Drone Battery Swapping Base Station With Structural Alignment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Inventory management in storage sites is complex and labor-intensive, with misplaced items causing inefficiencies and space occupancy issues, and existing power management solutions for autonomous systems are inadequate.
Innovation Solution
A base station system that includes a parking plate with pushers, a gripper, and an alignment sensor to secure drones, along with a battery pack swapping mechanism using chargers and a carrier to manage battery packs, ensuring efficient power management and inventory tracking.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Extent of automation
If manual inventory management is used, then flexibility and adaptability are maintained, but labor intensity and time consumption increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables autonomous drones to self-land, self-align, and self-swap batteries at base stations without human intervention. The alignment sensors and automated pushers allow the drones to self-correct their positioning, while the battery swap mechanism automatically exchanges battery packs, making the entire inventory and power management process self-service oriented
Solution Approach 2:
The base station is divided into distinct functional modules: landing zone, alignment sensor array, pusher mechanisms for positioning, gripper for battery handling, and charger stations. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function independently, simplifying the overall system architecture while enabling high-level automation
2Duration of action of moving object
If battery swapping is implemented, then operational continuity is improved, but system complexity and infrastructure requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
Battery packs are pre-charged at the base station before the drone needs them. The system maintains a ready supply of charged batteries, so when a drone lands for battery swap, a charged battery is already available for immediate exchange, eliminating waiting time and ensuring operational continuity
Solution Approach 2:
The battery pack acts as an intermediary energy carrier between the charging infrastructure and the drone. Instead of directly charging the drone, the system charges separate battery packs that are then swapped into the drone, simplifying the power management architecture and enabling rapid energy replenishment
3Measurement precision
If precise alignment is required for battery swapping, then swapping accuracy is improved, but detection complexity and time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses visually distinct markers (such as colored or patterned markers) on the drone body that are easily detectable by alignment sensors. The markers provide high-contrast visual cues that simplify detection and enable precise alignment measurement without complex sensing algorithms
Solution Approach 2:
The system replaces complex mechanical alignment mechanisms with optical or electromagnetic alignment sensors that detect markers on the drone. This substitution reduces mechanical complexity while achieving high precision alignment through non-contact sensing methods
Data Source
AI summary
A base station may include a frame configured to provide mechanical support to the base station. The base station may include a parking plate carried by the frame, the parking plate comprising a landing surface configured to be in contact with the drone when the drone is landed and a component-carrying surface opposing the landing surface. The base station may include a plurality of chargers carried on the component-carrying surface of the parking plate. The base station may include a battery pack carrier carried on the component-carrying surface of the parking plate, the battery pack carrier movable to carry a battery pack connected to one of the chargers to the drone. The base station may include a shutter on the parking plate, the shutter openable to provide access of the battery pack carrier from the component-carrying surface to the landing surface.