Drone Battery Pack Slide Guide for Reliable Docking and Swap
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Inventory management in storage sites, such as warehouses, is labor-intensive due to misplaced items occupying space and requiring time-consuming relocation, and power management for autonomous systems is a critical unresolved issue.
Innovation Solution
A base station with a parking plate, pushers, grippers, and alignment sensors to secure drones, along with a battery swapping system, ensures efficient drone docking and battery replacement, while temperature regulation maintains battery performance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If manual inventory management is used, then items can be relocated and tracked, but it is labor-intensive and time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The autonomous drone performs inventory management tasks independently, including navigating to misplaced items, securing them with grippers, and relocating them to correct positions without human intervention, thereby eliminating labor-intensive manual operations
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces manual mechanical inventory management with an autonomous aerial system equipped with sensors for detection, GPS for navigation, and mechanical grippers for item handling, enabling automated relocation and tracking of inventory items
2Extent of automation
If autonomous system is implemented, then inventory management is automated, but power management becomes a critical issue
Solution Approach 1:
The drone's power system is segmented into multiple battery packs that can be independently managed and replaced, allowing the drone to maintain operational autonomy by swapping depleted batteries with charged ones during inventory management tasks
Solution Approach 2:
The drone discards depleted battery packs and recovers them at base stations for recharging, while simultaneously picking up charged battery packs to replace onboard power, creating a sustainable power management cycle that maintains continuous autonomous operation
3Ease of operation
If drone is secured at base station, then battery swap can be performed, but precise alignment is required
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces manual alignment procedures with an automated optical alignment system using markers and sensors that detect and correct drone position automatically, eliminating the need for precise manual alignment while securing the drone at the base station
Solution Approach 2:
The alignment system performs self-correction by detecting marker positions with sensors and automatically adjusting the drone's securing position, enabling the system to achieve precise alignment without requiring manual intervention or high initial positioning accuracy
Data Source
AI summary
A drone may include a drone body for carrying a battery pack. The drone may include a slide guide carried by the drone body, wherein the slide guide suspends from a surface of the drone body and creates a channel between the slide guide and the surface, and wherein the battery pack is slidable along the channel. The drone may include a slide-guide contact sensor carried on the surface of the drone body, the slide-guide contact sensor configured to detect whether the battery pack is in contact with the surface. The drone may include a connection port carried by the drone body. The drone may include a port contact sensor carried by the drone body, the port contact sensor is configured to detect whether the battery pack is slid in to the connection port.