Aircraft maintenance robot
First Claim
1. A robotic aircraft deicer for distributing deicing fluid to surfaces of an aircraft, comprising:
- nozzles for spraying the deicing fluid on the surfaces of the aircraft;
delivering means for delivering the deicing fluid to said nozzles;
positioning means for positioning said nozzles to deliver the deicing fluid to the surfaces of the aircraft; and
control means coupled to said positioning means and operable to automatically control said positioning means such that the deicing fluid may be delivered to the surfaces of the aircraft without substantial intervention of a human operator, said control means comprising;
a first processor;
means for entering physical dimensions of the aircraft into said first processor, said first processor operable to generate a plurality of control signals in response to entry of said dimensions into said first processor;
means for entering weather information into said first processor, said first processor operable to adjust said control signals to account for said weather information; and
means for transmitting said control signals from said first processor to said positioning means.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An aircraft maintenance robot (20) for maintaining aircraft surfaces is described that includes a maintenance tool (228), for example a nozzle (78), conduits and a pump, which supply fluid to the maintenance tool, which sprays the fluid on aircraft surfaces; movable arm with rotatable hinges and wrists such that a manifold to which the maintenance tools are coupled may be positioned in response to control signals; and a processor which, after accounting for the position of the aircraft, the weather conditions, and the physical dimensions of the aircraft, generates the control signals used to position the maintenance tool such that, after positioning the aircraft, the maintenance operation may be performed without human intervention. The preferred embodiment of the present invention discloses the use of the maintenance robot (20) for deicing aircraft. A wide variety of interchangeable end effectors, however, may be used for a wide variety of applications. These may include various cleaning, painting, paint removing, and even firefighting applications.
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Citations
13 Claims
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1. A robotic aircraft deicer for distributing deicing fluid to surfaces of an aircraft, comprising:
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nozzles for spraying the deicing fluid on the surfaces of the aircraft; delivering means for delivering the deicing fluid to said nozzles; positioning means for positioning said nozzles to deliver the deicing fluid to the surfaces of the aircraft; and control means coupled to said positioning means and operable to automatically control said positioning means such that the deicing fluid may be delivered to the surfaces of the aircraft without substantial intervention of a human operator, said control means comprising; a first processor; means for entering physical dimensions of the aircraft into said first processor, said first processor operable to generate a plurality of control signals in response to entry of said dimensions into said first processor; means for entering weather information into said first processor, said first processor operable to adjust said control signals to account for said weather information; and means for transmitting said control signals from said first processor to said positioning means. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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Specification