456results about "Balloon aircrafts" patented technology

The invention belongs to the technical field of agricultural disease monitoring, prevention and control, and particularly relates to a rice blast monitoring and diagnosing method based on a mooring hot-air balloon and an unmanned aerial vehicle system. By constructing a dynamic observation platform of a tethered hot-air balloon and an unmanned aerial vehicle group, multi-variety, multi-temporal and multi-dimensional rice blast diseased plant multi-spectral / hyperspectral data and multi-information such as geography, soil, climate and field management are synchronously obtained, and a spectral database is constructed. An early diagnosis inversion model is constructed based on spectral characteristics of diseased rice plants and data characteristics of an unmanned aerial vehicle and a captive hot-air balloon by using self-supervised learning and deep learning technologies. According to the method, the cooperative advantages of the tethered hot-air balloon and the unmanned aerial vehicle are fully played, comprehensive acquisition and deep fusion of data are realized, the accuracy and timeliness of rice blast monitoring and diagnosis are improved, powerful technical support is provided for healthy development of the rice industry, and agricultural intelligence and sustainable development are assisted.

A system includes: a lower sail module; an upper sail module; and a bridle assembly. The lower sail module defines a first edge and a second edge and includes: a first control surface extending between the first edge and the second edge; a set of payload instruments; and a motorized spool arranged proximal the second edge of the lower sail module. The upper sail module: is arranged above the lower sail module; defines a third edge and a fourth edge and includes; and includes a second control surface extending between the third edge and the fourth edge. The bridle assembly includes: a set of fixed sail cables coupling the upper sail module to the first control surface proximal the first edge; and a sail control cable wound about the motorized spool and coupling the upper sail module to the first control surface proximal the second edge.

A surveillance system is disclosed. The surveillance system may include a power source, a tether and an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The tether may include tether proximal distal ends. The tether may obtain power from the power source via a tether connection unit connected to the tether distal end. The UAV may be removably attached to the tether proximal end and configured to obtain power from the tether. The UAV may obtain a trigger signal to follow a target object. The UAV may maneuver UAV movement to follow the target object responsive to obtaining the trigger signal. The UAV may additionally determine that a distance between the UAV and the tether connection unit may be equivalent to a tether length when the UAV may be following the target object. The UAV may detach from the tether when the distance may be equivalent to the tether length.

A system enabling safe manned and unmanned operations at extremely high altitudes (above 70,000 feet). The system utilizes a balloon launch system and parachute and / or parafoil recovery.

Described herein are features for a high altitude lighter-than-air (LTA) system and associated methods. The LTA may include one or more super-pressure balloons (SPB). One or more of the SPB's may include one or more interior volumes. One or more of the interior volumes may be configured to receive an LTA gas therein to supplement the free lift of the LTA system. There may be an adjustable valve or vent to release the LTA gas. One or more of the interior volumes may be configured to receive ambient air to provide a variable downward force. The SPB may use a compressor to pump in ambient air. The compressor or another valve may release ambient air to decrease the downward force. A zero-pressure balloon (ZPB) may be attached with the one or more SPB's. The ZPB may supplement lift for the system.

The invention comprises an apparatus, method for using the apparatus and system for balloon altitude control by in-situ characterization and active energy management. The invention presented enables transportation, autonomous operation and use of a balloon beyond the limits of conventional high-altitude ballooning to the edge of the atmosphere, or about 100 km above the surface of the Earth. The apparatus comprises at least: an envelope containing lift-gas; an envelope and lift-gas characterizer; an altitude control system operated using active energy addition and lift-gas transfer or ambient air introduction into the system; and an external payload component. The invention is capable of operating in ascent, descent, or stationary mode; the altitudinal movement of the balloon is caused by measuring in-situ envelope and lift-gas characteristics, identifying the change in the lift-gas energy needed, and facilitating the required energy change for altitude control.

Devices, systems, and methods are directed to controlling lifting gas in a volume defined by an inflatable structure of an aircraft. For example, controlling lifting gas in the volume of the inflatable structure may account for variations in ambient and tactical conditions experienced by the aircraft over the course of flight, as may be useful for lifting the aircraft to a target altitude and / or carrying out a particular mission. Additionally, or alternatively, controlling lifting gas in the volume of the inflatable structure may facilitate lifting the aircraft using lifting gas generated by reacting stable materials with one another at a launch site in the field. As an example, aluminum may react with water to form a lifting gas including hydrogen and steam. As the steam condenses to water in the inflatable structure, a valve may expel water from the inflatable structure to assist in maintaining buoyancy of the aircraft.

