Electricity generation in automated aerial vehicles

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10065745-B1
Application number	US-201615369527-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Dec 5, 2016
Priority date	Jun 26, 2014
Publication date	Sep 4, 2018
Grant date	Sep 4, 2018

Abstract

This disclosure describes a system and method for operating an automated aerial vehicle wherein the battery life may be extended by performing one or more electricity generation procedures on the way to a destination (e.g., a delivery location for an item). In various implementations, the electricity generation procedure may include utilizing an airflow to rotate one or more of the propellers of the automated aerial vehicle so that the associated propeller motors will generate electricity (e.g., which can be utilized to recharge the battery, power one or more sensors of the automated aerial vehicle, etc.). In various implementations, the airflow may consist of a wind, or may be created by the kinetic energy of the automated aerial vehicle as it moves through the air (e.g., as part of a normal flight path and/or as part of an aerial maneuver).

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An automated aerial vehicle, comprising:
a plurality of motors, each motor coupled to a propeller and configured to rotate the propeller;
a power supply connected to the plurality of motors and configured to provide electricity to the plurality of motors;
an inventory engagement mechanism for engagement and transport of items; and
a control system, comprising:
one or more processors; and
a memory coupled to the one or more processors and storing program instructions that when executed by the one or more processors cause the one or more processors to at least:
control the plurality of motors to fly the automated aerial vehicle along a flight path to travel to a destination;
determine a first location along the flight path where the automated aerial vehicle may execute a first electricity generation procedure that includes utilizing a first relative airflow at the first location to rotate a propeller to generate electricity from the motor that is coupled to the propeller;
determine a second location along the flight path where the automated aerial vehicle may execute a second electricity generation procedure that includes utilizing a second relative airflow at the second location to rotate a propeller to generate electricity from the motor that is coupled to the propeller;
receive a first communication indicating a first condition at the first location, wherein the first condition is related to the first relative airflow at the first location;
receive a second communication indicating a second condition at the second location, wherein the second condition is related to the second relative airflow at the second location;
based at least in part on the indicated first and second conditions, determine that the automated aerial vehicle will perform the first electricity generation procedure at the first location and will not perform the second electricity generation procedure at the second location;
control the plurality of motors to fly the automated aerial vehicle to the first location; and
execute the first electricity generation procedure at the first location.

2. The automated aerial vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the first condition is a speed of an airflow at the first location.

3. The automated aerial vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the program instructions when executed by the one or more processors further cause the one or more processors to receive the first communication indicating the first condition at the first location from a second automated aerial vehicle.

4. The automated aerial vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the program instructions when executed by the one or more processors further cause the one or more processors to:
determine a third location along the flight path where the automated aerial vehicle may execute a third electricity generation procedure that includes utilizing a third relative airflow at the third location to rotate a propeller to generate electricity from the motor that is coupled to the propeller;
receive a third communication indicating a third condition at the third location, wherein the third condition is related to the third relative airflow at the third location, and
wherein the determination that the automated aerial vehicle will perform the first electricity generation procedure at the first location and will not perform the second electricity generation procedure at the second location further includes determining that the automated aerial vehicle will perform the third electricity generation procedure at the third location based at least in part on the first, second and third conditions.

5. The automated aerial vehicle of claim 4 , wherein the automated aerial vehicle has limited time for performing one or more electricity generation procedures due to a deadline for reaching the destination, and the program instructions when executed by the one or more processors further cause the one or more processors to determine how long the first electricity generation procedure will be performed at the first location and how long the third electricity generation procedure will be performed at the third location based at least in part on the limited time.

6. A computer-implemented method for determining a location where an electricity generation procedure will be executed by an automated aerial vehicle, the computer-implemented method comprising:
under control of one or more computing systems configured with executable instructions,
receiving an indication of a destination to which the automated aerial vehicle will navigate;
determining a flight path that the automated aerial vehicle will navigate along to the destination;
receiving a first communication indicating a first condition at a first location along the flight path where the automated aerial vehicle may execute a first electricity generation procedure that includes utilizing a first relative airflow at the first location to rotate a propeller of the automated aerial vehicle to generate electricity, wherein the first condition is related to the first relative airflow at the first location;
receiving a second communication indicating a second condition at a second location along the flight path where the automated aerial vehicle may execute a second electricity generation procedure that includes utilizing a second relative airflow at the second location to rotate a propeller of the automated aerial vehicle to generate electricity, wherein the second condition is related to the second relative airflow at the second location; and
determining that the automated aerial vehicle will perform the first electricity generation procedure at the first location and will not perform the second electricity generation procedure at the second location based at least in part on the indicated first and second conditions.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 6 , wherein the first electricity generation procedure that is executed at the first location includes altering an orientation of at least one propeller of the automated aerial vehicle so as to allow an airflow to rotate the at least one propeller for generating electricity.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 6 , further comprising:
receiving a third communication indicating a third condition at a third location along the flight path where the automated aerial vehicle may execute a third electricity generation procedure that includes utilizing a third relative airflow at the third location to rotate a propeller of the automated aerial vehicle to generate electricity, wherein the third condition is related to the third relative airflow at the third location, and
wherein the determining that the automated aerial vehicle will perform the first electricity generation procedure at the first location and will not perform the second electricity generation procedure at the second location further includes determining that the automated aerial vehicle will perform the third electricity generation procedure at the third location based at least in part on the first, second and third conditions.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 6 , wherein the first electricity generation procedure that is executed at the first location includes flying the automated aerial vehicle toward a ground and utilizing kinetic energy from flying the automated aerial vehicle toward the ground to generate electricity.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 9 , wherein the flying of the automated aerial vehicle toward the ground includes at least one of reversing a direction of one or more propellers of the automated aerial vehicle to propel toward the ground, changing a pitch of one or more propellers of the automated aerial vehicle to propel toward the ground, or

Assignees

• Amazon Tech Inc

Inventors

• Beckman Brian C
• Navot Amir
• Buchmueller Daniel
• Kimchi Gur
• Hensel Fabian
• Green Scott A
• Porter Brandon William
• Rault Severan Sylvain Jean-Michel

Classifications

• B64U2101/60

  for transporting passengers; for transporting goods other than weapons · CPC title

• B64C27/52

  Tilting of rotor bodily relative to fuselage (of see-saw type construction B64C27/43) · CPC title

• B64C27/14

  Direct drive between power plant and rotor hub · CPC title

• B64D35/02 Primary

  specially adapted for specific power plants · CPC title

• B64C2201/108

  Operations & Transport · mapped topic