UAV Winch Payload Coupling for Passive Tether Release
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) face challenges in efficiently picking up, transporting, and lowering payloads without the need for infrastructure, while ensuring reliable detachment and reattachment of the payload to the UAV, particularly in environments with obstacles like power lines or tree branches.
Innovation Solution
A payload coupling apparatus for UAVs that uses a tether and winch mechanism, incorporating a swing arm with a hook and a slot design, along with cams for orientation, to passively detach and reattach payloads without moving parts, ensuring secure and reliable handling during transport and delivery.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a tether and winch mechanism is used for payload delivery, then infrastructure requirements are reduced and mission flexibility is enhanced, but the risk of part failure increases due to the presence of moving parts
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes all moving parts from the payload coupling apparatus, extracting the problematic mechanical components (motors, gears, actuators) that cause part failures. The payload is attached and detached purely through the geometric interaction of the swing arm hook and slot, with no active mechanical subsystems that can fail.
Solution Approach 2:
The payload coupling mechanism is entirely passive and self-actuating. The swing arm automatically swings to engage or disengage the hook from the slot based on the payload's weight and position, requiring no external control systems, motors, or actuators. The system serves itself through pure mechanical geometry and gravity.
2Reliability
If a passive detachment mechanism using swing arm and slot is used, then reliability is enhanced by eliminating moving parts, but the complexity of ensuring proper engagement and detachment increases
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of using an active mechanism to engage and disengage the payload, the patent inverts the approach by designing a passive mechanism where the payload's own weight and movement automatically cause engagement and detachment. The swing arm and slot geometry is designed so that normal payload handling operations naturally produce the desired coupling and uncoupling actions.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses simple geometric shapes (arc-shaped swing arm, slot with specific profile) that replicate reliable engagement through their form alone. The curved geometry of the swing arm and complementary slot shape create a self-evident engagement mechanism that is both simple to manufacture and highly reliable in operation.
3Ease of operation
If the swing arm is designed to swing between engaged and disengaged positions, then ease of operation is improved for payload attachment and detachment, but the device complexity increases due to additional components
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the attachment and detachment functions into a single passive geometric mechanism. The swing arm's arc-shaped path and the slot's profile are designed to automatically perform both engagement and disengagement through the payload's natural movement, eliminating the need for separate actuators, sensors, or control systems for each function.
Solution Approach 2:
The swing arm and slot mechanism serves multiple functions simultaneously: it provides structural support for the payload, enables automatic attachment through gravitational force, facilitates secure engagement through geometric interlocking, and allows automatic detachment when the payload is lowered. This multi-functional design reduces overall system complexity despite the swinging motion.
Data Source
Figure 1A
Figure 1B~1C
Figure 1D
AI summary
Described herein are methods and systems for picking up, transporting, and lowering a payload (228, 408, 510) coupled to a tether (402, 502, 902) of a winch system arranged on an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). For example, the winch (514) system may include a motor (184, 222, 512) for winding and unwinding the tether (402, 502, 902) from a spool (404), and the UAV's control system may operate the motor to lower the tether (224, 402, 502, 902) toward the ground so a payload may be attached to the tether. The control system may monitor an electric current supplied to the motor to determine whether the payload has been attached to the tether. In another example, when lowering a payload, the control system may monitor the motor current to determine that the payload has reached the ground and responsively operate the motor to detach the payload from the tether. The control system may then monitor the motor current to determine whether the payload has detached from the tether.