Aerial vehicles with proximity sensors for safety
An aerial vehicle or another system having moving components may be configured with a capacitive sensing system for detecting body parts of humans or other animals within proximity. The capacitive sensing system includes conductive components provided in association with surfaces of housings within which motors rotate propellers or other objects. The capacitors are coupled to circuits including transistors, resistors, capacitors or other features that are configured to determine levels of capacitance on the conductive components during operations of the aerial vehicle or other system. When a body part approaches a conductive component, and disrupts a level of capacitance on a capacitor coupled to the conductive component, a change in the level of capacitance on the capacitor is detected. Where the change exceeds a predetermined threshold, predetermined actions such as stopping or otherwise altering operations of the motors may be performed.
1 . An aerial vehicle comprising:
a housing;
a motor;
a propeller disposed within the housing, wherein the propeller is rotatably coupled to the motor;
a circuit component;
a conductive component provided on at least one external surface of the housing, wherein the conductive component comprises a metal coupled to a first terminal of the circuit component by a first line;
a capacitor, wherein the capacitor is coupled to the first terminal of the circuit component by a second line, and wherein the capacitor is coupled to a second terminal of the circuit component by a third line; and
a controller coupled to the circuit component by a fourth line, wherein the controller is in communication with the motor, wherein the controller comprises a plurality of computer processors, and wherein the controller is configured to generate one or more signals for operating the motor in response to one or more signals received from the circuit component.
2 . The aerial vehicle of claim 1 , further comprising one or more computer readable media storing one or more sets of processor-executable instructions thereon which, when executed using one or more of the plurality of computer processors, cause the aerial vehicle to perform operations comprising:
determining that a change in capacitance associated with the metal exceeded a threshold at a first time, wherein the motor is operating at a first speed at the first time, and
in response to determining that the change in capacitance associated with the metal exceeded the threshold at the first time,
causing the motor to operate at a second speed at a second time.
3 . The aerial vehicle of claim 2 , wherein the aerial vehicle is in a first position at the first time, and
wherein causing the motor to operate at the second speed at the second time comprises:
causing the aerial vehicle to travel from the first position to a second position at the second time.
4 . The aerial vehicle of claim 1 , wherein at least a portion of the housing comprises a lattice structure having a central opening,
wherein the at least one external surface of the housing is a portion of the lattice structure, and
wherein the conductive component is joined to the at least one external surface of the housing by one or more of an adhesive, a fastener or a snap-fit connection.
5 . The aerial vehicle of claim 2 , wherein the one or more sets of processor-executable instructions thereon, when executed using one or more of the plurality of computer processors, cause the aerial vehicle to perform operations comprising at least one of:
emitting light by a light source of the aerial vehicle; or
emitting sound by a sound emitter of the aerial vehicle.
6 . A method comprising:
determining, by a circuit component of a system, a first capacitance of a conductive component provided on an external surface of a housing of the system at a first time, wherein the conductive component is coupled to at least a first terminal of the circuit component by at least a first line, wherein a motor of the system is rotating a bladed element of the system within the housing at a first speed at the first time;
determining, by the circuit component, that a difference between the first capacitance and a second capacitance of the conductive component determined at a second time exceeds a predetermined threshold, wherein the second time precedes the first time; and
in response to determining that the difference between the first capacitance and the second capacitance exceeds the predetermined threshold:
causing the motor to operate at a second speed at a third time.
7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the system is at least a portion of an aerial vehicle,
wherein at least a portion of the housing comprises a lattice structure having a central opening provided in association with the bladed element,
wherein the external surface of the housing is a portion of the lattice structure, and
wherein the conductive component is joined to the external surface of the housing by one or more of an adhesive, a fastener or a snap-fit connection.
8 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the system is at least a portion of one of a fan or a lawn mower.
9 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the second speed is zero, and
wherein causing the motor to operate at the second speed at the third time comprises:
causing the motor to stop operating at the third time.
10 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the system is in a first position at the first time, and
wherein causing the motor to operate at the second speed at the third time comprises:
causing the system to travel from the first position to a second position at the third time.
11 . The method of claim 6 , wherein that the difference between the first capacitance and the second capacitance exceeds the predetermined threshold is determined based at least in part on a number of rising or falling edges within a time period including the first time.
12 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the external surface of the housing comprises a first material, and
wherein the conductive component comprises a second material.
13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the first material comprises at least one of:
an acrylonitrile butadiene styrene;
a carbon fiber;
a composite material;
a metal;
a polycarbonate;
a polystyrene;
a recycled plastic; or
a rubber.
14 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the second material comprises copper or aluminum.
15 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the housing comprises a shroud portion about a perimeter of the system, an upper portion joined to the shroud portion, and a lower portion joined to the shroud portion, and
wherein the external surface of the housing is a surface of at least one of the shroud portion, the upper portion or the lower portion.
16 . The method of claim 6 , further comprising at least one of:
emitting light by a light source of the system; or
emitting sound by a sound emitter of the system.
17 . A system comprising:
a housing having at least one opening;
a circuit component;
a conductive component provided in association with the at least one opening, wherein the conductive component comprises a metal coupled to a first terminal of the circuit component by a first line;
a capacitor, wherein the capacitor is coupled to the first terminal by a second line, and wherein the capacitor is coupled to a second terminal of the circuit component by a third line; and
a motor;
a rotatable element provided within the housing, wherein the motor is configured to rotate the rotatable element within the housing at one or more speeds;
a control system in communication with at least the motor and the circuit component, wherein the control system comprises one or more computer processors; and
one or more computer readable media storing one or more sets of processor-executable instructions thereon.
18 . The system of claim 17 , wherein the one or more sets of processor-executable instructions, when executed using the one or more of computer processors, cause the system to perform operations comprising:
determining, based at least in part on an output of the circuit component, a first capacitance of the conductive component at a first time;
determining that a difference between the first capacitance and a second capacitance of the conductive component determined at a second time exceeds a predetermined threshold, wherein the second time precedes the first time; and
in response to determining that the difference between the first capacitance and the second capacitance of the conductive component determined at the second time exceeds the predetermined threshold,
causing the motor to operate at a second speed at a third time.
19 . The system of claim 17 , wherein the system is at least a portion of an aerial vehicle,
wherein at least a portion of the housing comprises a lattice structure having a central opening provided in association with the rotatable element,
wherein at least one external surface of the housing is a portion of the lattice structure, and
wherein the conductive component is joined to the at least one external surface of the housing by one or more of an adhesive, a fastener or a snap-fit connection.
20 . The system of claim 17 , wherein the system is at least a portion of one of a fan or a lawn mower.