Patents Assigned to Aerovironment Inc.
  • Electric vehicle supply equipment with temperature controlled current
    Patent number: 9981563
    Abstract: In electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE), interruption of charging due to overheating is prevented by adjusting the pulse duty cycle on the control pilot conductor communicating the maximum allowed current level to the electric vehicle, the adjustment being performed whenever the EVSE temperature exceeds a predetermined threshold temperature below the maximum operating temperature as a function of the approach of the temperature to the maximum operating temperature.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 18, 2016
    Date of Patent: May 29, 2018
    Assignee: AeroVironment, Inc.
    Inventor: Albert Joseph Flack
  • Residual current detecting (RCD) and ground impedance monitoring transformer and control methods
    Patent number: 9964574
    Abstract: Systems, devices, and methods for a transformer including: a first drive winding (206) wound on a first core; a second drive winding wound on a second core; a sense winding wound across the first and second cores; and a compensation winding wound across the first and second cores; where one or more utility lines are threaded through a middle of the first and second cores, a common mode current in the one or more utility lines causes one or more pulses to appear on the sense winding, a current on the compensation winding is adjusted until the one or more pulses on the sense winding are cancelled out, and the common mode current on the one or more utility lines is the adjusted current on the compensation winding multiplied by a turn ratio between the compensation winding and the sense winding.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 5, 2017
    Date of Patent: May 8, 2018
    Assignee: AEROVIRONMENT, INC.
    Inventors: Peter Gabrielsson, Albert Joseph Flack, Scott Berman
  • Aircraft grounding system
    Patent number: 9957065
    Abstract: Liquid dispensing assemblies including adhesive anchoring assemblies configured to adhere to a support surface external to a device such as a vehicle. An air vehicle includes (a) a fluid adhesive container assembly detachably attached to the air vehicle, wherein the fluid adhesive container assembly comprises: (i) an adhesive container comprising fluid adhesive; and (ii) one or more fibers, wherein the one or more fibers are configured, or a brush of fibers, or a fabric of fibers, is configured to conduct the fluid adhesive and to structurally support an adhesive bond between the one or more fibers and a surface; and (b) means for dispensing the fluid adhesive from the fluid adhesive container, to the one or more fibers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 16, 2016
    Date of Patent: May 1, 2018
    Assignee: AEROVIRONMENT, INC.
    Inventors: Christopher Eugene Fisher, John Peter Zwaan, David R. Thompson, Marc L. Schmalzel, Karl R. Klingbiel, Tyson R. Jensen, Pavel Belik, Eric James Aagaard
  • Air vehicle flight mechanism and control method
    Patent number: 9957044
    Abstract: Heavier-than-air, aircraft having flapping wings, e.g., ornithopters, where angular orientation control is effected by variable differential sweep angles of deflection of the flappable wings in the course of sweep angles of travel and/or the control of variable wing membrane tension.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 7, 2014
    Date of Patent: May 1, 2018
    Assignee: AEROVIRONMENT, INC.
    Inventors: Matthew Todd Keennon, Karl Robert Klingebiel, Alexander Andryukov, Bart Dean Hibbs, John Peter Zwaan
  • Air vehicle flight mechanism and control method
    Patent number: 9950790
    Abstract: Heavier-than-air, aircraft having flapping wings, e.g., ornithopters, where angular orientation control is effected by variable differential sweep angles of deflection of the flappable wings in the course of sweep angles of travel and/or the control of variable wing membrane tension.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 5, 2014
    Date of Patent: April 24, 2018
    Assignee: AEROVIRONMENT, INC.
    Inventors: Matthew Todd Keennon, Karl Robert Klingebiel, Alexander Andryukov, Bart Dean Hibbs, John Peter Zwaan
  • POWERPLANT AND RELATED CONTROL SYSTEM AND METHOD
    Publication number: 20180106186
    Abstract: A hydrogen fueled powerplant including an internal combustion engine that drives a motor-generator, and has a two-stage turbocharger, for an aircraft. A control system controls the operation of the motor-generator to maintain the engine at a speed selected based on controlling the engine equivalence ratio. The control system controls an afterburner, an intercooler and an aftercooler to maximize powerplant efficiency. The afterburner also adds power to the turbochargers during high-altitude restarts. The turbochargers also include motor-generators that extract excess power from the exhaust.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 30, 2017
    Publication date: April 19, 2018
    Applicant: AeroVironment, Inc.
