Self-Leveling UAV Recovery Platform for Moving Surfaces
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Solution Overview
Problem
Landing aircraft, particularly UAVs, on moving surfaces poses challenges due to uneven terrain, leading to potential damage and safety hazards as the landing surface does not remain level, resulting in wasted mission time, fuel, and increased risk to personnel.
Innovation Solution
A self-leveling recovery platform equipped with motors, arms, accelerometers, and gyroscopes/inertial measurement units that maintain a stable landing surface by adjusting the platform's position relative to the base, ensuring a level landing surface despite movement of the underlying body.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the landing platform is attached to a moving body, then the platform can be deployed on moving surfaces (e.g., ships, vehicles), but the landing surface becomes uneven and unstable
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dynamics by making the landing platform movable relative to the base through motor-driven arms. The platform can dynamically adjust its position and orientation to compensate for movements of the underlying body, transforming a static attachment into a dynamic system that actively maintains stability despite being deployed on moving surfaces
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements feedback through accelerometers and gyroscopes that continuously sense platform motion and provide data to a controller. The controller processes this feedback information and adjusts the motor positions accordingly, creating a closed-loop control system that actively maintains level landing surface orientation despite movements of the underlying body
2Device complexity
If the landing surface moves with the underlying body, then the platform structure is simple, but aircraft landing becomes dangerous and damage-prone
Solution Approach 1:
The patent makes the landing platform dynamically adjustable through motor-driven arms that can independently position the platform relative to the base. This dynamic capability allows the system to actively compensate for underlying body movements, significantly improving landing safety while adding controlled complexity to the platform structure
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs feedback control through sensors (accelerometers, gyroscopes) and a controller that continuously monitor platform orientation and adjust motor positions in real-time. This feedback mechanism ensures reliable, safe landings by automatically correcting for movements of the underlying body, trading some structural simplicity for substantially improved landing reliability
3Device complexity
If manual timing is used to wait for level surface, then no additional equipment is needed, but mission time is wasted and fuel is consumed
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses feedback from accelerometers and gyroscopes to automatically detect when the landing surface is level, eliminating the need for manual timing and waiting. The controller processes sensor data in real-time and can trigger landing procedures immediately when conditions are suitable, dramatically reducing mission time and fuel consumption while adding sensor equipment
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements self-service by enabling the platform to automatically monitor its own orientation and stability conditions through onboard sensors. The system can autonomously determine when landing conditions are appropriate without requiring external timing coordination or manual intervention, reducing both time loss and the need for complex external equipment
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
Enables faster, safer, and more efficient UAV operations by maintaining a level landing surface, reducing the risk of damage and injury, and optimizing fuel/power usage, suitable for various applications including shipboard and land vehicle operations.
Implementation Method 1
The accelerometer and gyroscope/inertial measurement unit sense motion of the platform and output sensing signals
Implementation Method 2
The accelerometer and gyroscope/inertial measurement unit sense motion of the platform and output sensing signals
Implementation Method 3
The first to sixth motors are attached to the base. The first to sixth motors may each comprise a shaft and a projection. The shaft is controlled by the controller to rotate in a clockwise and counterclockwise directions
Data Source
AI summary
A self-leveling recovery platform for a landing operation of an unmanned aerial vehicle and a method for an unmanned aerial vehicle on a self-leveling recovery platform are described. The platform includes landing includes a base, a landing pad, first to sixth motors, first to sixth arms, an accelerometer, a gyroscope/inertial measurement unit, and a controller. The base is for fixedly mounting to a moving body. The landing pad has a landing surface on which an aerial vehicle can land. The first to sixth motors are attached to the base. The first to sixth arms control the first to sixth motors to the platform. The accelerometer and gyroscope/inertial measurement unit sense motion of the platform and output sensing signals. The controller is responsive to the sensing signals to control each of the motors to adjust the arms such that the landing surface is maintained in a substantially stable plane relative to a predetermined surface.