Micro-rotorcraft surveillance system
First Claim
1. A hand-held, miniature flying micro-rotorcraft unit comprising a plurality of interchangeable, modular components coupled to one another to form a hand-held elongated body defining a vertical axis, and rotor means coupled to an upper end of the hand-held elongated body for rotation about the vertical axis to lift the hand-held elongated body into the air, the rotor means being driven by drive means located within one of the interchangeable modular components of the hand-held elongated body.
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Abstract
A flying micro-rotorcraft unit (18, 24, 310, 330, 370) is provided for remote tactical and operational missions. The unit (18, 24, 310, 330, 370) includes an elongated body (52) having an upper and a lower end. The body (52) defines a vertical axis (60). The unit (18, 24, 310, 330, 370) further includes a navigation module (54) including means for determining a global position of the elongated body (52) during flight of the unit (18, 24, 310, 330, 370). Rotor means of the unit (18, 24, 310, 330, 370) is coupled to the upper end of the elongated body (52) for generating a thrust force that acts in a direction parallel to the vertical axis (60) to lift the elongated body (52) into the air. The rotor means is located between the elongated body (52) and the navigation module (54).
137 Citations
37 Claims
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1. A hand-held, miniature flying micro-rotorcraft unit comprising
a plurality of interchangeable, modular components coupled to one another to form a hand-held elongated body defining a vertical axis, and rotor means coupled to an upper end of the hand-held elongated body for rotation about the vertical axis to lift the hand-held elongated body into the air, the rotor means being driven by drive means located within one of the interchangeable modular components of the hand-held elongated body.
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18. A hand-held, miniature, flying micro-rotorcraft unit comprising
a hand-held elongated body having an upper end and a lower end and defining a vertical axis, a navigation module comprising means for determining a global position of the elongated body during flight of the micro-rotorcraft unit, and rotor means coupled to the upper end of the hand-held elongated body and located between the hand-held elongated body and the navigation module for generating a thrust force that acts in a direction parallel to the vertical axis to lift the hand-held elongated body into the air.
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30. A hand-held, miniature, flying micro-rotorcraft unit kit having component parts capable of being assembled at a micro-rotorcraft assembly site to provide a miniature flying surveillance machine operable by remote control, the kit comprising the combination of
a hand-held payload module including means for conducting surveillance activities during flight, a hand-held lift generator module comprising a first hub supported for rotation about a vertical axis in a first direction to rotate a first pair of rotor blades coupled to the first hub, and a second hub supported for rotation about the vertical axis in a second direction to rotate a second pair of rotor blades coupled to the second hub, a hand-held power module containing a supply of energy, a hand-held drive module including means for rotating the first and second hubs in opposite directions about the vertical axis to turn the rotor blades to generate a thrust force that acts in a direction parallel to the vertical axis using energy stored in the hand-held power module, and a quick-disconnect module coupling adapted to be installed at a junction between each pair of adjacent modules to retain each pair of adjacent modules in fixed relation to one another to unite the modules in series to cause the thrust force generated by the hand-held lift generator module to lift the united payload, power, and drive modules into the air to initiate flight.
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34. A co-axial rotorcraft capable of sustained horizontal flight comprising
an elongated body having an elongated body axis, a first rotor blade connected to the elongated body and rotatable in a first rotation direction about a first rotor axis substantially parallel to the body axis, a second rotor blade connected to the elongated body and rotatable in a second rotation direction about a second rotor axis substantially parallel to the body axis, the second rotation direction being opposite of the first rotation direction, and the elongated body is supported in flight by the first and second rotor blades with the body axis in a generally vertical orientation.
Specification