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Robot with inertia shifting assembly providing spin control during flight

  • US 10,606,282 B2
  • Filed: 09/29/2017
  • Issued: 03/31/2020
  • Est. Priority Date: 07/20/2017
  • Status: Active Grant
First Claim
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1. A robot adapted to have spin control, comprising:

  • a body with an interior space; and

    an inertia shifting assembly, comprising;

    a sensor assembly collecting sensor data for the robot during a freefall;

    a controller processing the sensor data to generate a control signal; and

    a drive mechanism operating in response to the control signal to shift the moment of inertia of the robot to modify rotation during the freefall,wherein the drive mechanism comprises at least one eight and an assembly for moving the at least one weight relative to the center of mass of the robot in response to the control signal,wherein the drive mechanism of the inertia shifting assembly is wholly positioned within the interior space,wherein the controller processes the sensor data to predict an orientation of the body at a point of the freefall, to compare the predicted orientation to a target orientation for the body at the point of the freefall, and to generate the control signal to cause the predicted orientation to match the target orientation,wherein the moving of the at least one weight relative to the center of mass comprises moving the at least one weight from a first position in the interior space relative to the center of the mass to a second position in the interior space relative to the center of mass of the robot, andwherein the drive mechanism releases the at least one weight to move from the first position to the second position under centripetal force.

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