UNIVERSAL VEHICLE WITH IMPROVED STABILITY FOR SAFE OPERATION IN AIR, WATER AND TERRAIN ENVIRONMENTS
The universal vehicle system is designed with a lifting body which is composed of a plurality of interconnected modules which are configured to form an aerodynamically viable contour of the lifting body which including a front central module, a rear module, and thrust vectoring modules displaceably connected to the front central module and operatively coupled to respective propulsive mechanisms. The thrust vectoring modules are controlled for dynamical displacement relative to the lifting body (in tilting and/or translating fashion) to direct and actuate the propulsive mechanism(s) as needed for safe and stable operation in various modes of operation and transitioning therebetween in air, water and terrain environments.
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The present Utility Patent Application is based on the Provisional Patent Application No. 62/212,312 filed on 31 Aug. 2015.
FIELD OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention is directed to the aircraft industry, and particularly, to unmanned and manned aerial vehicles dynamically adaptable for travel in aerial, marine, and surface environments in an autonomous control regime, as well as being remotely piloted.
The subject invention is further directed to a vehicle with improved stability and safety of operation in either air, water, or terrain environment provided with dynamically controlled mechanism for real-time control either of pitch, roll, and yaw moments by dynamically manipulating (passively and/or actively) the vehicles' characteristics which may include either of center of thrust, moment arm of center of thrust related to the center of gravity, thrust orientation, aerodynamic center of the vehicle, center of airflow pressure, and the vehicle's center of gravity, or any combinations thereof.
In addition, the present invention is directed to a universal vehicle system designed with a lifting body which is composed of a plurality of interconnected modules which are configured to form an aerodynamically viable contour of the lifting body, and including a front central module, a rear module, and thrust vectoring modules displaceably connected to the front central module and operatively coupled to respective propulsive mechanisms. The thrust vectoring modules are dynamically displaced relative to the lifting body (in tilting and/or translating fashion) to direct and actuate the propulsive mechanism(s) as needed for safe and stable operation in various modes of operation and transitioning therebetween in air, water and terrain environments.
The present invention is also directed to a universal vehicle designed with a propulsion system capable of propelling or decelerating the vehicle, and which includes a tilting nacelle actuation mechanism which actuates a respective module of the lifting body structure to adapt to either of air, water or terrain mode of operations.
In addition, the present invention relates to unmanned or manned aerial vehicles, and particularly, to aircrafts which use the lifting body aerodynamics for achieving a desired flight regime of operation, and which expands the Aerial System capabilities by permitting the horizontal flight (mostly preferred during cruise/loiter) and the vertical flight (mostly preferred for on-station hovering, take-off, and/or landing) by combining the controlled lifting body aerodynamics and vectored propulsion system actuation, and attaining a seamless safe transition between the vertical and horizontal flight modes of operation.
The present invention is also directed to a universal vehicle whose aerodynamic and/or vectored propulsion qualities permit the vehicle to perform with short runways (or no runway whatsoever), high vehicle density on tarmac, and high through-put.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONAerial vehicles capable of vertical and horizontal flight are commonly categorized as VTOL (Vertical Take-off and Landing), or STOL (Short Take-off and Landing), or STOVL (Short Take-off and Vertical Landing), or VTOSL (Vertical Take-off and Short Landing) or V/STOL platforms. These aerial vehicles usually are not capable of using aerodynamic lift forces during transition between the take-off and landing flight regimes.
Another disadvantage of the existing V/STOL platform is that tilt rotor and tilt wing concepts are generally only half efficient in a helicopter system and half efficient in an airplane system.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,981,700, 1,981,701, 2,062,148, 2,108,093, 2,430,820, 2,438,309, and 2,481,379 describe lifting body vehicles that feature specific shapes. However, the design of these aircraft systems permits neither the Vertical Take-off and Landing (VTOL), nor the vertical flight or the hovering flight. Moreover, the control capabilities of these systems are limited only to manipulating the airflow for roll moment control, and controlling pitch and yaw only by actuation of trailing edge surfaces. Additional limitations of the prior art systems operation are due to mounting the on-board propulsion system in a rigid (fixed) fashion.
Some existing aircrafts are designed with tilt wings and tilt rotors. These vehicles have shortfalls that are mainly derived from the compromise between the aerodynamic based flight (the airplane mode of flight) and powered lift (the helicopter mode of flight). On one hand, the requirements for an efficient aerodynamic lift typically come from large effective lift producing surface areas as well as the forward speed. On the other hand, in the hovering flight mode of operation, where the vehicle's ground speed is zero, the entire lift generation results from the powered lift system.
