Aerial system thermal control system and method
First Claim
1. An aerial vehicle comprising:
- a set of rotors, each rotor of the set defining a respective rotor axis, a respective rotor plane normal to the respective rotor axis, and a respective swept area within the respective rotor plane, wherein the rotor axes are substantially non-collinear;
a processor configured to control the set of rotors for aerial vehicle flight;
a housing defining a housing interior and a plurality of cooling channels, the housing interior fluidly coupled to an ambient environment by the plurality of cooling channels, the processor arranged within the housing interior, each rotor of the set rotationally coupled to the housing about the respective rotor axis; and
a rotor housing mechanically coupled to the housing, the rotor housing enclosing a rotor of the set and defining a plurality of airflow apertures fluidly connecting the rotor to an ambient environment, wherein each aperture is smaller than a threshold size;
wherein;
for each rotor of the set, a projection of the processor and the cooling channels onto the respective rotor plane does not intersect the respective swept area; and
a distance from the rotor axis of a first rotor of the set to a cooling channel of the plurality is less than 75% of a rotor diameter of the first rotor.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An aerial vehicle including a set of rotors, a processor configured to configured to control the set of rotors for aerial vehicle flight, and a housing defining a plurality of cooling channels, wherein, for each rotor of the set, a projection of the processor and the cooling channels onto the respective rotor plane does not intersect the swept area of the rotor, and a distance from the rotor axis of a first rotor of the set to a cooling channel is less than 75% of a rotor diameter of the first rotor. A method for aerial vehicle operation, including providing an aerial vehicle including a rotor, a processor, and a housing, flying the aerial vehicle, and, while flying the aerial vehicle, actively cooling the processor, including, at the rotor, forcing airflow toward the processor.
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Citations
19 Claims
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1. An aerial vehicle comprising:
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a set of rotors, each rotor of the set defining a respective rotor axis, a respective rotor plane normal to the respective rotor axis, and a respective swept area within the respective rotor plane, wherein the rotor axes are substantially non-collinear; a processor configured to control the set of rotors for aerial vehicle flight; a housing defining a housing interior and a plurality of cooling channels, the housing interior fluidly coupled to an ambient environment by the plurality of cooling channels, the processor arranged within the housing interior, each rotor of the set rotationally coupled to the housing about the respective rotor axis; and a rotor housing mechanically coupled to the housing, the rotor housing enclosing a rotor of the set and defining a plurality of airflow apertures fluidly connecting the rotor to an ambient environment, wherein each aperture is smaller than a threshold size; wherein; for each rotor of the set, a projection of the processor and the cooling channels onto the respective rotor plane does not intersect the respective swept area; and a distance from the rotor axis of a first rotor of the set to a cooling channel of the plurality is less than 75% of a rotor diameter of the first rotor. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. An aerial vehicle comprising:
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a set of rotors, each rotor of the set defining a respective rotor axis, a respective rotor plane normal to the respective rotor axis, and a respective swept area within the respective rotor plane, wherein the rotor axes are substantially non-collinear; a processor configured to control the set of rotors for aerial vehicle flight; and a housing defining a housing interior and a plurality of cooling channels, the housing interior fluidly coupled to an ambient environment by the plurality of cooling channels, the processor arranged within the housing interior, each rotor of the set rotationally coupled to the housing about the respective rotor axis; wherein; for each rotor of the set, a projection of the processor and the cooling channels onto the respective rotor plane does not intersect the respective swept area; and for each rotor of the set, a sum of the swept areas of the set of rotors is greater than 50% of an area of a convex hull of a projection of the aerial system onto the respective rotor plane. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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Specification