Foldable-Wing Delivery UAV for Precise Heavy-Payload Airdrop
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current supply delivery methods, including land and air transportation, face challenges in remote or hazardous areas, such as high cost, inaccuracy, and risk of damage or loss, especially with existing air drop systems like JPADS, which are expensive and inefficient.
Innovation Solution
An unmanned delivery aircraft system with foldable wings that deploy from a cargo container, allowing deployment from various aircraft at different altitudes, featuring a pivoting wing system that stows inside the fuselage for transportation and deploys for flight, equipped with a drogue parachute and remote or autonomous control.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If conventional air drop methods (JPADS) are used to deliver supplies to remote areas, then delivery capability is provided, but delivery accuracy is poor and cost is extremely high ($30,000 per drop)
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dynamics by making the wings movable rather than fixed. The wings can pivot between a stowed position during transport and a deployed position during flight. This dynamic configuration allows the aircraft to transition from a compact transport state to an aerodynamic flight state, enabling accurate controlled delivery while keeping the system cost-effective compared to conventional JPADS methods
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the aircraft into modular components: a fuselage, a lid that serves as both closure and wing mounting structure, and separately pivotable first and second wings. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently and facilitates the innovative configuration where wings can be stowed within the fuselage during transport and deployed for flight, resolving the contradiction between deliverability and accuracy
2Adaptability or versatility
If foldable wing design is implemented to enable deployment from various aircraft, then adaptability improves, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the lid (closure component) with the wing mounting structure. The lid serves dual functions: sealing the fuselage during transport and providing the pivot axis for the wings. This merging reduces the number of separate components and simplifies the overall mechanism, enabling adaptability for deployment from various aircraft without excessive complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The lid is designed with multi-functionality, serving both as the closure element for the fuselage and as the pivot axis for mounting the wings. This universal design allows the same structure to perform multiple functions, reducing device complexity while maintaining the ability to deploy from various aircraft platforms
3Volume of moving object
If wings are stowed inside fuselage for transport, then transport efficiency improves, but wing deployment mechanism becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies nesting by placing the first and second wings inside the fuselage during transport. The wings are stored within the internal volume of the fuselage, similar to nested dolls, maximizing transport efficiency. The pivot connection to the lid allows the wings to be contained within the fuselage boundaries while maintaining the ability to deploy outward for flight
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
Provides a cost-effective, accurate, and safe method for delivering supplies to remote or potentially hazardous areas, avoiding the need for landing zones and reducing the cost of delivery by up to tenfold, while ensuring precise delivery of heavy payloads.
Implementation Method 1
The UAV can be equipped with a drogue parachute for deploying the wings upon jettison of the UAV from a mothership
Implementation Method 2
a first pivoting wing system connected to the lid; a second pivoting wing system connected to the lid; wherein each of the first and second pivoting wing systems are configured to rotate from a stowed position to a deployed position
Data Source
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AI summary
A heavy payload, autonomous UAV able to deliver supply by way of airdrop with more precision and at a lower cost. The UAV is equipped with two movable wing systems that rotate from a stowed position to a deployed position upon jettison of the UAV from a mothership. The UAV can be controlled remotely or it can operate autonomously and the movable wings can include ailerons to effectuate flight control of the UAV. The UAV can be reusable or can be an expendable UAV.