Given the nature of these two contradicting flight modes of operation (airplane and helicopter), the efficient powered lift benefits from large, untwisted, and flexible blades moving a large volume of air where the available lift must exceed (or at least be equal to) the vehicle's weight, while the propulsion for the efficient aerodynamic lift is preferably achieved with smaller, twisted, and stiff propellers which only need to overcome the vehicle's drag as a means of generating forward ground speed. In essence, the overall efficiencies for these flight modes of operation are polar opposites, and have inherently contradicting mechanisms of achieving flight.
Tilt wing and tilt rotor vehicles, and their developers have attempted to balance efficiency at both end of the spectrum for the airplane and helicopter flight modes of operation. For example, large blades are needed for hovering or vertical take-off and landing. Yet, those same large blades, when tilted to airplane mode of flight, generate a large drag penalty even though it is attempting to move the entire vehicle forward.
Also, the large blades needed for hovering have tremendous impact on the vehicle's ground clearance, available wing span, structural stability, overall mechanical complexity, and safety. Conversely, a small propeller, while best suited for airplane mode of flight, will not efficiently move the required volume of air to offset the vehicle's weight by means of a powered lift alone. Thus, the existing tilt wing and tilt rotor vehicles do not employ small propellers.
While the optimization for the end point flight modes of operation, i.e., the airplane mode and the helicopter mode, is challenging enough, the transition between the two flight modes is even more perilous. At any interim angle during the tilt evolution between 90 degrees (in the helicopter mode) and ˜0 degrees (in the airplane mode), the hand-off between the powered lift and aerodynamic lift (and vice-versa) often generates problems.
For example, during tilting at take-off, from 90 degrees to ˜0 degrees, there is a diminishing lift vector component of force as the thrust vector migrates from a vertical (90 degrees) to a horizontal (˜0 degrees) orientation.
Furthermore, the ground speed is insufficient for the appreciable aerodynamic lift generation from the limited available wing area (if the available wing area is not at stall angles of attack to begin with).
In addition, the aerodynamic phenomena involving complex stall characteristics are at play during transition from the airplane mode to the helicopter mode of flight and vertical landing. The required twist on the prop to make airplane mode efficient and achieve higher speed horizontal flight is prone during the helicopter mode of operation to blade stall, known as a Vortex Ring State, whereby a rotor is enveloped by its own downwash. This blade stall phenomena occurs at or above a given rate of descent at low forward speed. The irreversible stall condition implies that transitioning to vertical flight or landing vertically is extremely dangerous should a descent rate consistent with generating the sudden loss of lift be present. Thus, the mismatch of the lift generation from one rotor to the other causes an immediate roll moment which may cause catastrophic results.
The above mentioned perils have been flagged by various programs as early as 1964, such as, for example, with the NASA LVT XC-142A Tilt Wing Program whose undesirable flight characteristics included such criteria as the instability at tilt wing angles between 35 to 80 degrees, high disk loading, excessive downwash, excessive vibration due to the drive shafts, and drive shaft damage due to wing flexing. Even nowadays, while the military utilizes the tilt rotor V-22 Osprey, it is extremely dangerous.
Tailsitting vehicles also need improvements in their design and functionality. The experimental USN Convair XFY Pogo and Lockheed XFV-1 from the 1950s were tailsitter vehicles designed to have vertical take-off and landing capability. The classification of tailsitters means that the vehicle completely rests on its tail (rear) section while in a vertical orientation. In various ways both the Pogo and XFV-1, while also suffering from flight transition difficulties (especially after high speed horizontal flight back to stationary vertical orientation), mechanical complexity and safety concerns, had an additional flaw in that wind gusts played havoc during vertical operation. Even while at rest, the narrow footprint of the landing gear system and high vehicle CG (center of gravity) made it susceptible to tip-over in the presence of high wind.
It is a long-lasting need in the area to provide a vehicle system capable of safe operation in and transitioning between the airplane and helicopter (and vice versa) modes of operation, where the contradicting requirements for the airplane mode of operation and the helicopter mode of operation are effectively balanced. In addition, it would be highly desirable to enhance the performance of the vehicle by powering the lifting body with a propulsion system that would provide the airflow over the lifting body surface to attain continuous lift during transition between vertical and horizontal flight modes of operation, and to perform roll, pitch and yaw also by other means installed on the vehicle in addition to (or instead of) controlling the actuation of trailing edge surfaces.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONIt is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an advanced aviation vehicle with an enhanced flight envelope by introducing effective V/STOL capability of uncompromised and balanced operation in and safe transitioning between the airplane and the helicopter modes of operation.
