System for automatic takeoff and landing by interception of small UAVs

摘要

A system for facilitating automated landing and takeoff of an autonomous or pilot controlled hovering air vehicle with a cooperative underbody at a stationary or mobile landing place and an automated storage system used in conjunction with the landing and takeoff mechanism that stores and services a plurality of UAVs is described. The system is primarily characterized in that the landing mechanism is settable with 6 axes in roll, pitch, yaw, and x, y and z and becomes aligned with and intercepts the air vehicle in flight and decelerates the vehicle with respect to vehicle's inertial limits. The air vehicle and capture mechanism are provided with a transmitter and receiver to coordinate vehicle priority and distance and angles between landing mechanism and air vehicle. The landing and takeoff system has means of tracking the position and orientation of the UAV in real time. The landing mechanism will be substantially aligned to the base of the air vehicle. With small UAVs, their lifting capacity is limited. Reducing sensing and computation requirements by having the landing plate perform the precision adjustments for the landing operation allows for increased flight time and/or payload capacity.

主权项

1. A system to automatically land and launch an unmanned air vehicle (UAV), the system comprising:
a launch and capture mechanism (LCM) to launch and land a UAV, the LCM being movable among a plurality of axes to match a detected position and angle of the UAV; and a storage mechanism to store and retrieve a UAV, the storage mechanism having a plurality of receptacles to store the UAV, wherein the LCM and the storage mechanism are communicatively coupled to trigger handoff of the UAV between the LCM and the storage mechanism.