    Inventors: Alexander Nelson Brooks, James Gallagher Daley
  • Flux concentrator for ironless motor
    Patent number: 9941757
    Abstract: In one possible embodiment, a magnet array for a motor is provided which has an array of permanent magnets being arranged such that flux from the permanent magnets reinforce on one side of the array and substantially cancel on an opposite side of the array, the array further includes flux concentrators located at poles on the reinforcing side of the array.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 12, 2016
    Date of Patent: April 10, 2018
    Assignee: AeroVironment, Inc.
    Inventors: Bart Dean Hibbs, Bang Xuan Phan
  • UAV PAYLOAD MODULE CAMERA ASSEMBLY AND RETRACTION MECHANISM
    Publication number: 20180086480
    Abstract: In one possible embodiment, a UAV payload module retraction mechanism is provided including a payload pivotally attached to a housing. A biasing member is mounted to bias the payload out of the housing and a winch is attached to the payload. An elongated flexible drawing member is coupled between the housing and the winch, the elongated drawing flexible member being capable of being drawn by the winch to retract the payload within the housing.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 1, 2017
    Publication date: March 29, 2018
    Applicant: AeroVironment, Inc.
    Inventors: John Peter Zwaan, Pavel Belik, Manolis Dimotakis, Christopher J. D'Aquila
  • AIR VEHICLE FLIGHT MECHANISM AND CONTROL METHOD
    Publication number: 20180079504
    Abstract: Heavier-than-air, aircraft having flapping wings, e.g., ornithopters, where angular orientation control is effected by variable differential sweep angles of deflection of the flappable wings in the course of sweep angles of travel and/or the control of variable wing membrane tension.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 5, 2014
    Publication date: March 22, 2018
    Applicant: AeroVironment, Inc.
    Inventors: Matthew Todd Keennon, Karl Robert Klingebiel, Alexander Andryukov, Bart Dean Hibbs, John Peter Zwaan
  • CRYOGENIC LIQUID TANK
    Publication number: 20180080606
    Abstract: A hydrogen storage tank for a hydrogen fueled aircraft. The tank has a wall made of layers of aerogel sections around a hard shell layer, sealed within a flexible outer layer, and having the air removed to form a vacuum. The periphery of each layer section abuts other sections of that layer, but only overlies the periphery of the sections of other layers at individual points. The wall is characterized by a thermal conductivity that is lower near its gravitational top than its gravitational bottom. The tank has two exit passageways, one being direct, and the other passing through a vapor shield that extends through the wall between two layers of aerogel. A control system controls the relative flow through the two passages to regulate the boil-off rate of the tank.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 27, 2017
    Publication date: March 22, 2018
    Applicant: AeroVironment, Inc.
    Inventors: Alexander N. BROOKS, Bart D. HIBBS, David R. THOMPSON
  • Rotating Lidar
    Publication number: 20180081036
    Abstract: A lidar system, including a base, a sensor body, and a motor having a shaft. The motor is affixed to the base, and can drive the sensor body in rotation with respect to the base. An LED device and a light sensor are each mounted upon the sensor body. A data processing device is also mounted upon the sensor body, and is programmed to produce range information based upon the sensor data. The shaft carries two slip rings. The LED, the sensor and the data processing device all receive electrical power via the two slip rings. The data processing device is configured to transmit the range information via the two slip rings using pulse width modulation.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 12, 2015
    Publication date: March 22, 2018
    Applicant: AeroVironment Inc.
    Inventor: Reza Miremadi
  • Utility ground detection
    Patent number: 9915692
    Abstract: In an embodiment, a missing utility ground detection circuit includes a pair of balanced resistors each connected to receive utility voltage from a different one of a pair of utility power lines, the balanced resistors being connected together at a summing node to be capable of summing the voltages from the pair of utility power lines. It includes an unbalance resistor connected to shunt voltage from one of the utility power lines. It has a summing amplifier with an input coupled to the summing node and to a reference voltage, and an input coupled to a second reference voltage. It has an averaging circuit connected at the output of the summing amplifier. A comparator is provided having an input connected to the averaging circuit an input connected to a threshold voltage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 30, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 13, 2018
    Assignee: AeroVironment, Inc.
    Inventors: Albert Flack, Scott Garret Berman
  • System for charging an electric vehicle (EV)
    Patent number: 9914364
    Abstract: A method of charging an electric vehicle (EV) includes receiving a user's authentication code in an electric vehicle service equipment (EVSE) from a user's mobile device, comparing in the EVSE the user's authentication code to a whitelist having a plurality of authorized user authentication codes, and enabling an electric vehicle (EV) charging transaction serviced by the EVSE in response to the comparing of the user's authentication code to the whitelist so that a user's authentication code is authenticated to enable the EV charging transaction without concurrent access to an EVSE-related remote server.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 1, 2015
    Date of Patent: March 13, 2018
    Assignee: AEROVIRONMENT, INC.
