Tether compensated airborne delivery
First Claim
1. An Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), comprising:
- a winch secured to the UAV, the winch including a tether to lower an item from the UAV for delivery;
an attachment mechanism to releasably secure the item to the tether;
a flight controller configured to control a flight path of the UAV and extension of the tether from the winch;
a tether compensation mechanism secured to the UAV;
a sensor configured to identify at least one component of movement in the tether when the tether is extended from the winch; and
a tether response controller configured to;
determine a complementary response to the movement in the tether; and
direct the tether compensation mechanism to contact and counterbalance the tether against the movement in the tether according to the complementary response, whereinthe flight controller is further configured to adjust the flight path of the UAV based on the complementary response.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A tether compensated unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is described. In one embodiment, the UAV includes a winch with a tether to lower an item from the UAV for delivery, a flight controller to control a flight path of the UAV, a tether compensation mechanism through which the tether extends, at least one sensor to identify movement in the tether, and a tether response controller. Based on movement identified in the tether, the tether response controller may determine a complementary response and direct the tether compensation mechanism to brace the tether against the movement. Thus, the tether compensation mechanism may stabilize sway or movement in the tether by moving against the sway or movement, which may help prevent the tether from undesirable swinging when lowering the item from the UAV for delivery, for example, or at other times.
106 Citations
20 Claims
-
1. An Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), comprising:
-
a winch secured to the UAV, the winch including a tether to lower an item from the UAV for delivery; an attachment mechanism to releasably secure the item to the tether; a flight controller configured to control a flight path of the UAV and extension of the tether from the winch; a tether compensation mechanism secured to the UAV; a sensor configured to identify at least one component of movement in the tether when the tether is extended from the winch; and a tether response controller configured to; determine a complementary response to the movement in the tether; and direct the tether compensation mechanism to contact and counterbalance the tether against the movement in the tether according to the complementary response, wherein the flight controller is further configured to adjust the flight path of the UAV based on the complementary response. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
-
-
4. A method to compensate for tether movement in an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), comprising:
-
controlling, by at least one computing device of the UAV, a flight path of the UAV; controlling, by the at least one computing device of the UAV, extension of a tether from a winch secured to the UAV for delivery of an item; identifying, by at least one sensor, at least one component of movement in the tether; determining, by the at least one computing device of the UAV, a complementary response to the movement in the tether; directing, by the at least one computing device of the UAV, a tether compensation mechanism to contact and counterbalance the tether against the movement according to the complementary response; and adjusting, by the at least one computing device, the flight path of the UAV based on the complementary response. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
-
-
12. An Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), comprising:
-
a winch secured to the UAV, the winch including a tether to lower an item from the UAV for delivery; a flight controller configured to control flight of the UAV and extension of the tether from the winch; a sensor configured to identify at least one component of movement in the tether; and a tether response controller configured to; determine a complementary response to the movement in the tether; and direct a tether compensation mechanism to contact and counterbalance the tether against the movement according to the complementary response, wherein the flight controller is further configured to adjust the flight of the UAV based on the complementary response. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
-
Specification