Hot-air balloon flight is facilitated by obtaining a data-analysis-based control to selectively redirect the flight path of the hot-air balloon, where the hot-air balloon includes a positioning system to facilitate repositioning the hot-air balloon. The data-analysis-based control includes simulating a digital twin model of the hot-air balloon and one or more environmental conditions to potentially effect the hot-air balloon on a projected flight path, and based on the simulated digital twin model, forecasting presence of an adverse environmental condition to effect the hot-air balloon on the projected flight path. Further, the data-analysis-based control includes controlling the positioning system of the hot-air balloon to reposition the hot-air balloon onto a different flight path than the projected flight path to mitigate impact of the adverse environmental condition on the hot-air balloon.

Described herein are features for a high altitude lighter-than-air (LTA) system and associated methods. A zero-pressure balloon (ZPB) is attached in tandem with one or more air super-pressure balloons (SPB). The ZPB provides lift for the system while the SPB may provide a variable amount of ballast air by pumping in or expelling out ambient air. Various advanced performance targets relating to ascent rate, descent rate, range and maximum altitude are achievable with various scaled versions of the basic design of the LTA system. Advanced navigation and control techniques, such as more efficient high altitude station-keeping approaches, made possible with the LTA system are also described.

The invention relates to a photovoltaic power station cleaning method and device. The method comprises the steps that infrared steam image information, the spraying height and the steam amount are obtained below an unmanned aerial vehicle; determining the hovering buoyancy of the steam fire balloon from a preset buoyancy model according to the steam quantity, and determining the hovering power of the unmanned aerial vehicle according to the hovering buoyancy; identifying and determining an environment wind direction and a steam offset distance according to the infrared steam image information, and determining a wind-resistant paddle according to the environment wind direction; determining the environment wind speed according to the jet height, the preset jet speed and the steam offset distance, and determining the wind-resistant power of the wind-resistant paddle according to the environment wind speed; and controlling the unmanned aerial vehicle to suspend according to the suspension power and adjusting the anti-wind paddles according to the anti-wind power so as to enable the unmanned aerial vehicle to suspend when wind exists and adjust the unmanned aerial vehicle to clean the photovoltaic panel when the wind direction changes. The unmanned aerial vehicle is controlled in the mode, so that the unmanned aerial vehicle can stably hover in the air when running under the windy condition, and the photovoltaic panel is convenient to clean.

Described herein are features for a high altitude lighter-than-air (LTA) system and associated methods. The LTA may include one or more super-pressure balloons (SPB). One or more of the SPB's may include one or more interior volumes. One or more of the interior volumes may be configured to receive an LTA gas therein to supplement the free lift of the LTA system. There may be an adjustable valve or vent to release the LTA gas. One or more of the interior volumes may be configured to receive ambient air to provide a variable downward force. The SPB may use a compressor to pump in ambient air. The compressor or another valve may release ambient air to decrease the downward force. A zero-pressure balloon (ZPB) may be attached with the one or more SPB's. The ZPB may supplement lift for the system.

The invention comprises an apparatus, method for using the apparatus and system for balloon altitude control by in-situ characterization and active energy management. The invention presented enables transportation, autonomous operation and use of a balloon beyond the limits of conventional high-altitude ballooning to the edge of the atmosphere, or about 100 km above the surface of the Earth. The apparatus comprises at least: an envelope containing lift-gas; an envelope and lift-gas characterizer; an altitude control system operated using active energy addition and lift-gas transfer or ambient air introduction into the system; and an external payload component. The invention is capable of operating in ascent, descent, or stationary mode; the altitudinal movement of the balloon is caused by measuring in-situ envelope and lift-gas characteristics, identifying the change in the lift-gas energy needed, and facilitating the required energy change for altitude control.