    Inventors: Scott Ryan Shumaker, Lovlesh Tandon, Herman Joseph Steinbuchel, IV, Robert Salazar, Jr., Larry Hayashigawa
  • Aircraft system for reduced observer visibility
    Patent number: 9902489
    Abstract: An aircraft apparatus is disclosed that has a fuselage boom having proximal and distal ends, a wing coupled to a proximal end of the fuselage boom and at least one transparent stabilizer coupled to a distal end of the fuselage boom.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 19, 2014
    Date of Patent: February 27, 2018
    Assignee: AEROVIRONMENT, INC.
    Inventors: Christopher Eugene Fisher, Steven Bradley Chambers, Pavil Belik, Austin Craig Gunder, John Peter Zwaan
  • Geographic survey system for vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)
    Patent number: 9880563
    Abstract: A method of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) operation, including: receiving from a customer a first data request, the first data request having: a first geographic coverage area; and a refresh rate for the first geographic coverage area; planning a first plurality of flight missions to accomplish the first data request; uploading flight missions data representing the first plurality of flight missions into a UAV pod; and deploying the UAV pod.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 10, 2016
    Date of Patent: January 30, 2018
    Assignee: AEROVIRONMENT, INC.
    Inventors: Christopher Eugene Fisher, Jason Sidharthadev Mukherjee, William Arden Lott
  • Electrical plug adapter having socket key safety system
    Patent number: 9882313
    Abstract: An electric vehicle (“EV”) charger plug adapter apparatus includes an adapter housing, a socket extending into a first side of the adapter housing, the socket configuration defined by a first technical standard for use with at least one of a first current or voltage rating, a plug extending from a second side of the adapter housing, the plug configuration defined by a second technical standard for use with at least one of a second current or voltage rating, and a key extending from the first side of the adapter housing, wherein the key prevents seating of a second plug into the socket if the second plug does not have a complementary key socket to fit the key.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 11, 2015
    Date of Patent: January 30, 2018
    Assignee: AEROVIRONMENT, INC.
    Inventors: Herman Joseph Steinbuchel, IV, Larry Hayashigawa, Ronald Lee Norton, David Paul Soden, Thomas Michael Zevin, Albert Joseph Flack
  • Power and communication interface for vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)
    Patent number: 9873524
    Abstract: A vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) system including: a rearward facing tang extending from a rear fuselage portion of a VTOL UAV; one or more metallic contacts disposed on an exterior surface of the tang; a UAV pod including a landing surface; and an opening disposed in the landing surface to receive the tang.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 22, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 23, 2018
    Assignee: AEROVIRONMENT, INC.
    Inventors: Christopher Eugene Fisher, Jason Sidharthadev Mukherjee, William Arden Lott
  • Launch tube restraint system for unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)
    Patent number: 9873526
    Abstract: An unmanned aerial launch vehicle (UAV) launch apparatus is disclosed that includes a UAV (400) having an exterior surface, an aerial vehicle (AV) tab (510) extending from the exterior surface, a tube (440) containing the UAV (400), the tube (440) including a tab stop (515) configured to controllably hinder travel of the AV tab (510) past the tab stop (515), and a pair of opposing tab guides (700, 705) configured to position the AV tab (510) for travel over the tab stop (515).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 13, 2016
    Date of Patent: January 23, 2018
    Assignee: AEROVIRONMENT, INC.
    Inventors: Guan H Su, Marcos Henry Rodriguez
  • MOTOR AIR FLOW COOLING
    Publication number: 20180006517
    Abstract: In one possible embodiment, an aircraft electric motor cooling system is provided having an airflow path through a spinner which includes a first airflow path between an inner rotor and a stator, a second airflow path between an outer rotor the stator and a third airflow path along an outer surface of the outer rotor.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 6, 2017
    Publication date: January 4, 2018
    Applicant: AeroVironment, Inc.
    Inventors: Lindsay Aspinwall SHEPPARD, Bart Dean HIBBS
  • Vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) winged air vehicle with complementary angled rotors
    Patent number: D813143
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 4, 2016
    Date of Patent: March 20, 2018
    Assignee: AeroVironment, Inc.
    Inventors: Pavel Belik, Andrew Logan, Henry Won, Jeremy Tyler