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Miniature, unmanned aircraft with onboard stabilization and automated ground control of flight path

  • US 6,847,865 B2
  • Filed: 09/26/2002
  • Issued: 01/25/2005
  • Est. Priority Date: 09/27/2001
  • Status: Expired due to Fees
First Claim
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1. A method of controlling a miniature, unmanned aircraft capable of acquiring data or transmitting data or both acquiring and transmitting data, such that flight stabilization is automatically performed within the aircraft and flight direction is performed by external remotely generated signals, comprising the steps of:

  • providing a miniature, unmanned aircraft having an airframe including a fuselage, a wing, at least one control surface and at least one servomechanism disposed to operate a respective control surface, a reciprocating piston internal combustion engine and fuel supply system carried aboard the airframe, a propeller drivably connected to the engine, a mission data handling apparatus disposed selectively to acquire data or transmit data or to both acquire and transmit data, and a remotely controlled guidance system having a microprocessor disposed to manage flight, a radio frequency transceiver carried aboard the aircraft and disposed to receive remotely generated flight direction commands and to communicate flight direction commands to the microprocessor, and at least one flight stabilization sensor disposed to sense data relating to stabilization of the aircraft;

    receiving remotely generated radio frequency flight direction commands on the transceiver and transmitting the flight direction commands to the microprocessor;

    causing the flight stabilization sensor to transmit sensed data to the microprocessor;

    causing the microprocessor to process flight direction commands and sensed data relating to stabilization to generate stabilization and directional command signals, and transmitting generated stabilization and directional command signals to at least one servomechanism;

    determining the stabilization command signals transmitted to each servomechanism exclusively from data sensed by the flight stabilization sensor; and

    determining the directional command signals transmitted to each servomechanism based entirely and exclusively on direction commands received by the radio frequency transceiver.

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