The invention relates to the technical field of aerostat control, and discloses an aerostat control method and system, and the method comprises the steps: S1, collecting the internal state data, external environment data and environment parameters of an aerostat through a multi-source sensor; s2, processing the data acquired in the S1, and constructing a state and disturbance observer to obtain an aerostat state estimation value and an environmental wind disturbance estimation value; s3, based on the state estimation value and the wind disturbance estimation value of the aerostat, a self-adaptive control algorithm is adopted, a control instruction used for controlling the height and the horizontal position of the aerostat is generated, and the control instruction comprises a feedforward component used for actively compensating wind disturbance; and S4, distributing the control instruction to a channel power system of the aerostat and executing the control instruction. An integrated control architecture with state estimation, disturbance observation and adaptive control capabilities is constructed, three technical bottlenecks of weak control robustness, poor anti-interference capability and low intelligent level of a traditional aerostat in outdoor application are effectively solved, and the positioning precision and stability are improved.

A surveillance system is disclosed. The surveillance system may include a power source, a tether, and an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The tether may have a proximal and a distal tether end. The tether may receive power from the power source via a tether connection unit attached to the distal tether end. The UAV may be removably attached to the proximal tether end and configured to receive power from the tether. The UAV may receive a trigger signal to follow a target object. In response to receiving the trigger signal, the UAV may maneuver to follow the target object. The UAV may additionally determine that a distance between the UAV and the tether connection unit may be equivalent to one tether length if the UAV is able to follow the target object.The UAV can detach itself from the tow rope if the distance can correspond to the length of the tow rope.

The invention relates to the technical field of aerostats, and provides a high-altitude balloon self-destruction device and a high-altitude balloon system.The high-altitude balloon self-destruction device comprises a mounting frame, the mounting frame is provided with a first mounting part, and the first mounting part is used for being fixedly connected with a dome flange of a high-altitude balloon; the hob is provided with a first end and a second end on the axis of the hob, the first end is connected to the mounting frame through a safety piece, the second end is used for being connected with a traction rope, and the hob can be separated from the mounting frame under the action of the traction rope and cut the balloon film of the high-altitude balloon. After a flight task is finished and the balloon-parachute cabin is separated, the parachute can pull the traction rope to trigger the hob of the high-altitude balloon self-destruction device to destroy the balloon membrane, so that the balloon safely lands back to a preset area, and the safety problem that the balloon body of the high-altitude balloon uncontrollably flies at high altitude for a long time is avoided; in addition, the high-altitude balloon can be prevented from being in direct contact with the balloon film soft structure in the releasing process, and the safety of the balloon releasing process is guaranteed.

This invention introduces a suspended telecommunications system utilizing gas-lift hydrogen-filled balloons for global internet access and secure encrypted communication analysis. Utilizing this gas-lift technology, it deploys an airborne antenna platform stabilized by lightweight carbon fiber structures and secured by ground-based cables. The system integrates various antennas, including parabolic and Starlink dishes, dynamically adjusting for optimal signal reception from terrestrial and satellite sources. a high-frequency amplifier-dissipator and an AI-enhanced ground processing center facilitate the interception and decryption of encrypted communications, filtering potential security threats. The platform features motorized rotating plates, efficient power management, and GSM / Wi-Fi modules for enhanced connectivity. Constructed with composite materials for durability and minimal weight, it includes built-in lighting for visibility and emergency signaling. The system presents an innovative, cost-effective, and scalable solution for global telecommunication coverage and secure communication monitoring, addressing national and social security concerns while ensuring reliable access to digital information worldwide.

A flight craft comprises: an intermediate member, which has an annular shape in a plan view and has a flat cross-sectional shape when cut along a plane that includes a straight line in a direction of the plan view; a plurality of gores, each of which extends from an outer side to an inner side of the intermediate member in the plan view, passes through an inner opening of the intermediate member, is folded back, and then extends from the inner side to the outer side of the intermediate member in the plan view; a front side member, which is positioned on a front side of the intermediate member, where the front side is defined as a side facing outward in the plan view, and a rear side is defined as a side opposite to the front side; a rear side member that is positioned on a rear side of the intermediate member; and a tightening mechanism that tightens the front side member and the rear side member in a direction that brings them closer to each other.