It is, another object of the present invention to provide a robust aerial vehicle capable of short take-off, short landing, vertical take-off, and/or vertical landing, that is compact, easy to manufacture, capable of both sustained vertical and horizontal flight, of hovering, efficiently and safely transitioning in any sequence between vertical and horizontal flight regimes, launchable from either stationary and/or moving platform, and that is indifferent to launching/landing zone surface qualities and/or terrain types utilized during take-off and/or landing.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide the aerial vehicle capable of V/STOL which is based on merging the lifting body concept with thrust vectoring while solving the tilt wing and tilt rotor deficiencies during the flight mode transition, attained substantially in two manners: (a) by harvesting the benefits of the lifting body to create lift at high angles of attack and achieve favorable stall performance, while maximizing lift area to provide useful lift for the vehicle, and (b) by alleviating the requirements for the propulsion system due to the available lift of the lifting body during transition, even at high angles. As a result, the subject system is capable of achieving sustained vertical flight and safe transition with either smaller propeller systems or large diameter blade systems alike.
The overall fusion of aerodynamically viable lifting body with thrust vectoring allows for significant sub-system consolidation and modularity, and provides a wide operational range that is highly attractive to end-users, specifically in the Unmanned Autonomous Vehicle industry. While the thrust vectoring provides most (or all) of the stability and control, the subject invention results in a vehicle having minimal part count and manages to compartmentalize sub-systems in a manufacture and/or end-user friendly fashion due to the fact that the trailing edge surfaces are not required to move as the primary means of the flight control.
It is also an object of the present invention to achieve high efficiency in lift generation of the subject vehicle during flight regimes transition which results in less power consumption/draw of the propulsion system, thus benefiting the vehicle range, flight envelope, overall performance, vehicle weight, permissible mission types, on-board electronics, and/or propulsion system.
It is another highly desirable object of the subject system to attain a high degree of hybridization of the lifting body of the vehicle with thrust vectoring to introduce features previously reserved for tail sitting vehicles. The subject system is capable of operation as a tail sitter, but has the added feature of rotating about its contact point with the ground into a prone position. Alternatively, it can transition out of the prone position into a semi-vertical or vertical orientation during take-off The vehicle's ability to rest on its tail while performing the flight mode transition (from or to vertical orientation), further mitigates the negative (and even catastrophic) happenstance plaguing V/STOL designs attempted over the past decades.
In addition, it is an important object of the subject system to utilize actuated nacelles in the vehicle as a landing mechanism/apparatus, which also can place the vehicle in the prone position on either its top or bottom face should a wing gust broadside the lifting body area. Gusts mostly or completely along the vehicle's lateral (span-wise) axis would flow around the vehicle since there is minimal surface area facing the wind direction.
Along the same lines of consolidation of the vector thrust, tiling propulsion, and landing apparatus, it is another object of the subject system to offer various modes of ground locomotion for the subject vehicle while in the prone position. The subject vehicle may taxi forward, backward, turn, and rotate in place by means of rotating its nacelles and providing vectored thrust from its propulsion system. In operation, if the landing wheels are actively driven, the subject system will support tank-like steering and maneuvering. If, alternatively, only nacelle rotation (is utilized without thrust from its propulsion system), the present system may be modified to prone crawl.
The above stated objectives are made possible (among other of its innovative steps) by combining in the subject vehicle the benefits of the aerodynamically viable lifting body, tilting nacelle(s), light weight and tailsitter concepts, such that an entirely new genre of vehicle emerges that is capable of overcoming inefficiencies and safety issues of the existing tilt rotor/wing vehicles while adding completely new capabilities to the lifting body concept including tailsitter and tethered flight design features and operation.
In one aspect, the present invention is directed to a universal vehicle for uncompromised and balanced air, water and terrain travel in various modes of operation and safe transitioning therebetween. The universal vehicle includes a lifting body composed of a plurality of cooperating modules, each configured to form the lifting body, having an aerodynamically viable contour.
Some of the lifting body modules may be removably and displaceably connected each to the other to form modular lifting body. The cooperating modules of the lifting body include at least one thrust vectoring module. At least one propulsive mechanism operatively coupled to the thrust vectoring module. The thrust vectoring module is dynamically controlled to affect the positioning and actuation of the propulsive mechanism, thus attaining the dynamic (substantially in real-time) control of the positioning and mode of operation of the vehicle, as well as transitioning between the modes of operation thereof.
