Miniature expendable surveillance balloon system
First Claim
1. A miniature surveillance balloon system comprising a gas bag, an amount of lighter-than-air gas sufficient to enable the balloon system to ascend, a valve to deflate the gas bag for descent, a source of electrical power, at least one image sensor, an electronic processor subsystem for control and image processing, a GPS sensor, an altitude sensor, a radio communications system, and also including;
- at least one battery that is jettisoned during flight and under control of the electronic processor subsystem to enable vertical movement of the balloon system.
0 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A miniature surveillance balloon system is described that can be used in military and public safety situations for real-time observations. They are as small as feasibly possible, low-cost and expendable, and typically are deployed in clusters. Balloons may act individually or alternately clusters may act robotically (in unison) without command input at times. Video surveillance information is preprocessed and then sent via wireless communications links. Batteries and/or gas cylinders may be selectively jettisoned to facilitate vertical movement. Balloons may optionally have thruster mechanisms to facilitate lateral movement which may in some embodiments be powered by a source of combustible gas which is also used for providing lift.
-
Citations
13 Claims
-
1. A miniature surveillance balloon system comprising a gas bag, an amount of lighter-than-air gas sufficient to enable the balloon system to ascend, a valve to deflate the gas bag for descent, a source of electrical power, at least one image sensor, an electronic processor subsystem for control and image processing, a GPS sensor, an altitude sensor, a radio communications system, and also including;
at least one battery that is jettisoned during flight and under control of the electronic processor subsystem to enable vertical movement of the balloon system. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
-
6. A miniature surveillance balloon system comprising a gas bag, an amount of lighter-than-air gas sufficient to enable the balloon system to ascend, a valve to deflate the gas bag for descent, a source of electrical power, at least one image sensor, an electronic processor subsystem for control and image processing, a GPS sensor, an altitude sensor, a radio communications system, and also including;
at least one compressed gas container that is jettisoned during flight to enable vertical movement of the balloon system. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10)
-
11. A miniature surveillance balloon system comprising a gas bag, an amount of lighter-than-air gas sufficient to enable the balloon system to ascend, a valve to deflate the gas bag for descent, a source of electrical power, at least one image sensor, an electronic processor subsystem for control and image processing, a GPS sensor, an altitude sensor, a radio communications system, and also including;
-
at least one battery that is jettisoned during flight and under control of the electronic processor subsystem to enable vertical movement of the balloon system, and; at least one compressed gas container that is jettisoned during flight and under control of the electronic processor subsystem to enable vertical movement of the balloon system. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13)
-
Specification