Unmanned VTOL ground surveillance vehicle
First Claim
1. An unmanned aerial vehicle for a ground surveillance mission, comprising:
- a toroidal fuselage;
a rotor assembly including a pair of counter-rotating rotors, said rotor assembly being secured in fixed coaxial combination with said toroidal fuselage and operative to provide lift, pitch, yaw, and roll control to provide vertical takeoff and landing and translational flight capabilities for said unmanned aerial vehiclea landing gear subsystem secured in combination with said toroidal fuselage to facilitate landing of said unmanned aerial vehicle at unprepared ground surveillance sites; and
a sensor subsystem that provides an azimuthal scanning capability and a predetermined elevation/depression scanning capability to accomplish the ground surveillance mission, said sensor subsystem includinga sensor pod having at least one sensor mounted therein which is operable to provide sensor data in accomplishment of the ground surveillance mission, anda mounting assembly for mounting said sensor pod in external combination with said toroidal fuselage, said mounting assembly being operative to reconfigure said sensor subsystem to a deployed configuration for accomplishment of the ground surveillance mission and to reconfigure said sensor subsystem to a stowed configuration for transportability of said unmanned aerial vehicle.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) has a toroidal fuselage and a rotor assembly having a pair of counter-rotating rotors secured in fixed coaxial combination with the toroidal fuselage to provide a vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) capability for the UAV. One embodiment of the VTOL UAV is especially configured for ground surveillance missions by the inclusion of an externally mounted, remotely controllable stowable sensor subsystem that provides an azimuthal scanning capability and a predetermined elevation/depression scanning capability to accomplish the ground surveillance mission and a foldable landing gear subsystem to facilitate landing of the VTOL UAV at unprepared ground surveillance sites.
167 Citations
18 Claims
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1. An unmanned aerial vehicle for a ground surveillance mission, comprising:
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a toroidal fuselage; a rotor assembly including a pair of counter-rotating rotors, said rotor assembly being secured in fixed coaxial combination with said toroidal fuselage and operative to provide lift, pitch, yaw, and roll control to provide vertical takeoff and landing and translational flight capabilities for said unmanned aerial vehicle a landing gear subsystem secured in combination with said toroidal fuselage to facilitate landing of said unmanned aerial vehicle at unprepared ground surveillance sites; and a sensor subsystem that provides an azimuthal scanning capability and a predetermined elevation/depression scanning capability to accomplish the ground surveillance mission, said sensor subsystem including a sensor pod having at least one sensor mounted therein which is operable to provide sensor data in accomplishment of the ground surveillance mission, and a mounting assembly for mounting said sensor pod in external combination with said toroidal fuselage, said mounting assembly being operative to reconfigure said sensor subsystem to a deployed configuration for accomplishment of the ground surveillance mission and to reconfigure said sensor subsystem to a stowed configuration for transportability of said unmanned aerial vehicle. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. An unmanned aerial vehicle for a ground surveillance mission, comprising:
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a toroidal fuselage; a rotor assembly including a pair of counter-rotating rotors, said rotor assembly being secured in fixed coaxial combination with said toroidal fuselage to provide a vertical takeoff and landing capability for said unmanned aerial vehicle; and a landing gear subsystem to facilitate landing of said unmanned aerial vehicle at unprepared ground surveillance sites, said landing gear subsystem including a plurality of legs, one end of each said leg being detachably secured in combination with said toroidal fuselage, a pivoting foot that includes a pad member for each of said plurality of legs, means for attaching each said pivoting foot in combination with a respective one of said plurality of legs, said pivoting feet facilitating landing of said unmanned aerial vehicle at unprepared ground surveillance sites, a non-structural hinge secured to each said leg and said toroidal fuselage, said non-structural hinges providing the capability to fold said landing gear subsystem to a stowage configuration wherein each said leg, pivoting foot combination is folded within the envelope of said toroidal fuselage, and at least one sensor mounted in combination with at least one of said pad members, said at least one sensor being operative to provide sensor data in accomplishment of the ground surveillance mission.
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17. An unmanned aerial vehicle for a ground surveillance mission, comprising:
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a toroidal fuselage; a rotor assembly including a pair of counter-rotating rotors, said rotor assembly being secured in fixed coaxial combination with said toroidal fuselage to provide a vertical takeoff and landing capability for said unmanned aerial vehicle; a landing gear subsystem to facilitate landing of said unmanned aerial vehicle at unprepared ground surveillance sites, said landing gear subsystem including a plurality of legs, one end of each said leg being detachably secured in combination with said toroidal fuselage, a pivoting foot that includes a pad member for each of said plurality of legs, means for attaching each said pivoting foot in combination with a respective one of said plurality of legs, said pivoting feet facilitating landing of said unmanned aerial vehicle at unprepared ground surveillance sites, and a non-structural hinge secured to each said leg and said toroidal fuselage, said non-structural hinges providing the capability to fold said landing gear subsystem to a stowage configuration wherein each said leg, pivoting foot combination is folded within the envelope of said toroidal fuselage; and a sensor subsystem that provides an azimuthal scanning capability and a predetermined elevation/depression scanning capability to accomplish the ground surveillance mission, said sensor subsystem including a plurality of support struts, each support strut having one end thereof secured in pivotable combination with said toroidal fuselage, said supports struts being pivotable with respect to said toroidal fuselage to reconfigure said sensor subsystem to a deployed configuration for accomplishment of the ground surveillance mission and to reconfigure said sensor subsystem to a stowed configuration for transportability of said unmanned aerial vehicle a pod housing including a turntable, means for mounting said plurality of support struts in pivotable combination with said pod housing wherein said pod housing is pivotable through a predetermined range to provide the predetermined elevation/depression scanning capability of said sensor subsystem, said turntable being mounted in rotatable combination with said mounting means, azimuth control means mounted on said turntable in interactive combination with said mounting means for rotating said turntable with respect thereto to provide the azimuthal scanning capability for said sensor subsystem, and at least one sensor mounted in combination with said turntable to provide sensor data in accomplishment of the ground surveillance mission. - View Dependent Claims (18)
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Specification