At least one (or more) thrust vectoring module(s) may include a tilting nacelle module carrying the propulsive mechanism thereon and rotatively displaceable about an axis extending sidewise the lifting body.
The lifting body may be designed with light weight cooperating upper and lower lifting body surfaces (shells) which define an internal volume therebetween when displaceably connected one to another. The lifting body further includes a central front module, and a rear module coupled to said central front module. The tilting nacelle module may be displaceably (rotatively or translationally) disposed at each side of the central front module for symmetric or asymmetric actuation of the propulsive mechanism in a controlled direction.
Each of the central front module, rear module, and the nacelle module(s) may be formed with a lower shell and an upper shell contoured to cooperate one to another at their respective peripheries, and to form a respective internal volume when the upper and lower shells are connected. The internal volume may be utilized as a payload comparment or compartment for accommodating vehicle's components selected from a group including avionics system, sensors system, weapon system, navigation and guidance system, communication system, power system, energy storage unit, payload system, payload, propulsion system, fuel cell, landing gear system, docking system, tether system, flight assist system, collision avoidance system, deceleration system, flight termination system, ballast system, buoyancy system, mechanical systems, and electronics.
The nacelle module has a length corresponding to the length of the central front module, or corresponding to the length of the lifting body (from front edge to rear edge), as well as corresponding to a length exceeding the length of the central front module but smaller than the length of the lifting body.
The propulsive mechanism may be positioned at the front end the nacelle module, and may be tiltably displaceable about an axis of the nacelle module.
The vehicle further includes at least one stabilizer module positioned in operative cooperation with the rear module. The stabilizer module may have a vertical, horizontal, dihedral, or anhedral orientation relative to the rear module surface.
The stabilizer module may be installed at the rear module in a rigidly fixed or deployable fashion.
At least one motor may be positioned in the internal compartment defined inany of the lifting body modules. For example, the motor may be located within the nacelle, and be operatively coupled to the propulsive mechanism.
The propulsive mechanism may be dynamically controlled to operate in counter rotation regime relative to another propulsive mechanism, for generating the airflows over the lifting body having opposing vorticity flow fields.
The modes of operation affected by the thrust vectoring modules may include short take-off, short landing, conventional take-off, conventional landing, externally assisted take-off, externally assisted landing, and their combinations. The thrust vectoring modules are also configured to control lateral and/or longitudinal positioning of the vehicle by controlling the roll, pitch, and yaw moments thereof.
In operation, the thrust vectoring module is controllably deployed to a specific position to create a thrust force by the propulsive mechanism to result in the vehicle deceleration.
The vehicle may be adapted to carry a superstructure thereon which can be removably attached to the vehicle. The thrust vectoring module is controllably deployed to a position to create a thrust force from the propulsive mechanism resulting in detachment of the superstructure when release (and/or delivery) of the superstructure is needed.
The thrust vectoring module can be controllably rotated to a position where the propulsive mechanism strikes at least one module of the vehicle to mitigate disaster in a crisis situation or to intentionally terminate flight.
The subject universal vehicle further may include a landing device which is deployable when landing mode of operation is pursued.
In addition, the thrust vectoring modules are configured for surface maneuverability by alternate actuation of the pair of tilting nacelles (without actuation of the propulsive mechanism) to actuate the prone positioned crawling mode of operation. Also, the thrust vectoring modules are configured to propel the vehicle in the various modes of operation including the motion in flight, on the terrain, sub-terrain, on fluid body, submersed, or combination thereof.
The thrust vectoring modules are configured to rotate in clockwise direction and in counter-clockwise direction, with the propulsive mechanisms of each thrust vectoring module configured to rotate in two directions. The propulsive mechanism of the thrust vectoring module may operate as a pusher, or a tractor.
In another aspect, the present invention is a method of operating an universal vehicle for balanced air, water, and terrain travel in various modes of operation and safe transitioning therebetween. The subject method comprises the steps of:
configuring a lifting body with a plurality of cooperating module contoured to create a substantially aerodynamically contoured lifting body,
configuring at least one lifting body module as a thrust vectoring module operatively coupled with at least one propulsive mechanism, and
controlling the thrust vectoring module to affect positioning and actuation of the propulsive mechanism to dynamically control mode of operation of the vehicle, and the transitioning between the modes of operation.
