UAV comprising a sensing system for detection and identification of biological particles
First Claim
1. An apparatus comprising:
- a fuselage;
a wing, wherein said wing depends from said fuselage;
an intake for receiving air, wherein said intake comprises an opening in at least one of said wing and said fuselage;
a sensing system for detecting biological agents, wherein said sensing system is fluidically coupled to said intake, and wherein said sensing system obtains a first sample of particulates, wherein said particulates are contained in the air received by said intake;
a GPS receiver for determining location; and
a device for associating location, as determined by said GPS receiver, with said first sample, thereby providing an indication of a sampling location of said first sample.
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Abstract
The illustrative embodiment of the present invention is a unmanned aerial vehicle that includes a sensing system for the detection and limited identification of biological agents. The system is small, light weight, requires little power to operate and uses few consumables. The system incorporates elements that enable it to obtain an air sample, extract particulates from the air sample and retain them on a stationary-phase collection media, exposes the particulates to electromagnetic radiation, and monitor the particulates for fluorescent emissions. To the extent that fluorescent emissions are detected and exceed a predetermined value, an alarm is triggered. In some embodiments, in addition to performing real-time analyses on the extracted particulates, the collection media is removed from the system and the sample is subjected to more detailed analysis via additional equipment. Various sample-collecting regions on the collection media are “time stamped” or “location stamped” so that it can determined when and/or where each sample that is being analyzed “off-line” was obtained.
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Citations
18 Claims
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1. An apparatus comprising:
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a fuselage; a wing, wherein said wing depends from said fuselage; an intake for receiving air, wherein said intake comprises an opening in at least one of said wing and said fuselage; a sensing system for detecting biological agents, wherein said sensing system is fluidically coupled to said intake, and wherein said sensing system obtains a first sample of particulates, wherein said particulates are contained in the air received by said intake; a GPS receiver for determining location; and a device for associating location, as determined by said GPS receiver, with said first sample, thereby providing an indication of a sampling location of said first sample. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. An apparatus comprising:
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a fuselage; a wing, wherein said wing depends from said fuselage; an intake for receiving air, wherein said intake comprises an opening in at least one of said wing and said fuselage; a sensing system for detecting biological agents, wherein said sensing system comprises a collection media, wherein; said collection media comprises a plurality of stationary-phase sample-collecting regions; said collection media is fluidically coupled to said intake; and said collection media retains a first sample of particulates on a first one of said stationary-phase sample-collecting regions and retains a second sample of particulates on a second one of said stationary-phase sample-collecting regions, wherein said particulates are contained in the air received by said intake; a GPS receiver for determining location; and a device for associating location, as determined by said GPS receiver, with at least one of; a. said first sample and said second sample; and b. said stationary-phase sample-collecting regions, thereby providing an indication of sampling location. - View Dependent Claims (18)
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Specification