Charging station for self-balancing multicopter

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12037136-B2
Application number	US-202017129517-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 21, 2020
Priority date	Mar 31, 2020
Publication date	Jul 16, 2024
Grant date	Jul 16, 2024

Abstract

A vertical landing is performed by an electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) vehicle above a charger where the eVTOL vehicle includes a rotor that is configured to rotate during an occupant change state to keep the eVTOL vehicle stationary during the occupant change state. A vertically-oriented male charging port that is part of the eVTOL vehicle and a female charging port that is part of the charger are detachably coupled and a battery in the eVTOL vehicle is charged using the charger while the vertically-oriented male charging port and the female charging port are detachably coupled.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) vehicle, comprising:
a controller that is configured to perform a vertical landing by the eVTOL vehicle above a charger;
a rotor that is configured to rotate during loading to dynamically counterbalance wind effects;
a spar including a vertical portion and at least one horizontal crossbar coupled to a first end of the vertical portion, wherein the rotor is provided on the at least one horizontal crossbar; and
a male charging port that is:
provided on a second end of the vertical portion of the spar, wherein the second end is opposite the first end and the second end is closer than the first end to a ground,
the male charging port is substantially orthogonal to the at least one horizontal crossbar, and
configured to charge a battery in the eVTOL vehicle including by detachably coupling the male charging port that is part of the eVTOL vehicle and a female charging port that is part of the charger.

2. The eVTOL vehicle recited in claim 1 , wherein the male charging port is vertically-oriented.

3. The eVTOL vehicle recited in claim 1 , further comprising the battery in the eVTOL vehicle that is configured to be charged using the charger while the male charging port and the female charging port are detachably coupled.

4. The eVTOL vehicle recited in claim 1 , wherein the rotor is configured to rotate during loading to dynamically counterbalance wind effects including by maintaining eVTOL vehicle stability.

5. The eVTOL vehicle recited in claim 1 , wherein the male charging port includes:
a first contact including a circular band wrapping around the male charging port; and
a second contact at a distal end of the male charging port.

6. The eVTOL vehicle recited in claim 1 , wherein the female charging port includes an upper conical section configured to guide the male charging port into a charging position.

7. The eVTOL vehicle recited in claim 1 , wherein the female charging port includes:
a first cylindrically-shaped contact; and
a second contact at a bottom interior surface of the female charging port.

8. The eVTOL vehicle recited in claim 1 , wherein the male charging port and the female charging port are configured to be coupled above the ground.

9. The eVTOL vehicle recited in claim 1 , wherein the male charging port and the female charging port are configured to be coupled below the ground.

10. The eVTOL vehicle recited in claim 1 , wherein:
the charger is located in a secured area that includes a plurality of chargers; and
the controller is further configured to communicate with a secured area controller to receive an assignment of the charger from the plurality of chargers in the secured area based at least on part on an occupancy status of the charger.

11. A method, comprising:
performing a vertical landing by an electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) vehicle above a charger, wherein the eVTOL vehicle includes:
a rotor that is configured to rotate during loading to dynamically counterbalance wind effects; and
a spar including a vertical portion and at least one horizontal crossbar coupled to a first end of the vertical portion, wherein the rotor is provided on the at least one horizontal crossbar;

detachably coupling a male charging port that is part of the eVTOL vehicle and a female charging port that is part of the charger, wherein:
the male charging port is provided on a second end of the vertical portion of the spar;
the second end is opposite the first end and the second end is closer than the first end to a ground; and
the male charging port is substantially orthogonal to the at least one horizontal crossbar; and

charging a battery in the eVTOL vehicle using the charger while the male charging port and the female charging port are detachably coupled.

12. The method recited in claim 11 , wherein the rotor is configured to rotate during loading to dynamically counterbalance wind effects including by maintaining eVTOL vehicle stability.

13. The method recited in claim 11 , performing the vertical landing includes identifying the charger above which the eVTOL vehicle is to land based at least in part on a computer vision sensor.

14. The method recited in claim 11 , performing the vertical landing includes identifying the charger above which the eVTOL vehicle is to land based at least in part on an assignment by a remote controller.

15. The method recited in claim 11 , further comprising turning off the rotor in response to the eVTOL charger landing above the charger.

16. The method recited in claim 11 , further comprising extending the male charging port into the female charging port in response to landing above the charger.

17. The method recited in claim 11 , wherein the eVTOL vehicle is autonomous.

18. The method recited in claim 11 , further comprising performing a vertical take-off by the eVTOL vehicle in response to completion of the charging the battery.

19. A computer program product embodied in non-transitory computer readable storage medium and comprising computer instructions for:
performing a vertical landing by an electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) vehicle above a charger, wherein the eVTOL vehicle includes:
a rotor that is configured to rotate during loading to dynamically counterbalance wind effects; and
a spar including a vertical portion and at least one horizontal crossbar coupled to a first end of the vertical portion, wherein the rotor is provided on the at least one horizontal crossbar;

detachably coupling a male charging port that is part of the eVTOL vehicle and a female charging port that is part of the charger, wherein:
the male charging port is provided on a second end of the vertical portion of the spar;
the second end is opposite the first end and the second end is closer than the first end to a ground; and
the male charging port is substantially orthogonal to the at least one horizontal crossbar; and

charging a battery in the eVTOL vehicle using the charger while the male charging port and the female charging port are detachably coupled.

20. The computer program product recited in claim 19 , wherein the rotor is configured to rotate during loading to dynamically counterbalance wind effects including by maintaining eVTOL vehicle stability.

Assignees

• Kitty Hawk Corp

Inventors

• Thrun Sebastian
• Berry Benjamin Otto

Classifications

• H02J7/751

  concerning the insertion or the connection of the batteries · CPC title

• B64F1/35

  for supplying electrical power to stationary aircraft · CPC title

• B64D27/34

  All-electric aircraft · CPC title

• B64D31/16

  for electric power plants · CPC title

• B64D27/357

  using batteries · CPC title