Aerial launch and/or recovery for unmanned aircraft, and associated systems and methods

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10933997-B2
Application number	US-201615269597-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 19, 2016
Priority date	Oct 2, 2015
Publication date	Mar 2, 2021
Grant date	Mar 2, 2021

Abstract

Aerial launch and/or recovery for unmanned aircraft, and associated systems and methods. A representative method for operating an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) system includes directing a first, multi-rotor carrier aircraft to carry a second, carried aircraft aloft, and release the second aircraft for flight, while powering the first aircraft with an on-board battery. The method can further include directing the first aircraft to position a capture line in a flight path of the second aircraft to capture the second aircraft.

First claim

I claim:

1. An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) system, comprising:
a carrier UAV including:
an airframe;
a plurality of rotors coupled to the airframe and configured to support the carrier UAV in hover; and
a launch fixture coupled to the airframe, the launch fixture including a non-vertical downwardly-sloped slot; and

a carried UAV releasably attached to the non-vertical downwardly-sloped slot, the non-vertical downwardly-sloped slot configured to launch the carried UAV from the carrier UAV in a downward direction relative to the airframe.

2. The UAV system of claim 1 , wherein the carried UAV is a fixed-wing aircraft.

3. The UAV system of claim 1 , wherein the carrier UAV is a quad-rotor aircraft.

4. The UAV system of claim 1 , wherein the non-vertical downwardly-sloped slot is configured to direct the carried UAV in a nose-down attitude during launch of the carried UAV from the carrier UAV.

5. The UAV system of claim 1 , wherein the non-vertical downwardly-sloped slot is configured to receive an attachment fixture of the carried UAV.

6. The UAV system of claim 5 , wherein the launch fixture further includes a release mechanism configured to prevent motion of the attachment fixture within the non-vertical downwardly-sloped slot in a direction toward an open end of the non-vertical downwardly-sloped slot prior to launch of the carried UAV from the carrier UAV.

7. The UAV system of claim 6 , wherein the release mechanism is movable between a first position that prevents the attachment fixture from exiting the open end of the non-vertical downwardly-sloped slot and a second position that enables the attachment fixture to exit the open end of the non-vertical downwardly-sloped slot.

8. An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) system, comprising:
a carrier UAV including:
an airframe;
a plurality of rotors coupled to the airframe and configured to support the carrier UAV in hover; and
a launch fixture coupled to the airframe, the launch fixture including a non-vertical downwardly-sloped slot; and

a carried UAV releasably attached to the non-vertical downwardly-sloped slot, the non-vertical downwardly-sloped slot configured to direct the carried UAV in a nose-down attitude during launch of the carried UAV from the carrier UAV.

9. The UAV system of claim 8 , wherein the carried UAV is a fixed-wing aircraft.

10. The UAV system of claim 8 , wherein the carrier UAV is a quad-rotor aircraft.

11. The UAV system of claim 8 , wherein the non-vertical downwardly-sloped slot is configured to launch the carried UAV from the carrier UAV in a downward direction relative to the airframe.

12. The UAV system of claim 8 , wherein the non-vertical downwardly-sloped slot is configured to receive an attachment fixture of the carried UAV.

13. The UAV system of claim 12 , wherein the launch fixture further includes a release mechanism configured to prevent motion of the attachment fixture within the non-vertical downwardly-sloped slot in a direction toward an open end of the non-vertical downwardly-sloped slot prior to launch of the carried UAV from the carrier UAV.

14. The UAV system of claim 13 , wherein the release mechanism is movable between a first position that prevents the attachment fixture from exiting the open end of the non-vertical downwardly-sloped slot and a second position that enables the attachment fixture to exit the open end of the non-vertical downwardly-sloped slot.

15. A carrier unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), comprising:
an airframe;
a plurality of rotors coupled to the airframe and configured to support the carrier UAV in hover; and
a launch fixture coupled to the airframe and configured to releasably attach to a carried UAV, the launch fixture including a non-vertical downwardly-sloped slot configured to launch the carried UAV from the carrier UAV in a downward direction relative to the airframe.