The invention belongs to the technical field of agricultural engineering and intellectualization, and particularly relates to a buoyancy air bag rapid adjusting device and a wind resistance cooperative control method thereof.The buoyancy air bag rapid adjusting device comprises a buoyancy providing original module and a flight control module, the buoyancy providing original module comprises an inner balloon, an outer balloon and a hot-air balloon, and the inner cambered surface of the inner balloon and the inner cambered surface of the outer balloon are provided with inflation cavities; a rope is connected to the bottoms of the outer cambered surfaces of the inner and outer balloons and the hot-air balloon, one end of the rope is connected with a frame in a penetrating manner, and a burner assembly is fixedly mounted on the upper surface of the frame; wind power is sensed in real time through an anemograph and a monitoring sensor, in combination with cooperative response of a flight control module, a buoyancy module and a connection adjusting module, measures of posture fine adjustment, height avoidance and safe landing are adopted in the gentle breeze, stroke and strong wind environments, so that the device keeps precision operation below multiple wind levels, safe risk avoiding is achieved in the strong wind, and the safety and reliability of the device are improved. The problems that a traditional aerostat is poor in wind resistance and prone to being out of control are solved.

To provide a floating solar power generation device and a floating solar power generation system which can be easily moved, assembled, and disassembled. [Solution] The floating solar power generation device 10 comprises a floating part 11 capable of floating in the air, a solar cell module 12 attached to the floating part 11, and a rope-like adjustment member 42 connected to the floating part 11 and adjusting the distance between the floating part 11 and the ground.

The invention discloses an inflatable aerial carrying platform and a flying method, and relates to the field of aerostats, and the key point of the technical scheme is that the inflatable aerial carrying platform comprises a platform main body cabin with an annular structure, a spherical auxiliary balance cabin arranged above the platform main body cabin and connected through a cable, and a balance control system. A plurality of groups of partition sheets are arranged in the platform main body cabin, the platform main body cabin is uniformly divided into a plurality of independent air chambers which are symmetrically arranged, and each air chamber is provided with an independent inflation and deflation hole, so that fine air pressure regulation and control and high-altitude attitude stability are realized. The auxiliary balance cabins form a composite buoyancy system through upper and lower layered layout, and the gravity center control and anti-instability capacity of the whole platform under load fluctuation or airflow disturbance is improved. According to the invention, the fault resistance, the safety and the pneumatic stability of the aerial platform are obviously improved.

A system enabling safe manned and unmanned operations at extremely high altitudes (above 70,000 feet). The system utilizes a balloon launch system and parachute and / or parafoil recovery.

The invention provides flight wind energy unit equipment, a flight acting device, a flight control device, a flight connection assembly and a flight control method. The flying wind turbine equipment (1000) comprises a floating device (1100) and a transmission cable (1300). The floating device (1100) is used to lift off so as to lift the flight crew equipment (1000) to a predetermined height. The transmission rope (1300) is arranged around the upper pulleys (1500-1, 1500-3) close to the side of the floating device (1100) and the lower pulleys (1500-2, 1500-4) close to the side of the fixed base structure (2000). The flying wind turbine arrangement (1000) further comprises a first and a second flying work device (1400-1, 1400-2) fixedly connected to the transmission cable (1300) on both sides, respectively. The first flight acting device (1400-1) and the second flight acting device (1400-2) are arranged to be capable of alternately flying up and down in a reciprocating mode so as to drive the transmission rope (1300) to move in a reciprocating mode. The flying wind turbine assembly (1000) of the present invention enables continuous work in any wind direction and transmits mechanical work to the fixed base structure (2000).

The invention relates to an aerostatic device (1) which comprises: - a balloon (100) comprising an envelope (120) intended to be filled with a lighter-than-air gas; - a gondola (200) connected to the balloon (100) and carrying a payload, the gondola being able to be raised in the atmosphere by the balloon (100); and - means for managing the descent (260) following deflation, bursting or automatic or programmed release of the balloon (100) at altitude. The means for managing descent (260) comprise a plurality of motorised rotors (261) controlled by an electronic control module (250) according to data transmitted by sensors on board the gondola (200).

