Disbursement system for an unmanned aerial vehicle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11130573-B2
Application number	US-201615773074-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 2, 2016
Priority date	Nov 2, 2015
Publication date	Sep 28, 2021
Grant date	Sep 28, 2021

Abstract

A disbursement system for a UAV is provided. The disbursement system may include a plurality of disbursement nozzles operable to dispense an agricultural product at variable flowrates, a flow controller responsive to instructions and operable to regulate a volume of the agricultural product dispensed by the disbursement nozzles, and a control system. The control system may include a plurality of sensors operable to monitor a plurality of flight parameters and a processing unit configured to model an effect of the plurality of flight parameters on first flow control instructions corresponding to a prescription coverage of the agricultural product and calculate and output modulated flow control instructions to the flow controller. The control system may modulate the first control instructions to change a flowrate of one or more of the plurality of disbursement nozzles to achieve an actual coverage of the agricultural product that is closer to the prescription coverage.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A disbursement system for an unmanned aerial vehicle, the disbursement system comprising
a plurality of disbursement nozzles operable to dispense a flowable product at variable flowrates;
a flow controller responsive to instructions and operable to regulate a volume of the flowable product dispensed by the plurality of disbursement nozzles by changing the flowrate of one or more of the disbursement nozzles, either collectively or individually; and
a control system including
a plurality of sensors operable to monitor a plurality of flight parameters, including an attitude angle and at least one of a roll angle φ, a pitch angle θ, and a yaw angle ψ of the unmanned aerial vehicle; and
a processing unit configured to model an effect of the plurality of flight parameters on first flow control instructions corresponding to a prescription coverage of the product and calculate and output modulated flow control instructions to the flow controller, wherein

based on the modeled effect, the control system modulates the first control instructions to change a flowrate of one or more of the plurality of disbursement nozzles to achieve an actual coverage of the product that is closer to the prescription coverage than would have been achieved without the modulated flow control instructions.

2. The disbursement system of claim 1 , wherein the actual coverage is more uniform compared to a prospective coverage resulting from the first flow control instructions.

3. The disbursement system of claim 1 , wherein the modulated flow control instructions vary the flowrates of the plurality of disbursement nozzles to achieve more accurate distribution of the product.

4. The disbursement system of claim 1 , wherein the product is sprayed by the plurality of disbursement nozzles.

5. The disbursement system of claim 1 , wherein the product is a liquid, a powder, or a granular substance.

6. The disbursement system of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of sensors monitors one or more of an attitude angular rate including at least one of a roll rate p, pitch a rate q, and a yaw rate r, linear acceleration (a x , a y , a z ), and angular acceleration (ω x , ω y , ω z ), of the unmanned aerial vehicle.

7. The disbursement system of claim 6 , wherein the plurality of sensors monitors one or more of altitude, wind vectors, and acceleration or speed and control settings of a main rotor assembly of the unmanned aerial vehicle.

8. The disbursement system of claim 7 , wherein the plurality of sensors monitors one or more of acceleration or speed and control settings of a tail rotor assembly of the unmanned aerial vehicle.

9. The disbursement system of claim 1 , wherein the first flow control instructions are modeled based on rotor wash of the unmanned aerial vehicle.

10. The disbursement system of claim 1 , wherein the modulated flow control instructions control the flowrates of the plurality of disbursement nozzles individually.

11. An unmanned aerial vehicle comprising
a drive system to cause flight of the unmanned aerial vehicle;
a control system having a plurality of sensors for monitoring flight position, trajectory, and an attitude angle including at least one of a roll angle φ, a pitch angle θ, and a yaw angle ψ of the unmanned aerial vehicle; and
at least one disbursement mechanism operable to disburse an agricultural product in a spray pattern over an area, the at least one disbursement mechanism having a flowrate,
wherein the control system models a spray pattern of the at least one disbursement mechanism based on data received from the plurality of sensors, and, according to the model, modulates the flowrate of the at least one disbursement mechanism to achieve substantial uniformity of the spray pattern.

12. The unmanned aerial vehicle of claim 11 , wherein the plurality of sensors monitor one or more of an attitude angular rate including at least one of a roll rate p, a pitch rate q, and a yaw rate r, and linear acceleration (a z , a y , a z ), of the unmanned aerial vehicle.

13. The unmanned aerial vehicle of claim 12 , wherein the plurality of sensors monitors one or more of position, velocity, and acceleration of the drive system.

14. The unmanned aerial vehicle of claim 11 , wherein modulation of the flowrate of the at least one disbursement mechanism achieves a substantially uniform application of the agricultural product per linear measurement of the area.

15. A method of dispersing a substance aerially over a spray area using an unmanned aerial vehicle having at least one disbursement mechanism, the method comprising
receiving a plurality of navigation parameters including at least one of a roll angle φ, a pitch angle θ, and a yaw angle ψ of the unmanned aerial vehicle associated with a flight of the unmanned aerial vehicle;
modeling a spray pattern of the at least one disbursement mechanism using the plurality of navigation parameters; and
controlling a flowrate of the at least one disbursement mechanism to modulate the spray pattern of the at least one disbursement mechanism according to the model to achieve a desired uniformity or pattern.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the modeling step includes using one or more of an attitude angular rate including at least one of a roll rate p, a pitch rate q, and a yaw rate r, linear acceleration (a x , a y , a z ), and angular accelerations (ω x , ω y , ω z ), of the unmanned aerial vehicle.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the modeling step includes using rotor speed to account for rotor wash from a main rotor blade of the unmanned aerial vehicle.

18. The method of claim 15 , wherein controlling the flowrate augments a level of uniformity of the spray pattern of the at least one disbursement mechanism.

19. The method of claim 15 , further comprising modeling a trajectory of the substance from the unmanned aerial vehicle to a ground surface.

20. The method of claim 15 , further comprising modeling the spray pattern of the at least one disbursement mechanism using terrain data to account for a topography of the spray area.

Assignees

• Pulse Aerospace LLC
• Aerovironment Inc

Inventors

• Holly Lance
• Donovan William
• Lessig Aaron

Classifications

• B64D1/18 Primary

  by spraying, e.g. insecticides · CPC title

• B05B1/30

  designed to control volume of flow, e.g. with adjustable passages {(B05B11/0094 takes precedence)} · CPC title

• B64U2101/30

  for imaging, photography or videography · CPC title

• B64U2101/40

  for agriculture or forestry operations · CPC title

• B64U10/17

  Helicopters (flying platforms B64U10/13) · CPC title