amphibious aircraft, both manned and unmanned, are able to take off and land in water.

#Hand launched amphibious UAVs though are not required to take off from the water, but are required to land on dry land, or on water. Some hand launced UAVs are designed to land by skidding along, or impacting the ground, which is considerably more abrupt than water landings.

#What is needed is an amphibious UAV that can withstand high impact ground landings.

#The features and advantages of the present invention will be better understood with regard to the following description, appended claims, and accompanying drawings where:

#FIG. 1 shows a simplified perspective view of an amphibious unmanned aerial vehicle.

#FIG. 2 shows a simplified top view of the fuselage of the amphibious unmanned aerial vehicle of FIG. 1.

#FIG. 1 shows a simplified perspective view of an amphibious unmanned aerial vehicle or UAV 10. The UAV 10 has a fuselage 100 of the amphibious unmanned aerial vehicle 10 has modularized compartments 120, 130, and 140 to contain modular components or modules, such as a battery module 20, a payload module 30, and avionics electronics module 40. In various embodiments, the wings 15 and/or 16 may be constructed of multiple pieces, which may separate, and/or “break away” or separate from the fuselage 100 during landings.

#FIG. 2 shows a simplified top view of the fuselage 100 of the amphibious unmanned aerial vehicle 10 of FIG. 1. The walls 110 of the fuselage 100 are composed of a buoyant material so that the fuselage 100 will float without wings (not shown) attached when the fuselage is fully loaded with components, such as the battery 20, the payload 30, and the avionics electronics 40, shown in FIG. 1, and other aircraft parts and components. For example, the walls 110 may have a molded foam core sealed with a waterproof skin, though this is not required. The walls 110 may be a single continuous wall or multiple wall sections, or the like.

#In this embodiment, the fuselage is separated into three compartments, a forward battery compartment 120, a central payload compartment 130, and a rear avionics compartment 140. The forward battery compartment 120 is separated from the central payload compartment 130 by separator wall 150. The central payload compartment 130 is separated from the rear avionics compartment 140 by separator wall 160. In the embodiment shown, tabs 104, 105, and 106 are employed as a means to secure the components (not shown) in the compartments 120, 130, and 140. The tab 105 may be rotated by hand using the pivotable handle 105h to allow installation of a battery (not shown) and then rotated back to the position shown to lock the battery in the forward battery compartment 120. Other securing mechanisms may be used instead or in addition to the rotatable tabs 104, 105, and 106.