The subject method further includes the steps of:
operating the vehicle in either of vertical flight, hovering flight, on-station airborne vertical flight, and horizontal flight, vertical take-off (where an initial or final resting position includes vertical position including resting on a trailing edge of a predetermined module of the lifting body), horizontal prone crawl position (including resting on a predetermined area of a predetermined module of the lifting body), and
transitioning to or from the prone crawl position during the take-off and landing, as well as transitioning from the vertical orientation to the prone position on either a top or bottom face of the lifting body.
In the subject method, the modes of operation further comprise release, launch, capture, and landing from or onto a stationary or moving platform, wherein the platform may include at least one of a structure, a hitch system, a hook system, a cradle system, a rail system, a netting system, and a trailer installed on a host vehicle, said host vehicle including a surface, a sub-surface, and aerial, amphibious, or marine structures.
The subject method further assumes the step of:
coupling a motor to the thrust vectoring module for flying the vehicle, propelling the vehicle on terrain, propelling the vehicle on a fluid medium, and propelling the vehicle in a fluid medium, or
coupling a navigation system to the vehicle, and navigating the vehicle in flight, while moving through a fluid medium, or on terrain using the navigation system, or
coupling a control system to the vehicle, and controlling the vehicle in flight, while moving through a fluid medium, or on terrain using the control system.
The subject method further comprises the steps of:
configuring the thrust vectoring module as a multi-function actuated thrust module,
configuring the lifting body with at least one multi-function central lifting body module, at least one multi-function rear lifting body module, at least one multi-function vertical module, and at least one multi-function horizontal module, installing at least one component, internally or externally at at least one of the multi-function thrust module, central lifting body module, rear lifting body module, vertical module, and horizontal module, wherein the at least one component selected from component includes a component selected from a group including: payload, weaponization, counter measures system, communication system, ballast system, sensing system, suspension system, braking system, dampening system, airbag, parachute, deceleration apparatus, drive apparatus, steering apparatus, vibration apparatus, landing gear apparatus, charging apparatus, discharging apparatus, electromagnet device, flight assisting device, locomotion assisting device, maneuvering assisting device, docking apparatus with or without electrical connectivity to the respective docking base, anchoring device, gripping device, grappling device, clawing device, floating device, retrieving device, and capturing device, and combinations thereof.
The subject method further comprises:
operating the vehicle in a loss mitigation mode of operation to diminish damages to the vehicle's modules. The loss mitigation mode of operation is triggered by a mechanism selected from a group including: pilot triggered, autonomous pilot triggered, observer triggered, sensor triggered, deceleration triggered, acceleration triggered, radar triggered, transponder triggered, traffic controller triggered, impact triggered, and combinations thereof.
The subject method further comprises:
operating the vehicle in a flight termination mode triggered by a mechanism selected from a group including: pilot triggered, autonomous pilot triggered, observer triggered, sensor triggered, deceleration triggered, acceleration triggered, radar triggered, transponder triggered, traffic controller triggered, impact triggered and combinations thereof.
The subject method further includes the steps of:
applying proofing treatments to the lifting body. The proofing treatment may be selected from a group including: bullet proofing, fragmentation proofing, explosive proofing, heat proofing, fire proofing, and sand proofing.
In the subject method, a plurality of the propulsive mechanisms are selected from a group including propellers, turbines, thrusters, fans, and rockets, capable of accelerating in a gas or a fluid medium, combustion, glow, electric, self-contained, fuel cell based, hybrid, pump or geared propulsive mechanisms, and are installed at predetermined locations on the lifting body, and are positioned and actuated to control the vehicle roll, pitch, and yaw moments.
The subject method further comprises the steps of:
controlling stability of the vehicle by manipulation of the vehicle's center of gravity along the lateral axis, the longitudinal axis, or the lateral and the longitudinal axis via translation, and/or rotation, and/or vibration of internal and/or external masses.
These and other objects and advantages of the subject invention will be apparent from the further detailed description and drawings contained in this Patent Application.
In the present aircraft design, the effectiveness and versatility of the vehicle results from the combined integration of the vehicle's sub-systems and their cross functionality. The concept underlying the design and operation of the subject system is not limited to the use of sub-systems with exclusively dedicated function, but rather capable of multiple functions systems. For example, some of the proposed embodiments combine the thrust vectoring nacelles with landing gear and/or payload compartment, the vehicle body functions for both primary lift generation and avionics/payload compartmentalization, the trailing edge of the lifting body, and horizontal and vertical stabilizers, and/or rear vehicle body and also function as a landing apparatus, and so on.
The aircraft of the present invention, especially used as an Unmanned Aerial System, can be used to meet various end-user needs such as, but not limited to, security monitoring, crisis mitigation, disaster relief, scientific sensing, sensory platform for research and development of other sub-systems, transportation, payload delivery, communication, and many other peacetime or wartime missions.
