UAV Navigation Light System with Directional Sectors
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Solution Overview
Problem
The increasing use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) poses challenges to flight safety due to their ability to fly in arbitrary directions, making it difficult for observers to determine their flight path, which is not addressed by existing navigation light systems designed for traditional aircraft.
Innovation Solution
A navigation light system for UAVs featuring multiple light emission units with unit-specific directions, capable of emitting red, green, and white light, arranged to provide a 360° navigation light pattern with a white flight direction indicator output at the border between red and green sectors, enhancing visibility and awareness of the UAV's direction.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If traditional aircraft navigation light systems are used for UAVs, then the system structure is simple, but observers cannot determine the flight path of UAVs flying in arbitrary directions
Solution Approach 1:
The navigation light system dynamically assigns light colors (red, green, white) to different light emission units based on the real-time flight direction of the UAV. The controller receives the momentary flight direction and operates each light emission unit depending on the relation between the flight direction and the unit-specific light emission direction, creating a dynamic indication system that adapts to arbitrary flight paths
Solution Approach 2:
The system divides the navigation light function into multiple light emission units, each with a specific light emission direction. By selectively activating individual units or combinations of units with different colors, the system can indicate different flight directions, effectively segmenting the overall navigation indication into directional components
2Reliability
If multiple light emission units with different colors are used to indicate flight direction, then flight safety is improved, but the system complexity and energy consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The navigation light system uses a multi-color light source that can emit red, green, and white light to perform multiple functions: indicating different flight directions, providing visibility, and creating a navigation light pattern. This universal light source replaces what would traditionally require separate colored lights, reducing system complexity while maintaining reliability
Solution Approach 2:
The system combines multiple light emission units with a multi-color light source into an integrated navigation light system. The controller merges the control of different colored lights from the same source to create the navigation light pattern, reducing the number of separate components needed while achieving enhanced flight safety through directional indication
Data Source
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AI summary
A navigation light system (200) for an unmanned aerial vehicle (100), such as a multicopter type unmanned aerial vehicle, includes: a plurality of light emission units (20), wherein each of the plurality of light emission units (20) has a unit-specific light emission direction (24) and is configured to provide a light output (30) around the unit-specific light emission direction (24) and wherein each of the plurality of light emission units (20) includes a multi-color light source (22) capable of emitting red light, green light, and white light; wherein the plurality of light emission units (20) are arranged to jointly provide a navigation light pattern (80) around the unmanned aerial vehicle (100) and wherein the light outputs (30) of adjacent light emission units (20) have an overlap (40); and wherein the navigation light system (200) is configured to operate each of the plurality of light emission units (20) depending on a relation between a momentary flight direction (120) of the unmanned aerial vehicle (100) and the respective unit-specific light emission direction (24), with the navigation light pattern (80) around the unmanned aerial vehicle (100) providing a red sector (82), a green sector (84), and a white sector (86) in accordance with the momentary flight direction (120) of the unmanned aerial vehicle (100) and with the overlap (40) of the light outputs of adjacent light emission units at a border between the red sector (82) and the green sector (84) providing a white flight direction indicator light output (88).