Tethered Drone Winch Control for Cable Disturbance Mitigation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Tethered drones face operational limitations due to tether cable disturbances such as entanglement and friction, which can cause flight interruptions and crashes, restricting horizontal flight and increasing the risk of accidents.
Innovation Solution
A cable management system for tethered robots, including a winch and cable unit with a spool that accommodates a tether cable with an extendable end, featuring a motorized winch that can operate in constant tension, active sense, or active release modes to manage cable tension dynamically, reducing the impact of disturbances and ensuring stable flight.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Duration of action of moving object
If the tether cable is managed by a ground-based winch, then the drone can be tethered for extended flight time, but disturbances along the tether cable (entanglement, friction) interrupt flight operation and restrict horizontal travel
Solution Approach 1:
The patent inverts the traditional ground-based cable management approach by placing the winch and cable unit on the drone itself. This allows the drone to actively manage its own tether cable, releasing and retracting it as needed during flight. The drone-mounted winch enables horizontal travel by controlling cable deployment dynamically, rather than being passively constrained by ground-based cable management.
2Reliability
If the tether cable is kept short to maintain control, then the drone position can be easily tracked and flight zone contained, but the drone's mobility and flight range are restricted
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic cable length management through the drone-mounted winch system. The winch can actively deploy and retract the tether cable during flight, allowing the effective cable length to change dynamically based on flight conditions. This enables the drone to extend its range when needed while maintaining control, resolving the contradiction between fixed short cable constraints and extended flight range requirements.
3Ease of operation
If the tether cable friction against objects is reduced to enable smooth flight, then horizontal travel is improved, but the cable may become more susceptible to entanglement and disturbances
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the cable management function from the ground station and relocates it to the drone itself. By placing the winch and cable unit on the drone, the system removes the cable from contact with ground-based objects and obstructions. This eliminates friction against ground objects and reduces entanglement risks, while the active cable management on the drone ensures controlled deployment and retraction during 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
The system enhances the operational stability and safety of tethered robots by maintaining constant tension, reducing stress on propulsion units, and allowing for horizontal flight and maneuverability, while also enabling efficient recovery and payload retrieval.
Implementation Method 1
friction of the tether cable against objects or obstructions along the flight path
Data Source
AI summary
An unmanned robot system for a tethered robot, for example, a tethered aircraft, is disclosed. The unmanned system, in one embodiment, includes an unmanned aircraft tethered to a ground station by a tether cable. In one embodiment, an aerial winch and cable unit is provided on the aircraft to manage cable release. Alternatively, winch and cable units may be provided on both the aircraft and ground station. As the aircraft is now able to freely operate cable release to overcome any disturbances along the cable length, the operational effectiveness of the aircraft is greatly improved.