The following description will present preferred embodiments of the subject system with an uninhabited aircraft system detailed as an example. However, the present invention can also be applied to an inhabited (manned) aircraft.
An exemplary base model is presented in
Further, the subject propulsive devices may be capable of deployment, stowage, folding, pitch/roll/yaw control, thrust control, and so on.
The front section 14 has the left nacelle 30 and right nacelle 32. The aircraft system further includes a pair of rotors 34 and 36. The left rotor 34 drives the left propeller 38, and the right motor 36 drives the right propeller 40.
A left vertical surface 42 and a right vertical surface 44 are formed at the body span trailing edge 24 and comprise the empennage of the aircraft system 10. Horizontal leading edges 46 (left) and 48 (right) are formed at the rear section 16 of the lifting body 12. There is a transition that is configured between the vertical trailing edges 20, 22, respectively and the horizontal leading edges 46, 48 respectively as shown in
The aircraft system 10 has a symmetric shape with a reference to a central horizontal axis (centerline) 50 extending along the horizontal direction (which is the typical direction of flight). The centerline 50 is hereinafter referred to as the standard chord line. All other chord line references run parallel to the standard chord line 50, but generally do not imply vehicle symmetry.
A span line 52 extends in perpendicular to the standard chord line 50, and spans between the left and the right sides of the aircraft 10. The span line 52 generally does not carry any implication of symmetry on the aircraft.
The vehicle body 12 may be designed with a plurality of lifting body modules. As shown in
The lifting body modules are contoured to create, when connected each to the other, an aerodynamical shape for the lifting body 12.
The lifting body 12 may be manufactured from lower shell 13 and top shell 15 (shown in
Similarly, all lift body modules (front central module, rear module, nacelle modules) may be formed from the corresponding lower and top shells 19, 21, respectively, as presented in
Any given lifting body module may house at least one, or any plurality, of vehicle components 23, which include avionics, navigation and guidance systems, safety system, communication system, sensors system, propulsion system, mechanical system, power system, weapons, explosives, landing gear apparatus, docking systems, fuel tank, fuel cell, payloads, electronics, and MEMs, separately, or in any combination.
The stabilizer details illustrated in
The distance between the left vertical stabilizer 42 and the right vertical stabilizer 44, as shown in
It is important to note that while the provided detail views of
In accordance with the embodiment shown in
The nacelle tilting mechanism 75, schematically represented in
The front central module 74 and the rear body module 16 may be completely (or mostly) connected each to the other and allow the freedom for the left nacelle module 70 and the right nacelle module 72 to actuate or rotate about their axis of rotation 76, 78, respectively.
The left nacelle module 70 and its end-face 82 and the right nacelle 72 and its end-face 84 are multipurpose structures as will be detailed in the following paragraphs.
Although
Alternatively, the nacelles, as shown in
Alternatively, as shown in
While
The tether connection 234 may be situated on any location thereof, so that the connection 234 has the engaging capability, as well as the disengaging capability.
The tethered method of operation allows for tethered flight capability with the added benefit of disengaging the tether for on-command fly-away. Additionally, at least one or more tethers 230 may be connected to at least one or more towed objects 232 that are being transported by the vehicle 12. The towed objects 232 may comprise a singular, or multitude, or combination of, payloads, such as, but not limited to, nets, banners, flags, targets, capture devices, or other vehicles.
As shown in
It is important to note that the vehicle 10 may be launched from either a stationary or mobile launch structure, may have power connectivity with the host vehicle, may be releasable manually or remotely, and may or may not utilize a launch assist mechanism. Further, while the shown host vehicles 290 of
Although this invention has been described in connection with specific forms and embodiments thereof, it will be appreciated that various modifications other than those discussed above may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims. For example, functionally equivalent elements may be substituted for those specifically shown and described, certain features may be used independently of other features, and in certain cases, particular locations of the elements may be reversed or interposed, all without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.
Claims
1. A universal vehicle for uncompromised and balanced air, water and terrain travel in various modes of operation and safe transitioning therebetween, comprising:
- a lifting body composed of a plurality of cooperating modules, configured to form said lifting body with a substantially aerodynamical contour, wherein at least two of said plurality of the lifting body modules are displaceably secured each to the other,
- said plurality of lifting body modules including at least one thrust vectoring module and at least one propulsive mechanism operatively coupled to said at least one trust vectoring module, wherein said at least one thrust vectoring module is dynamically controlled to affect positioning and actuation of said at least one propulsive mechanism to attain a desired positioning of the vehicle and at least one of a plurality of modes of operation thereof.