16. The carrier UAV of claim 15 , wherein the non-vertical downwardly-sloped slot is configured to direct the carried UAV in a nose-down attitude during launch of the carried UAV from the carrier UAV.

17. The carrier UAV of claim 15 , wherein the non-vertical downwardly-sloped slot is configured to receive an attachment fixture of the carried UAV.

18. The carrier UAV of claim 17 , wherein the launch fixture further includes a release mechanism configured to prevent motion of the attachment fixture within the non-vertical downwardly-sloped slot in a direction toward an open end of the non-vertical downwardly-sloped slot prior to launch of the carried UAV from the carrier UAV.

19. The carrier UAV of claim 18 , wherein the release mechanism is movable between a first position that prevents the attachment fixture from exiting the open end of the non-vertical downwardly-sloped slot and a second position that enables the attachment fixture to exit the open end of the non-vertical downwardly-sloped slot.

20. A carrier unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), comprising:
an airframe;
a plurality of rotors coupled to the airframe and configured to support the carrier UAV in hover; and
a launch fixture coupled to the airframe and configured to releasably attach to a carried UAV, the launch fixture including a non-vertical downwardly-sloped slot configured to direct the carried UAV in a nose-down attitude during launch of the carried UAV from the carrier UAV.

21. The carrier UAV of claim 20 , wherein the non-vertical downwardly-sloped slot is configured to launch the carried UAV from the carrier UAV in a downward direction relative to the airframe.

22. The carrier UAV of claim 20 , wherein the non-vertical downwardly-sloped slot is configured to receive an attachment fixture of the carried UAV.

23. The carrier UAV of claim 22 , wherein the launch fixture further includes a release mechanism configured to prevent motion of the attachment fixture within the non-vertical downwardly-sloped slot in a direction toward an open end of the non-vertical downwardly-sloped slot prior to launch of the carried UAV from the carrier UAV.

24. The carrier UAV of claim 23 , wherein the release mechanism is movable between a first position that prevents the attachment fixture from exiting the open end of the non-vertical downwardly-sloped slot and a second position that enables the attachment fixture to exit the open end of the non-vertical downwardly-sloped slot.

25. An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) system, comprising:
a quad-rotor carrier UAV including:
an airframe;
a plurality of rotors coupled to the airframe and configured to support the quad-rotor carrier UAV in hover; and
a launch fixture coupled to the airframe, the launch fixture including a non-vertical downwardly-sloped slot; and

a fixed-wing carried UAV releasably attached to the non-vertical downwardly-sloped slot, the non-vertical downwardly-sloped slot configured to launch the fixed-wing carried UAV from the quad-rotor carrier UAV in a downward direction relative to the airframe.

26. The UAV system of claim 25 , wherein the non-vertical downwardly-sloped slot is configured to direct the fixed-wing carried UAV in a nose-down attitude during launch of the fixed-wing carried UAV from the quad-rotor carrier UAV.

27. The UAV system of claim 25 , wherein the non-vertical downwardly-sloped slot is configured to receive an attachment fixture of the fixed-wing carried UAV.

28. The UAV system of claim 27 , wherein the launch fixture furth

Assignees

• Insitu Inc

Inventors

• Hayes Andrew Royds

Classifications

• B64U80/82 Primary

  Airborne vehicles · CPC title

• B64U70/30

  for capturing UAVs in flight by ground or sea-based arresting gear, e.g. by a cable or a net · CPC title

• B64U2201/10

  autonomous, i.e. by navigating independently from ground or air stations, e.g. by using inertial navigation systems [INS] · CPC title

• B64C29/0025

  the propellers being fixed relative to the fuselage · CPC title

• B63B21/50

  Anchoring arrangements {or methods} for special vessels, e.g. for floating drilling platforms or dredgers · CPC title