Multi-Mode Unmanned Vehicle Stealth Control Across Air and Water
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional unmanned vehicle designs are limited to specific operating environments and tasks, lacking the ability to autonomously launch and recover payloads while avoiding detection, and often incur operational and performance envelope limitations.
Innovation Solution
An unmanned vehicle design featuring a vehicle body with parallel sponsons, propulsion and maneuvering systems, transient object detection sensors, and an interchangeable payload deck, capable of air, water, and submarine operations, with stealth capabilities to avoid detection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If conventional unmanned vehicle designs are used, then the vehicle can operate in specific environments, but the vehicle lacks adaptability to multiple environments and tasks
Solution Approach 1:
The unmanned vehicle is designed with multi-functionality to operate in air, water, and submarine environments. The vehicle body incorporates both aerodynamic and hydrodynamic features, allowing it to function as an aircraft, surface vessel, and submarine. This universal design enables a single platform to perform diverse missions across different mediums without requiring separate specialized vehicles.
Solution Approach 2:
The vehicle employs dynamic configuration changes to adapt to different operating environments. Control surfaces, propulsion systems, and hull configurations can be adjusted or reconfigured depending on whether the vehicle is operating in air or water. This dynamic adaptability allows the vehicle to optimize its performance characteristics for each specific environment while maintaining a unified base design.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If the vehicle is designed for stealth capabilities, then detection avoidance is improved, but operational performance may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
Stealth capabilities are integrated into specific local areas of the vehicle rather than requiring complete vehicle redesign. Stealth coatings, radar-absorbing materials, and acoustic dampening features are applied to critical surfaces and components where they provide maximum detection avoidance benefit while maintaining overall vehicle functionality and mission reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The vehicle incorporates intermediate systems that mediate between stealth requirements and operational performance. These may include active cancellation systems, decoy mechanisms, or adaptive shielding that provide stealth protection without fundamentally compromising the vehicle's propulsion, maneuvering, or payload delivery capabilities.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the vehicle carries multiple payloads, then task versatility is improved, but vehicle stability and control become more difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The payload system is segmented into modular, independently controllable units that can be selectively deployed. Each payload module has its own stabilization and control systems, allowing them to be managed separately from the main vehicle. This segmentation enables multiple payloads to be carried without compromising vehicle stability, as each module can be independently positioned and stabilized.
Solution Approach 2:
The vehicle incorporates feedback control systems that continuously monitor the position, orientation, and stability of multiple payloads. Sensors detect changes in vehicle attitude caused by payload deployment or movement, and the control system automatically adjusts propulsion, control surfaces, or ballast to maintain vehicle stability. This closed-loop feedback ensures stable operation even with multiple varying payloads.
Data Source
AI summary
An unmanned vehicle may include a vehicle body and a propulsion system carried by the vehicle body. The unmanned vehicle may also include a maneuvering system carried by the vehicle body and a vehicle control system carried by the vehicle body. The vehicle control system may control speed, orientation, or direction of travel of the unmanned vehicle. The unmanned vehicle may also include a mount point carried by the vehicle body. An interchangeable payload deck may be removably connected to a portion of the vehicle body via the at least one mount point. The unmanned vehicle may further include a power supply carried by the vehicle body.