2. The universal vehicle of claim 1, wherein said at least one thrust vectoring module includes a nacelle module carrying said at least one propulsive mechanism thereon and rotatively displaceable about an axis extending sidewise said lifting body.
3. The universal vehicle of claim 2, wherein said lifting body further includes a central front module and a rear module coupled to said central front module, and
- wherein said at least one thrust vectoring module includes a nacelle module coupled displaceably to each side of said central front module for symmetric or asymmetric actuation of said at least one propulsive mechanism in a controlled direction.
4. The universal vehicle of claim 3, wherein each of said nacelle modules has a length selected from a group consisting of: corresponding to a length of said central front modules, corresponding to a length of said lifting body, and corresponding to a length ranging between the length of said central front module and the length of said lifting body.
5. The universal vehicle of claim 2, wherein said propulsive mechanism is positioned at the front end of said at least one nacelle module and is tiltably displaceable about an axis of said at least one nacelle module.
6. The universal vehicle of claim 1, further including at least one stabilizer module positioned in cooperation with said rear module, and having a vertical, horizontal, dihedral, or anhedral orientation relative thereto,
- wherein the cooperation between said at least one stabilizer module and said rear module is selected from a group of rigidly fixed cooperation and deployable cooperation.
7. The universal vehicle of claim 3, wherein at least one lifting body module includes at least one payload compartment formed therein.
8. The universal vehicle of claim 3, further including at least two propulsive mechanisms, wherein said at least one propulsive mechanism is controlled to operate in a counter rotation regime relative to another propulsive mechanism, thus generating the airflows over the lifting body having opposing vorticity flow fields.
9. The universal vehicle of claim 1, wherein said modes of operation affected by said at least one thrust vectoring modules include short take-off, short landing, conventional take-off, conventional landing, externally assisted take-off, externally assisted landing, and combinations thereof.
10. The universal vehicle of claim 1, further including at least one of vehicle's components selected from a group including avionics system, sensors system, weapon system, navigation and guidance system, communication system, power system, energy storage unit, payload system, payload, propulsion system, fuel cell, landing gear system, docking system, tether system, flight assist system, collision avoidance system, deceleration system, flight termination system, ballast system, buoyancy system, mechanical systems, and electronics, and
- wherein at least one of said lifting body modules includes an internal volume defined therein, and
- wherein said at least one vehicle's component is housed in said internal volume of said at least one lifting body module.
11. The universal vehicle of claim 1, wherein said at least one thrust vectoring module is configured to control lateral and/or longitudinal positioning of the vehicle by controlling the roll, pitch, and yaw moments thereof.
12. The universal vehicle of claim 1, wherein said at least one thrust vectoring module is controllably deployed to a position corresponding to creating a thrust by said propulsive mechanism resulting in the vehicle deceleration.
13. The universal vehicle of claim 1, further comprising a superstructure removably attached to the vehicle, and wherein said at least one thrust vectoring module is controllably deployed to define a position and direction of rotation of said propulsive mechanism for creation of a thrust force resulting in detachment of said superstructure from said vehicle.
14. The universal vehicle of claim 1, wherein said at least one thrust vectoring module is controllably rotated to a position where said propulsive mechanism strikes at least one module of the vehicle to mitigate disaster in a crisis situation or to intentionally terminate flight.
15. The universal vehicle of claim 3, wherein said nacelle modules are configured for surface maneuverability by alternate actuation of said nacelle modules to actuate prone position crawling mode of operation.
16. The universal vehicle of claim 1, wherein said at least one thrust vectoring module is configured to propel the vehicle in said modes of operation including the motion in flight, on said terrain, sub-terrain, on fluid body, submersed, or combination thereof.
17. The universal vehicle of claim 3, wherein said propulsive devices of said thrust vectoring modules are configured to rotate either in clockwise direction, or in counter-clockwise direction, and in two directions intermittently.
19. A method of operating an universal vehicle for balanced air, water, and terrain travel in various modes of operation and save transitioning therebetween, comprising:
- configuring a lifting body with a plurality of cooperating modules shaped to provide said lifting body with a substantially aerodynamical contour,
- configuring at least one lifting body module as a thrust vectoring module operatively coupled with at least one propulsive mechanism, and
- controlling said at least one thrust vectoring module to affect positioning and actuation of said at least one propulsive mechanism to dynamically control positioning and mode of operation of said vehicle, and transitioning between the modes of operation thereof;
- wherein said modes of operation include vertical flight, hovering flight, on-station airborne vertical flight, horizontal flight, vertical take-off, wherein an initial and final resting positions include vertical position including resting on a trailing edge of said at least one module of the lifting body, and a horizontal prone crawl position including resting on a predetermined area of said at least one module of said lifting body.
