Modular Drone Assembly for Configurable Group Flight
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Solution Overview
Problem
Commercially available drones are highly integrated and lack configurability, requiring specialized facilities and expertise for manufacturing and maintenance, limiting their adaptability and repairability.
Innovation Solution
A modular, flat-packable drone system with interchangeable components, including propellers and accessories, that can be assembled without specialized tools, allowing for various configurations and easy repair, using integrated securing structures and elastic bands for assembly.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If commercially available drones are manufactured as highly integrated devices, then manufacturing precision and reliability are improved, but device complexity increases and configurability is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The drone system is divided into modular components including frame modules, motor assemblies, propeller assemblies, and accessory modules that can be independently manufactured and then assembled. Each module maintains high manufacturing precision through specialized production while allowing configurational flexibility through standardized connection interfaces.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements universal mounting structures and standardized connection protocols that allow the same base drone platform to support multiple accessory types and configurations. The frame modules and motor assemblies are designed with universal interfaces that accommodate various propellers, cameras, and other accessories, enabling one platform to serve multiple functions.
2Ease of operation
If commercially available drones are manufactured with high integration, then device complexity is reduced for end users, but ease of manufacture deteriorates due to requirement for specialized facilities
Solution Approach 1:
The drone is segmented into pre-manufactured modules that can be produced using accessible manufacturing methods and then assembled by end users. The frame modules, motor assemblies, and accessory components are designed as discrete units with standardized connection points, allowing specialized manufacturing for each module while simplifying final assembly.
Solution Approach 2:
Complex manufacturing operations are performed in advance during module production rather than during final assembly. The frame modules, motor assemblies, and other components are pre-manufactured with integrated features already in place, so that end users only need to perform simple connection operations rather than complex manufacturing tasks.
3Ease of manufacture
If drones are designed as highly integrated devices, then manufacturing cost is reduced through professional production, but ease of repair deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The drone system is segmented into modular components that can be independently manufactured through professional production processes and then assembled. This segmentation allows each module to be optimized for manufacturing efficiency while enabling individual module replacement during repair, maintaining both manufacturing efficiency and repairability.
Solution Approach 2:
The modular design enables individual components such as motor assemblies, propeller assemblies, and accessories to be independently replaced when damaged. Instead of requiring repair of the entire integrated device, users can discard damaged modules and replace them with new or refurbished modules, simplifying the repair process while maintaining manufacturing efficiency through standardized module production.
Data Source
AI summary
A modular flat-packable drone kit includes a plurality of components that can be assembled into a drone. Components of the drone kit include elements that may be cut from a flat sheet of material, thereby enabling low cost manufacturing and compact packaging and may be assembled without specialized tools. A set of drones may operate in a standalone mode or may be coupled together and operated in a group configuration.