Foldable UAV Arms for Compact Storage and Flight Stability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) face challenges in achieving improved mobility, portability, and form factor due to design tradeoffs involving vehicle size, weight, payload capacity, energy consumption, and cost, particularly in transforming between flight and compact configurations.
Innovation Solution
The design incorporates a central body with foldable arms, each comprising multiple sections that can extend away from the body in a flight configuration and fold towards the body in a compact configuration, using mechanisms like actuators and chain mechanisms to facilitate automatic or semi-automatic transformation between these states, allowing for reduced size and enhanced storage and transportation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the UAV uses fixed extended arms for flight, then flight stability and payload capacity are improved, but portability and storage efficiency deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The arms are divided into multiple foldable sections that can be segmented and reconfigured. Each section can be independently folded along predefined axes, allowing the arm to transition from an extended flight configuration to a compact storage configuration while maintaining structural integrity and flight stability when deployed
2Adaptability or versatility
If the UAV uses fixed extended arms for flight, then operational capability is improved, but portability and ease of transportation deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The arm structure transitions from a static fixed configuration to a dynamic reconfigurable system. The arms can automatically or manually transform between extended flight configuration and compact storage configuration through foldable joints and actuators, enabling the UAV to adapt its form factor based on operational needs while maintaining full operational capability when deployed
3Volume of moving object
If the UAV uses foldable arms with multiple sections, then portability is improved, but structural complexity and device complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The foldable arm sections are designed to nest within each other when folded, similar to nested dolls. The multi-section arms can be collapsed into a compact form where sections are contained within the central body or within each other, significantly reducing storage volume while the modular design actually simplifies manufacturing and assembly compared to a monolithic structure
Data Source
AI summary
An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) includes a central body having a plurality of sides and a plurality of arms extendable from the central body. Each arm of the plurality of arms comprises a plurality of foldable sections. Each arm of the plurality of arms is configured to transform between a flight configuration and a compact configuration. When an arm is in the flight configuration, the plurality of foldable sections of the arm are extended away from the central body. When an arm is in the compact configuration, the plurality of foldable sections of the arm are folded toward a corresponding side of the central body such that the plurality of foldable sections are substantially parallel to one another.