ROTORCRAFT LANDING DEVICE

• US 20180203465A1
• Filed: 07/06/2015
• Published: 07/19/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 07/06/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Aeronext Inc.
• Original Assignee: ZERO Company Limited
• Inventors: SUZUKI, Youichi
• Granted Patent: US 10,824,168 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: A47G 2029/1221 comprising means to detect or prevent a terrorist attack, e.g. to detect anthrax-laced letters
• CPC Class Codes: A47G 29/14 Deposit receptacles for food, e.g. breakfast, milk , or large parcels; Similar receptacles for food or large parcels with appliances for preventing unauthorised removal of the deposited articles , i.e. food or large parcels
• CPC Class Codes: B64C 13/20 using radiated signals
• CPC Class Codes: B64C 39/02 characterised by special use
• CPC Class Codes: B64C 39/024 of the remote controlled vehicle type, i.e. RPV
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 1/12 Releasing
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 45/04 Landing aids; Safety measures to prevent collision with earth's surface
• CPC Class Codes: B64F 1/00 Ground or aircraft-carrier-deck installations specially adapted for captive aircraft B64F3/00
• CPC Class Codes: B64F 1/32 for handling freight
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 10/10 Rotorcrafts
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 10/13 Flying platforms
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 2101/60 for transporting passengers; for transporting goods other than weapons
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 2101/64 for parcel delivery or retrieval
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 30/21 Rotary wings
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 50/30 Supply or distribution of electrical power
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0676 specially adapted for landing
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/102 specially adapted for vertical take-off of aircraft
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0832 Special goods or special handling procedures, e.g. handling of hazardous or fragile goods
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/08355 Routing methods
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0069 specially adapted for an unmanned aircraft
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/02 : Automatic approach or landing aids, i.e. systems in which flight data of incoming planes are processed to provide landing data landing aids fitted in or to aircraft B64D45/04; visual or acoustic landing aids B64F1/18

Abstract

A drone loaded with a package takes off from a takeoff device and uses a GPS system to fly to a user house that is a delivery destination of the package as the destination. Further, when the drone approaches the user house that is the destination, the flight of the drones is switched from autonomous navigation using the GPS system to remote control performed by a landing device and an in-house control device installed in the user house. The drone lands on the landing device by remote control from the landing device and the in-house control device, separates the package, and then returns to the warehouse using the GPS system and lands on the takeoff device.

Claims

1. A rotorcraft landing device comprising:

a landing portion on which a rotorcraft lands;

a position recognition portion that recognizes a position of the rotorcraft with respect to the landing portion; and

a remote control portion that remotely controls, on a basis of a result of recognition performed by the position recognition portion, the rotorcraft such that the rotorcraft not provided with an image capturing function lands on the landing portion.

2. The rotorcraft landing device according to claim 1, comprising an opening/closing mechanism including the landing portion,

wherein the landing portion is formed in a portion that is inside the opening/closing mechanism when the opening/closing mechanism is closed, and

wherein the landing portion takes a horizontal posture at a position a space above which is open when the opening/closing mechanism is open.

3. The rotorcraft landing device according to claim 1, comprising an opening/closing mechanism,

wherein the landing portion is accommodated in an inner space when the opening/closing mechanism is closed, and

wherein a space above the landing portion is open when the opening/closing mechanism is open.

4. The rotorcraft landing device according to claim 2, comprising a movable member capable of taking a first posture of extending vertically upward from a periphery of the landing portion and a second posture of extending further to an outside from the periphery of the landing portion,

wherein the movable member takes the first posture when the opening/closing mechanism is closed, and the movable member takes the second posture when the opening/closing mechanism is open and the rotorcraft lands on the landing portion.

5. The rotorcraft landing device according to claim 4, wherein, in a state in which the movable member is in contact with a load released from the rotorcraft that has landed on the landing portion, the movable member is movable in such a direction as to move the load to a position closer to a center of the landing portion.

6. The rotorcraft landing device according to claim 1, wherein the position recognition portion includes image capturing portions provided at a plurality of positions on the landing portion, and recognizes the position of the rotorcraft with respect to the landing portion on a basis of a result of image capturing performed by the image capturing portions.

7. The rotorcraft landing device according to claim 1, comprising a distance measuring portion that measures a distance from the landing portion to the rotorcraft,

wherein the remote control portion controls a descending speed of the rotorcraft on a basis of a result of measurement performed by the distance measuring portion.

8. The rotorcraft landing device according to claim 1, wherein the remote control portion obtains identification information of the rotorcraft that has approached the landing portion from the rotorcraft, remotely controls the rotorcraft such that the rotorcraft lands on the landing portion in a case where the obtained identification information matches identification information of a rotorcraft that has already gained permission to land on the landing portion, and does not perform remote control in a case where the obtained identification information does not match.

9. The rotorcraft landing device according to claim 1, comprising an ascending/descending mechanism capable of descending to a residential space for humans in a state of carrying a load received from the rotorcraft that has landed on the landing portion and ascending again to a position at which the ascending/descending mechanism receives a load.

10. The rotorcraft landing device according to claim 1 provided at a position higher than a residential space for humans.