UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLE BASE STATION SYSTEM AND METHOD

• US 20190329740A1
• Filed: 07/08/2019
• Published: 10/31/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 07/31/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SZ DJI Technology Co., Ltd. (d/b/a DJI) (iFlight Technology Company Limited)
• Original Assignee: SZ DJI Technology Co., Ltd. (d/b/a DJI) (iFlight Technology Company Limited)
• Inventors: WANG, Mingxi, LIN, Yuan, LI, Hongju
• Granted Patent: US 11,708,003 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/80 Exchanging energy storage elements, e.g. removable batteries
• CPC Class Codes: B64C 39/024 of the remote controlled vehicle type, i.e. RPV
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 10/13 Flying platforms
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 10/14 with four distinct rotor axes, e.g. quadcopters
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 30/20 Rotors; Rotor supports
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 50/19 using electrically powered motors
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 50/39 Battery swapping
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 70/30 for capturing UAVs in flight by ground or sea-based arresting gear, e.g. by a cable or a net
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 70/90 Launching from or landing on platforms
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 80/70 in containers B64U80/60 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/0045 concerning the insertion or the connection of the batteries
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/70 Energy storage systems for electromobility, e.g. batteries
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/7072 Electromobility specific charging systems or methods for batteries, ultracapacitors, supercapacitors or double-layer capacitors

Abstract

An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) base station includes a housing and a UAV fixation system. The housing includes a top-plate configured for a UAV to land on the top-plate. The UAV fixation system is configured to direct the UAV present on the top-plate to a battery-exchange zone of the top-plate.

Claims

1. An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) base station comprising:

a housing comprising a top-plate configured for a UAV to land on the top-plate; and

a UAV fixation system configured to direct the UAV present on the top-plate to a battery-exchange zone of the top-plate.

2. The UAV base station of claim 1, wherein the UAV fixation system comprises a first fixation arm and a second fixation arm configured to respectively translate along respective perpendicular axes.

3. The UAV base station of claim 2, wherein the first fixation arm and the second fixation arm extend perpendicularly to their respective translation axes.

4. The UAV base station of claim 2, further comprising:

a first fixation-arm-actuation system and a second fixation-arm-actuation system disposed within the housing and configured to actuate the first fixation arm and the second fixation arm, respectively.

5. The UAV base station of claim 4, wherein:

a first end of the first fixation arm extends through a slot in the top-plate and is coupled to the first fixation-arm-actuation system; and

a second end of the first fixation arm abuts or slidably resides in a slot of a fixation rim on the top-plate, the fixation rim being configured to guide a movement of the UAV on the top-plate.

6. The UAV base station of claim 4,

wherein one end of the second fixation arm extends through a slot in the top-plate and is coupled to the second fixation-arm-actuation system;

the UAV base station further comprising;

a fixation rim on the top-plate and arranged proximate to the one end of the second fixation arm, the fixation rim being configured to guide a movement of the UAV on the top-plate.

7. The UAV base station of claim 4, wherein:

the first fixation-arm-actuation system comprises a first fixation-rail and a first fixation-carriage configured to translate on the first fixation-rail;

the second fixation-arm-actuation system comprises a second fixation-rail and a second fixation-carriage configured to translate on the second fixation-rail; and

the first fixation arm and the second fixation arm are coupled to the first fixation-carriage and the second fixation-carriage, respectively.

8. The UAV base station of claim 1, wherein the battery-exchange zone is arranged at a corner of the top-plate.

9. The UAV base station of claim 1, wherein the battery-change zone is one of four battery-exchange zones of the top-plate each arranged at one of four corners of the top-plate.

10. The UAV base station of claims 1, wherein the top-plate comprises a hatch extending into a housing cavity of the housing and configured to provide access between the housing cavity and a portion of the housing above the top-plate.

11. The UAV base station of claim 10, wherein the hatch comprises at least one hatch-door.

12. The UAV base station of claim 10, wherein a mechanical mechanism is configured to extend a battery pack through the hatch from within the housing cavity to a battery-swapping position above the top-plate proximate to the battery-exchange zone.

13. The UAV base station of claim 1, further comprising:

a battery-exchange system comprising;

a battery-matrix comprising a plurality of battery-slots, each configured to removably hold a UAV battery pack; and

a mechanical mechanism configured to move along at least two axes to interact with a selected UAV battery pack of the battery-exchange system and a UAV battery pack of the UAV.

14. The UAV base station of claim 13, wherein the mechanical mechanism is configured to:

move along at least one of an X-axis or a Y-axis to the selected UAV battery pack disposed in a selected battery-slot;

extend a battery-carriage along a Z-axis and grasp the selected UAV battery pack;

retract the battery-carriage along the Z-axis to remove the selected UAV battery pack from the battery-slot; and

move the selected UAV battery pack proximate to the UAV and insert the selected UAV battery pack into a UAV battery-slot of the UAV and decouple from the selected UAV battery pack.

15. The UAV base station of claim 13, wherein the mechanical mechanism is configured to:

move proximate to the UAV;

grasp the UAV battery pack disposed in a UAV battery-slot of the UAV;

retractably remove the UAV battery pack from the UAV battery-slot;

move along at least one of an X-axis or a Y-axis to a selected UAV battery-slot; and

extend a battery-carriage along a Z-axis to insert the UAV battery pack in the selected UAV battery-slot.

16. The UAV base station of claim 13, wherein the plurality of battery-slots are arranged in a two-dimensional array having a plurality of rows and columns.

17. The UAV base station of claim 13, wherein the mechanical mechanism comprises a base-cart configured to translate linearly along an X-axis on at least one base-rail.

18. The unmanned aerial vehicle base station of claim 17, wherein the mechanical mechanism comprises:

an elevator-carriage configured to translate linearly along a Y-axis on at least one elevator-rail that extends from the base-cart; and

a battery-carriage coupled with the elevator-carriage.

19. The UAV base station of claim 1, wherein the housing further comprises a top-plate cover configured to removably cover the top-plate.

20. The UAV base station of claim 1, wherein the housing further comprises a draw bar and wheels.