20. The method of claim 19, further comprising:
- coupling a motor to said at least one thrust vectoring module to actuate said at least one propulsion mechanism for flying the vehicle, propelling the vehicle on terrain, propelling the vehicle on a fluid medium, and propelling the vehicle in a fluid medium.
21. The method of claim 19, further comprising:
- coupling a navigation system to the vehicle, and navigating the vehicle in flight, the fluid medium, or on terrain using the navigation system.
22. The method of claim 19, further comprising:
- coupling a control system to said vehicle, and controlling the vehicle in flight, through a fluid medium, or on terrain using said control system.
23. The method of claim 19, further comprising:
- configuring said at least one thrust vectoring module as a multi-function actuated thrust module,
- configuring said lifting body with at least one multi-function central lifting body module, at least one multi-function rear lifting body module, at least one multi-function vertical module, and at least one multi-function horizontal module,
- installing at least one component internally or externally at at least one of said multi-function thrust module, central lifting body module, rear lifting body module, vertical module, and horizontal module, wherein said at least one component includes a compartment for a group including:
- payload, weaponization, counter measures system, communication system, ballast system, sensing system, suspension system, braking system, dampening system, airbag, parachute, deceleration apparatus, drive apparatus, steering apparatus, vibration apparatus, landing gear apparatus, charging apparatus, discharging apparatus, electromagnet device, flight assisting device, locomotion assisting device, maneuvering assisting device, docking apparatus with or without electrical connectivity to the respective docking base, anchoring device, gripping device, grappling device, clawing device, floating device, retrieving device, and capturing device, and combinations thereof.
24. The method of claim 25, further comprising:
- initiating a loss mitigation mode of operation triggered by a mechanism selected from the group consisting of: pilot triggered, autonomous pilot triggered, observer triggered, sensor triggered, deceleration triggered, acceleration triggered, radar triggered, transponder triggered, traffic controller triggered, impact triggered, and combinations thereof.
25. The method of claim 19, further comprising:
- initiating a flight termination mode of operation triggered by a mechanism selected from the group consisting of: pilot triggered, autonomous pilot triggered, observer triggered, sensor triggered, deceleration triggered, acceleration triggered, radar triggered, transponder triggered, traffic controller triggered, impact triggered, and combinations thereof.
26. The method of claim 19, further comprising:
- operating said vehicle in at least one of said modes of operation including release, launch, capture, and landing from or onto a stationary or moving platform, wherein said platform includes at least one of a structure, a hitch system, a hook system, a cradle system, a rail system, a netting system, and a trailer installed on a host vehicle, said host vehicle including a surface, a sub-surface, and aerial, amphibious, or marine structures.
27. The method of claim 19, further comprising:
- applying proofing treatments to said lifting body selected from a group including: bullet proofing, fragmentation proofing, explosive proofing, heat proofing, fire proofing, and sand proofing.
28. The method of claim 19, further comprising:
- installing said at least one propulsive mechanism selected from a group including propellers, turbines, thrusters, fans, and rockets, capable of accelerating in a gas or a fluid medium, combustion, glow, electric, self-contained, fuel cell based, hybrid, pump or geared propulsive mechanisms, installing said propulsive mechanisms at predetermined locations on said lifting body, and
- controlling the vehicle roll, pitch, and yaw moments through said propulsive mechanism.
29. The method of claim 19, further comprising:
- interacting said vehicle with a fluid body, or a terrain, and performing lifesaving functions, including delivering tools, supplies, nourishment, medical aid, finding mines, finding and detonating IEDs or mines, providing communications, navigation, location, assisting as a personal flotation device, deploying a raft, and towing parties under distress to safety.
30. The method of claim 19, further comprising:
- controlling stability of the vehicle by manipulation of the vehicle's center of gravity along the lateral axis, the longitudinal axis, or the lateral and the longitudinal axis via translation, rotation, vibration, and combination thereof of internal and/or external masses.
Type: Application
Filed: Jun 9, 2021
Publication Date: Feb 17, 2022
Applicant:
Inventors: Evandro Gurgel do Amaral Valente (Sykesville, MD), Norman M. Wereley (Potomac, MD), Eduardo Gurgel Do Amaral Valente (Hyattsville, MD)
Application Number: 17/343,564