Mechanisms for lowering a payload to the ground from a UAV
First Claim
1. An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) comprising:
- a housing;
a line-retraction mechanism couplable to the housing and a line, wherein the line-retraction mechanism is controllable to vary a retraction rate of the line;
a payload-release mechanism operable to releasably couple the line to a payload; and
a control system configured to;
lower the line without a payload attached thereto;
determine that the payload-release mechanism is coupled to a payload; and
responsively operate the line-retraction mechanism according to a pre-determined variable retraction-rate profile to retract the line towards the UAV, wherein the variable retraction-rate profile specifies for the line to retract and lift the payload at a pre-determined first rate, and subsequently increase ascent rate from the first rate to a pre-determined second rate.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Embodiments described herein may help to provide medical support via a fleet of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). An illustrative UAV may include a housing, a payload, a line-deployment mechanism coupled to the housing and a line, and a payload-release mechanism that couples the line to the payload, wherein the payload-release mechanism is configured to release the payload from the line. The UAV may further include a control system configured to determine that the UAV is located at or near a delivery location and responsively: operate the line-deployment mechanism according to a variable deployment-rate profile to lower the payload to or near to the ground, determine that the payload is touching or is within a threshold distance from the ground, and responsively operate the payload-release mechanism to release the payload from the line.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) comprising:
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a housing; a line-retraction mechanism couplable to the housing and a line, wherein the line-retraction mechanism is controllable to vary a retraction rate of the line; a payload-release mechanism operable to releasably couple the line to a payload; and a control system configured to; lower the line without a payload attached thereto; determine that the payload-release mechanism is coupled to a payload; and responsively operate the line-retraction mechanism according to a pre-determined variable retraction-rate profile to retract the line towards the UAV, wherein the variable retraction-rate profile specifies for the line to retract and lift the payload at a pre-determined first rate, and subsequently increase ascent rate from the first rate to a pre-determined second rate. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method comprising:
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determining, by a computing system, a variable retraction-rate profile for lifting of a payload to an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), wherein the UAV comprises a line-retraction mechanism and a payload-release mechanism operable to releasably couple a line to a payload; operating, by the computing system, the line-retraction mechanism to lower the line without a payload attached thereto; determining, by the computing system, that the payload-release mechanism is coupled to a payload; and responsively operating the line-retraction mechanism according to a determined variable retraction-rate profile to retract the line towards the UAV, wherein the variable retraction-rate profile specifies for the line to initially retract and lift the payload at a pre-determined first rate, and subsequently increase ascent rate from the first rate to a pre-determined second rate. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored therein instructions executable by a computing device to cause the computing device to perform functions comprising:
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determining a variable retraction-rate profile for lifting of a payload to an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), wherein the UAV comprises a line-retraction mechanism and a payload-release mechanism operable to releasably couple a line to a payload; operating the line-retraction mechanism to lower the line without a payload attached thereto; determining the payload-release mechanism is coupled to a payload; and responsively operating the line-retraction mechanism according to a determined variable retraction-rate profile to retract the line towards the UAV, wherein the variable retraction-rate profile specifies for the line to initially retract and lift the payload at a pre-determined first rate, and subsequently increase ascent rate from the first rate to a pre-determined second rate. - View Dependent Claims (20)
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Specification