Agricultural unmanned aerial vehicle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11014668-B2
Application number	US-201816120590-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 4, 2018
Priority date	Nov 24, 2016
Publication date	May 25, 2021
Grant date	May 25, 2021

Abstract

An agricultural unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) includes a fuselage, a flight power apparatus, a plurality of spray nozzles, a plurality of water pumps, and a controller. The flight power apparatus is mounted at the fuselage. The plurality of spray nozzles are installed below the flight power apparatus. The plurality of water pumps are connected to the plurality of spray nozzles and configured to deliver liquid to the spray nozzles. The controller is electrically coupled to the plurality of water pumps, and configured to selectively control one or more of the plurality of water pumps to pump the liquid to one or more of the spray nozzles connected to the one or more of the water pumps.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An agricultural unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), comprising:
a fuselage;
a flight power apparatus mounted at the fuselage;
a plurality of spray nozzles installed below the flight power apparatus;
a plurality of water pumps connected to the plurality of spray nozzles and configured to deliver liquid to the spray nozzles; and
a controller electrically coupled to the plurality of water pumps, and configured to selectively control one or more of the plurality of water pumps to pump the liquid to one or more of the spray nozzles connected to the one or more of the water pumps, based on a flight direction,
wherein in response to the agricultural UAV flying toward a nose direction, the controller selects a tail direction spray nozzle; and
wherein in response to the agricultural UAV flying toward a tail direction, the controller selects a nose direction spray nozzle.

2. The agricultural UAV according to claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of water pumps is connected to more than one of the plurality of spray nozzles.

3. The agricultural UAV according to claim 1 , wherein the spray nozzles are directly below or obliquely below the flight power apparatus.

4. The agricultural UAV according to claim 1 , wherein:
the fuselage includes a center body, one or more arms connected to the central body and support the flight power apparatus, and one or more landing gears connected to the center body or the one or more arms; and
the plurality of spray nozzles are mounted at the one or more arms and/or the one or more landing gears.

5. The agricultural UAV according to claim 1 , wherein:
the controller includes a flight controller configured to control a flight attitude of the agricultural UAV and a plurality of electric speed controllers that communicate with the flight controller,
each of the water pumps includes a driving motor, and
each of the electric speed controllers is electrically coupled to the driving motor of one of the water pumps for controlling an operation status of the driving motor.

6. The agricultural UAV according to claim 5 , wherein:
the driving motor includes a brushless direct current motor, and
the electric speed controller is configured to drive the driving motor through pulse width modulation wave modulation.

7. The agricultural UAV according to claim 1 , wherein the plurality of spray nozzles are arranged symmetrically with respect to a roll axis of the agricultural UAV.

8. The agricultural UAV according to claim 7 , wherein the controller is further configured to select and control a first one of the water pumps that is connected to one or more of the spray nozzles at one side of the roll axis of the agricultural UAV, or select and control a second one of the water pumps that is connected to one or more of the spray nozzles arranged at another side of the roll axis of the agricultural UAV.

9. The agricultural UAV according to claim 7 , wherein:
the one or more of the spray nozzles at each side of the roll axis of the agricultural UAV include a plurality of spray nozzles that are connected to a same one of the water pumps.

10. The agricultural UAV according to claim 1 , wherein the plurality of spray nozzles are arranged symmetrically with respect to a pitch axis of the agricultural UAV.

11. The agricultural UAV according to claim 10 , wherein the controller is further configured to select and control a first one of the water pumps that is connected to one or more of the spray nozzles at one side of the pitch axis of the agricultural UAV, or select and control a second one of the water pumps that is connected to one or more of the spray nozzles at another side of the pitch axis of the agricultural UAV.

12. The agricultural UAV according to claim 10 , wherein:
the one or more of the spray nozzles at each side of the pitch axis of the agricultural UAV include a plurality of spray nozzles that are connected to a same one of the water pumps.

13. The agricultural UAV according to claim 1 , wherein the plurality of spray nozzles include:
one or more nose direction spray nozzles arranged closer to a nose of the agricultural UAV than a tail of the agricultural UAV; and
one or more tail direction spray nozzles arranged closer to the tail of the agricultural UAV than the nose of the agricultural UAV.

14. The agricultural UAV according to claim 13 , wherein the one or more nose direction spray nozzles include a plurality of nose direction spray nozzles.

15. The agricultural UAV according to claim 14 , wherein:
the plurality of nose direction spray nozzles are arranged at two sides of the fuselage; and/or
the plurality of nose direction spray nozzles are connected to one of the plurality of water pumps.

16. The agricultural UAV according to claim 13 , wherein the one or more tail direction spray nozzles include a plurality of tail direction spray nozzles.

17. The agricultural UAV according to claim 16 , wherein:
the plurality of tail direction spray nozzles are arranged at two sides of the fuselage; and/or
the plurality of tail direction spray nozzles are connected to one of the plurality of water pumps.

18. The agricultural UAV according to claim 13 , wherein:
the controller is further configured to control the plurality of water pumps according to a preset condition, and
the preset condition includes at least one of a wind direction of a working environment, or an orientation of the agricultural UAV relative to an operation area.

19. The agricultural UAV according to claim 18 , wherein:
the controller is further configured to, when the agricultural UAV flies towards a nose direction, select and control a first one of the water pumps that is connected to the one or more nose direction spray nozzles or a second one of the water pumps that is connected to the one or more tail direction spray nozzles to spray the liquid through the one or more nose direction spray nozzles or the one or more tail direction spray nozzles.

20. The agricultural UAV according to claim 18 , wherein:
the controller is further configured to, when the agricultural UAV flies towards a tail direction, select and control a first one of the water pumps that is connected to the one or more nose direction spray nozzles or a second one of the water pumps that is connected to the one or more tail direction spray nozzles to spray the liquid through the one or more nose direction spray nozzles or the one or more tail direction spray nozzles.

Assignees

• Sz Dji Technology Co Ltd

Inventors

• Wu Xiaolong
• Wu Xumin
• Qiu Li
• Zhou Le

Classifications

• B64U2201/10

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

• B64U60/50

  with landing legs · CPC title

• B64U10/16

  with five or more distinct rotor axes, e.g. octocopters · CPC title

• B64U2101/45

  for releasing liquids or powders in-flight, e.g. crop-dusting · CPC title

• B64D1/18 Primary

  by spraying, e.g. insecticides · CPC title