The present invention relates to a hot air balloon that moves horizontally by autonomous power, and on the basis of a standard hot air balloon, it also includes a main blowing system and a balanced wind propeller system. The main blowing system blows the balloon from the lower half of the balloon sac by manually operating the direction, position and wind force of the axial flow fan that extends outward, thereby actively obtaining the force that moves the balloon horizontally; the balanced wind propeller system is arranged in different directions at the bottom of the hanging basket and blows horizontal wind of corresponding size and direction to the bottom of the hanging basket according to the degree of inclination of the balloon and the hanging basket and the degree of displacement of the main axis between each other, so that the hanging basket and the balloon of the hot air balloon maintain a safe relative position and posture under dynamic conditions, realize the active horizontal translation capability of the hot air balloon and can resist the influence of a certain size of external wind force; it provides a convenient, reliable and economical vehicle for low-altitude transportation without roads.

Power assistance system (1) for supporting an electrically powered, vertically take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft (2), wherein the power assistance system (1) is configured to assist the aircraft (2) during a climb, and wherein the power assistance system (1) comprises a coupling device (3) with at least one cable (4) for connecting the power assistance system (1) to the aircraft (2), the power assistance system (1) comprises a flight-capable and vertically take-off and landing (VTOL) capable base device (5), and an assistance drone (6), and through the coupling device (3) the aircraft (2) can be coupled to the base device (5) for a climb by means of the cable (4) and can be uncoupled from the base device (5) after the climb, and the assistance drone (6) is configured to carry or guide the cable (4).

To provide a life support method, a life support device, a life support program, and a balloon cabin that can not only maintain the lives of passengers inside the cabin of a balloon used for manned flight at high altitudes by a balloon, but also safely and comfortably adjust the internal pressure and gas concentration. [Solution] A life support method within a balloon cabin 100 that is sealed during flight and can only be vented, which executes an internal pressure adjustment mode reading step for reading an internal pressure adjustment mode, a gas concentration adjustment mode reading step for reading a gas concentration adjustment mode, an internal pressure adjustment step for adjusting the internal pressure according to the internal pressure adjustment mode, and a gas concentration adjustment step for adjusting the gas concentration according to the gas concentration adjustment mode.

The invention comprises an apparatus, method for using the apparatus and system for balloon altitude control by in-situ characterization and active energy management. The invention presented enables transportation, autonomous operation and use of a balloon beyond the limits of conventional high-altitude ballooning to the edge of the atmosphere, or about 100 km above the surface of the Earth. The apparatus comprises at least: an envelope containing lift-gas; an envelope and lift-gas characterizer; an altitude control system operated using active energy addition and lift-gas transfer or ambient air introduction into the system; and an external payload component. The invention is capable of operating in ascent, descent, or stationary mode; the altitudinal movement of the balloon is caused by measuring in-situ envelope and lift-gas characteristics, identifying the change in the lift-gas energy needed, and facilitating the required energy change for altitude control.

A method for boosting telecommunication signals is used to mitigate a pre-determined adverse event. The method includes disposing a signal booster in a location where the telecommunication signals are intermittent or below a pre-determined threshold, monitoring the telecommunication signals in the location, detecting, in response to monitoring and based at least on a status of the monitored telecommunication signals, the pre-determined adverse event, elevating, using air lift and in response to detecting the pre-determined adverse event, the signal booster to an elevated height, receiving and re-broadcasting, by the signal booster from the elevated height, the telecommunication signals, and mitigating, based at least on the re-broadcasted telecommunication signals, the pre-determined adverse event.

The present invention provides a lighter-than-air (LTA) vehicle interceptor for neutralizing and / or capturing a non-cooperative LTA vehicle, such as a spy balloon. Embodiments of the interceptor may be equipped with various subsystems useful in missions to intercept, neutralize and ideally capture a threat payload attached to the non-cooperative LTA vehicle, even at stratospheric altitudes. Such subsystems may include an imaging device, severing effector, grasping effector, puncturing effector, weight-bearing apparatus, power subsystem, navigation subsystem, communication subsystem and propulsion.

According to one aspect, a reactor for generating lifting gas may include a first port, a second port, a coupling releasably securable in fluid communication with an aerostat, and a tank including a base and a crown defining at least a portion of a chamber therebetween, the first port and the coupling each supported on the crown, the second port supported on the tank away from the crown, the chamber in fluid communication with each one of the first port, the second port, and the coupling, the chamber expandable between the crown and the base from an uninflated state to an inflated state and, with the tank in the inflated state, a maximum height of the chamber less than a maximum dimension of the base.