Combined submersible vessel and unmanned aerial vehicle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9616997-B2
Application number	US-201514944482-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 18, 2015
Priority date	Jun 16, 2008
Publication date	Apr 11, 2017
Grant date	Apr 11, 2017

Abstract

A combined submersible vessel and unmanned aerial vehicle preferably includes a body structure, at least one wing structure, at least one vertical stabilizer structure, and at least one horizontal stabilizer structure. A propulsion system is coupled to the body structure and is configured to propel the flying submarine in both airborne flight and underwater operation. Preferably, the propulsion system includes a motor, a gearbox coupled to the motor and configured to receive power generated by the motor and provide variable output power, a drive shaft coupled to the gearbox and configured to transfer the variable output power provided by the gearbox, and a propeller coupled to the drive shaft and configured to accept power transferred to it from the drive shaft. The propeller is further configured to rotate and propel the flying submarine in both an airborne environment and in an underwater environment.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An unmanned submersible aerial vehicle comprising:
an airframe;
at least one electrical storage battery;
one or more propellers to propel the unmanned submersible aerial vehicle in both an airborne environment and in an underwater environment;
one or more motors, each of said one or more motors being operatively coupled to at least one of said one or more propellers via a gearbox configured to selectively rotate said at least one of said one or more propellers in a first rotational direction and a second rotational direction, wherein the second rotational direction is opposite that of the first rotational direction;
a processor to selectively control a speed and rotational direction of each of said one or more motors;
a transceiver electrically coupled to the processor, wherein the transceiver is configured to receive a navigational control signal from a remote device and to communicate the navigational control signal to the processor so as to selectively adjust the speed of the propellers; and
a camera to capture images or video, the camera being coupled to the airframe and communicatively coupled with the processor, wherein each of the at least one electrical storage battery, the one or more motors, the processor, the camera, and the transceiver are sealed to prevent water damage.

2. The unmanned submersible aerial vehicle of claim 1 , further comprising a self-navigation system configured with artificial intelligence software operating through the processor, wherein the self-navigation system facilitates navigation based at least in part on said images or video from the camera.

3. The unmanned submersible aerial vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to drive the one or more propellers (i) at a first speed when operating in the airborne environment, and (ii) at a second speed when operating in the underwater environment, the first speed being greater than the second speed.

4. An unmanned submersible aerial vehicle comprising:
an airframe having a hull portion;
a processor;
at least one electrical storage battery;
at least one wing structure; and
a propulsion system to propel the unmanned submersible aerial vehicle in both an airborne environment and in an underwater environment, wherein the propulsion system comprises,
a motor to generate a motor torque,
a gearbox coupled to the motor and configured to receive the motor torque and to output a driving torque, wherein the gearbox is configured to selectively output the driving torque in a first rotational direction and a second rotational direction, wherein the second rotational direction is opposite that of the first rotational direction,
a drive shaft coupled to the gearbox and configured to transfer the driving torque provided by the gearbox, and
a propeller coupled to the drive shaft and driven by the driving torque, wherein the propeller is configured to rotate and to propel the unmanned submersible aerial vehicle in both the airborne environment and in the underwater environment,

wherein the processor is configured to selectively control the motor or the gearbox to adjust the motor torque or the driving torque.

5. The unmanned submersible aerial vehicle of claim 4 , wherein the at least one wing structure is foldable to a stowed configuration.

6. The unmanned submersible aerial vehicle of claim 4 , wherein the propulsion system further comprises a rocket propulsion system having an exhaust tube concentrically located within the drive shaft.

7. The unmanned submersible aerial vehicle of claim 4 , further comprising a camera to capture images or video, said camera being coupled to the processor.

8. The unmanned submersible aerial vehicle of claim 7 , further comprising a self-navigation system configured with artificial intelligence software operating through the processor, wherein the self-navigation system facilitates navigation based at least in part on said images or video from the camera.

9. The unmanned submersible aerial vehicle of claim 4 , wherein the processor is configured to drive the propeller (i) at a first speed when operating in the airborne environment, and (ii) at a second speed when operating in the underwater environment, the first speed being greater than the second speed.

10. The unmanned submersible aerial vehicle of claim 4 , further comprising a transceiver electrically coupled to the processor, wherein the transceiver is configured to receive a navigational control signal from a remote device and to communicate the navigational control signal to the processor so as to selectively adjust the speed of the propellers.

11. The unmanned submersible aerial vehicle of claim 4 , further comprising an electrical power system having at least one solar photovoltaic cell mounted on a top side of the at least one wing structure to recharge the at least one electrical storage battery during at least one of (i) the unmanned submersible aerial vehicle being disposed just below a surface of the water, and (ii) the unmanned submersible aerial vehicle cruising just below the surface of the water.

12. An unmanned submersible aerial vehicle comprising:
an airframe;
at least one electrical storage battery;
one or more propellers to propel and navigate the unmanned submersible aerial vehicle in an airborne environment and in an underwater environment;
one or more motors to output, via a drive shaft, a driving torque to one or more propellers in a first rotational direction and a second rotational direction that is opposite that of the first rotational direction, each drive shaft is configured to transfer the driving torque from the one or more motors to at least one of said one or more propellers; and
a processor to selectively control the speed of each of said one or more propellers and to selectively output the driving torque in the first rotational direction or the second rotational direction, wherein the processor is configured to selectively control the one or more propellers to propel the unmanned submersible aerial vehicle in both the airborne environment and in the underwater environment.

13. The unmanned submersible aerial vehicle of claim 12 , wherein each of said one or more motors is coupled to a single propeller.

14. The unmanned submersible aerial vehicle of claim 12 , wherein the processor is configured to drive the one or more propellers (i) at a first speed when operating in the airborne environment, and (ii) at a second speed when operating in the underwater environment, the first speed being greater than the second speed.

15. The unmanned submersible aerial vehicle of claim 12 , further comprising a camera to capture images or video, said camera being coupled to the processor.

16. The unmanned submersible aerial vehicle of claim 15 , further comprising a self-navigation system configured with artificial intelligence software operating through the processor, wherein the self-navigation system facilitates navigation based at least in part on said images or video from the camera.

17. The unmanned submersible aerial vehicle of claim 15 , further comprising a global positioning system receiver to communicate location data to the processor and a transmitter to transmit said location data and said images or video to a remote device.

18. The unmanned submersible aerial vehicle of claim 12 , further comprising a transceiver electrically coupled to the processor, wherein the transceiver is configured to receive a navigational control signal from a remote device and to communicate the navigational control signals to the processor to

Assignees

• Aurora Flight Sciences Corp

Inventors

• Parks Robert
• Woodworth Adam
• Vaneck Tom
• Mcclellan Justin

Classifications

• B64U2101/30

  for imaging, photography or videography · CPC title

• B64C2201/08

  Operations & Transport · mapped topic

• B64C2201/167

  Operations & Transport · mapped topic

• B63G8/08

  Propulsion ({schnorkels B63G8/36;} nuclear propulsion B63H21/18; submerged exhausting apparatus F01N13/12) · CPC title

• B64C39/024

  of the remote controlled vehicle type, i.e. RPV · CPC title