Spin-landing drone

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10407168-B2
Application number	US-201715670223-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 7, 2017
Priority date	Aug 7, 2017
Publication date	Sep 10, 2019
Grant date	Sep 10, 2019

Abstract

Various embodiments include a drone having a landing control device that is configured to rotate wings into an auto-rotation decent configuration causing the drone to enter a nose-down attitude and spin about a long axis of the drone, and to collectively control pivot angles of the wings to enables control of decent rate and lateral motion during an auto-rotation descent. The landing control device may be a landing carousel including a pivotal frame secured to a drone body and configured to rotate about a carousel axis extending laterally relative to a longitudinal axis of the body. The landing carousel may include a first wing motor configured to pivot a first wing about a wing pivot axis extending parallel to the carousel axis, and a second wing motor configured to pivot a second wing about the wing pivot axis independent of the pivot the first wing.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A drone, comprising:
a body having a longitudinal axis extending from a nose to a tail of the body;
a first wing pivotally controlled by a first motor to pivot about a wing pivot axis extending laterally from the longitudinal axis of the body;
a second wing pivotally controlled by a second motor to pivot independent of the first wing, about the wing pivot axis, wherein pivotally controlling the first and second wings provides pitcheron control in flight; and
a landing control device configured to rotate both the first and second wings, independent of the first and second motors, wherein rotating the first and second wings in flight causes the drone to enter a nose-down attitude,
wherein pivotally controlling the first and second wings while the drone is in the nose-down attitude enables control of decent rate and lateral motion during an auto-rotation descent of the drone.

2. The drone of claim 1 , wherein rotating both the first and second wings to an auto-rotation configuration comprises rotating each of the first and second wings ninety degrees from a flight configuration.

3. The drone of claim 1 , wherein pivotally controlling the first and second wings, while the drone is in the nose-down attitude controls at least one of steering and a rate of descent of the drone.

4. The drone of claim 1 , further comprising:
a sensor configured to detect obstacles while the drone is in the nose-down attitude.

5. The drone of claim 1 , wherein the first and second wings are operatively coupled to the landing control device.

6. The drone of claim 1 , further comprising:
a power supply; and
a power level meter configured to detect when a power level of the power supply is below a power level threshold and trigger the landing control device to rotate both the first and second wings in response to the power level meter detecting that the power level is below the power level threshold.

7. The drone of claim 1 ,
wherein the landing control device is a landing carousel coupled to the body of the drone, and
wherein the landing carousel comprises a pivotal frame configured to rotate about a carousel axis extending laterally relative to the longitudinal axis of the body.

8. The drone of claim 7 , wherein the carousel axis is offset from the wing pivot axis and disposed aft of a center of gravity of the drone.

9. The drone of claim 1 , wherein the landing control device includes a wing pivot rod projecting laterally from opposed sides of the body along the wing pivot axis.

10. The drone of claim 1 , wherein a first wing control rod projecting laterally from the body and offset from the wing pivot axis is configured to be moved by the first motor to provide pivotal control of the first wing.

11. The drone of claim 1 , wherein the landing control device comprises:
a frame latch configured to hold the landing control device in a flight configuration for flying the drone, wherein release of the frame latch enables rotation of the first and second wings in the nose-down attitude.

12. The drone of claim 11 , wherein the frame latch includes a locking tab configured to rotate between a locking position that prevents rotation of the first and second wings and an unlocked position that allows rotation of the first and second wings.

13. The drone of claim 11 , wherein the frame latch includes a locking tab configured to engage a catch on the body for preventing rotation of the first and second wings.

14. The drone of claim 1 , wherein the landing control device comprises:
a lock release motor configured to control rotation of the first and second wings,
wherein the lock release motor actively prevents the landing control device from rotating the first and second wings, and
wherein the landing control device is configured to rotate the first and second wings in response to insufficient power being supplied to the lock release motor.

15. The drone of claim 1 , wherein the landing control device comprises:
an elastic device biasing rotation of the first and second wings; and
a frame latch configured to counteract the biasing of the elastic device.

16. A landing carousel for a drone, comprising:
a pivotal frame configured to be secured to a body of the drone and rotate relative to the body about a carousel axis extending laterally relative to a longitudinal axis of the body, wherein the pivotal frame pivotally supports a first wing on a first side of the body and a second wing on a second side of the body, opposed to the first side;
a first wing motor configured to pivot the first wing of the drone about a wing pivot axis extending parallel to the carousel axis; and
a second wing motor configured to pivot the second wing of the drone about the wing pivot axis independent of the pivot of the first wing, wherein rotation of the pivotal frame relative to the body rotates both the first and second wings about the carousel axis independent of the pivot of the first and second wings.

17. The landing carousel of claim 16 , wherein the carousel axis is offset from the wing pivot axis.

18. The landing carousel of claim 16 , wherein the carousel axis is disposed aft of a center of gravity of the drone.

19. The landing carousel of claim 16 , wherein the pivotal frame is configured to support the first and second wing motors.

20. The landing carousel of claim 16 , wherein the pivotal frame includes a wing pivot rod projecting laterally from opposed sides of the pivotal frame along the wing pivot axis.

21. The landing carousel of claim 16 , wherein the pivotal frame includes a first wing control rod projecting laterally from the body and offset from the wing pivot axis, wherein the first wing control rod is configured to be moved by the first wing motor to provide pivotal control of the first wing.

22. The landing carousel of claim 16 , further comprising:
a frame latch configured to hold the pivotal frame in a flight configuration for flying the drone, wherein release of the frame latch enables rotation of the pivotal frame about the carousel axis in a nose-down attitude.

23. The landing carousel of claim 22 , wherein the frame latch includes a locking tab configured to rotate between a locking position that prevents rotation of the pivotal frame and an unlocked position that allows rotation of the pivotal frame.

24. The landing carousel of claim 22 , wherein the frame latch includes a locking tab configured to engage a catch on the body for preventing rotation of the pivotal frame.

25. The landing carousel of claim 22 , further comprising:
a lock release motor configured to maintain the frame latch in a locking position that prevents rotation of the pivotal frame, wherein deactivation of the lock release motor releases the frame latch.

26. The landing carousel of claim 16 , further comprising:
an elastic device biasing rotation of the first and second wings; and
a frame latch configured to counteract the biasing of the elastic device.

27. A method of landing a drone having a landing control device coupled to first and second wings, comprising:
causing the landing control device to rotate the first and second wings to cause the drone to enter a nose-down attitude; and
collectively controlling the first and second wings while the drone is in the nose-down attitude to induce rotation about a long axis of a body of the drone and control a decent rate and lateral motion

Assignees

• Qualcomm Inc

Inventors

• Hutson Donald Bolden
• Sweet Iii Charles Wheeler
• Ferrell Paul

Classifications

• B64C29/00

  Aircraft capable of landing or taking-off vertically, e.g. vertical take-off and landing [VTOL] aircraft (rotorcraft B64C27/00) · CPC title

• B64U2201/104

  using satellite radio beacon positioning systems, e.g. GPS · CPC title

• B64U2201/20

  Remote controls · CPC title

• B64C29/0025 Primary

  the propellers being fixed relative to the fuselage · CPC title

• B64C2201/146

  Operations & Transport · mapped topic