Balloon Camera Mounting for Long-Term Aerial Imaging
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current aerial imaging systems, such as UAVs, face limitations in battery life, high costs, and regulatory restrictions, making them unsuitable for long-term continuous monitoring and applications like agricultural farm monitoring and surveillance, while satellite imagery suffers from poor resolution and high expenses.
Innovation Solution
A low-cost, flexible aerial imaging system using a tethered balloon or kite as an aerial platform, equipped with a camera and a mobile device for path planning and image alignment, allowing for extended coverage and adjustable power consumption to optimize battery life and image quality.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If UAVs are used for aerial imaging, then high-resolution imagery can be obtained, but battery life is limited to tens of minutes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces expensive, long-lived UAV systems with a combination of inexpensive, short-lived aerial platforms (balloons or kites) and reusable ground equipment. The aerial platforms are designed to be disposable or easily replaceable, allowing continuous operation by deploying multiple platforms sequentially, thus overcoming the battery life limitation while maintaining cost-effectiveness.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent substitutes the powered mechanical flight system of UAVs with passive aerial platforms (balloons or kites) that rely on atmospheric buoyancy or wind forces rather than self-propulsion. This eliminates the need for batteries and motors on the aerial platform, thereby removing the battery life constraint while still achieving aerial imaging capability.
2Measurement precision
If mid-to-heavy payload carrying UAVs are used, then imaging capabilities are improved, but cost increases to over a thousand dollars
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs inexpensive aerial platforms (balloons or kites) that cost a fraction of commercial UAVs. These platforms are designed to be simple in construction and can be manufactured at very low cost, making the overall system economically viable even if the platforms themselves are disposable or require frequent replacement.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses a universal ground-based control and image processing system that can work with multiple different aerial platforms. The camera, control unit, and image processing equipment serve multiple purposes and can be reused across different flight campaigns, amortizing the high cost of ground equipment over many uses and reducing the average cost per imaging mission.
3Duration of action of stationary object
If UAVs are used for long-term monitoring, then continuous data collection is possible, but frequent battery replacement is required
Solution Approach 1:
The patent achieves continuous long-term monitoring by deploying multiple aerial platforms in sequence or simultaneously. While one platform is operational, another can be prepared or is already in the air, ensuring uninterrupted data collection. This eliminates the need to ground the system for battery replacement and maintains continuous monitoring capability over extended periods.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the power source and propulsion system from the aerial platform itself, relocating these functions to the ground infrastructure. The aerial platforms become simple, passive carriers of imaging equipment, while ground-based systems provide power, control, and data processing. This separation eliminates battery replacement needs on the aerial platforms and simplifies their design for long-term deployment.
4Area of stationary object
If satellite imagery is used, then coverage area is large, but resolution is poor and expenses are high
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from the two-dimensional perspective of satellite imagery to the three-dimensional advantage of aerial balloon or kite platforms. By positioning the camera at higher altitudes achievable by balloons or kites (typically hundreds to thousands of meters), the system obtains a broader coverage area similar to satellites while maintaining much higher resolution due to the closer proximity to the ground, effectively utilizing the vertical dimension to resolve the resolution-coverage trade-off.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The system provides high-quality aerial imagery over extended areas with reduced costs, flexibility, and adaptability to wind-induced motion, making it suitable for applications like agricultural monitoring and crowd surveillance, while avoiding the limitations of UAVs and satellites.
Implementation Method 1
an aerial platform configured to rise to a height above ground. The aerial platform may be an apparatus such as a balloon
Data Source
AI summary
An imaging system that includes a camera mounted on an aerial platform, for example a balloon, allows a user to increase the longevity of the camera's battery by remote control. A user may capture imagery at a time scale of interest and desired power consumption by adjusting parameters for image capture by the camera. A user may adjust a time to capture an image, a time to capture a video, or a number of cycles per time period to capture one or more images as the aerial platform moves in a region of interest to change power consumption for imaging. The system also provides imaging alignment to account for unwanted movement of the aerial platform when moved in the region of interest. Additionally, a mounting device is provided that is simple and inexpensive, and that allows a camera to remain positioned in a desired position relative to the ground.