Automatically stabilized aerial platform for carrying liquids

1. An automatically stabilized aerial platform comprising:

One or more containers containing one or more liquids;

One or more sensors coupled to said one or more liquids; and

One or more flight controllers operatively coupled to the one or more sensors and configured to automatically adjust flight control elements in real-time to compensate for sensor values that indicate sloshing of said one or more liquids beyond specified limits.

2. A platform as claimed in claim 1 , wherein one or more of said liquids is liquid payload for delivery to one or more locations.

3. A platform as claimed in claim 2 wherein said platform is an aerial sprayer.

4. A platform as claimed in claim 2 wherein said delivery of liquid payload is regulated by a payload controller.

5. A platform as claimed in claim 4 wherein said payload controller is operatively coupled to said flight controller for enabling payload delivery control based on flight parameters comprising one or more of platform trajectory, platform acceleration/deceleration, wind velocity and direction, and obstacle detection.

6. A platform as claimed in claim 4 wherein the flight controller is configured to determine and share predictive parameter values with said payload controller for operation.

7. A platform as claimed in claim 1 wherein one or more of said sensors is a level sensor, pressure sensor, flow-rate sensor, or impact force sensor.

8. A platform as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the flight controller is configured to communicate real time information to one or more ground control stations.

9. A platform as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the flight controller is wirelessly coupled to a Ground Control Station (GCS) which provides one or more mission parameters including the ideal/safe/acceptable flight and payload parameter values or range of values.

10. A method of automatic real-time stabilization of an aerial platform carrying at least one liquid comprising the steps of:

sensing and filtering one or more parameters related to sloshing of one or more of said liquids;

sensing and filtering one or more flight parameters;

identifying the occurrence and extent of sloshing;

deciding the need for compensating for said sloshing to maintain a required level of stability; and

automatically adjusting one or more flight parameters to compensate for said sloshing when needed.

11. A method as claimed in claim 10 , wherein the sensing of parameters comprises at least one of the following steps:

sensing the liquid level at multiple points on the surface of said one or more liquids;

sensing the pressure at multiple points of the container(s) in which said liquid(s) is(are) housed;

sensing the impact force on one or more inner surface of the container(s) housing said liquid(s); and

sensing the flow-rate of said liquid(s).

12. A method as claimed in claim 10 , wherein the said identifying the occurrence and extent of sloshing comprises the steps of:

filtering the sensed parameters to eliminate noise; and

determining one or more of liquid level time profiles, container inner surface pressure distribution time profiles and Centre-of-Gravity time shifts.

13. A method as claimed in claim 10 , wherein the said deciding the need for compensating for said sloshing to maintain a required level of stability comprises the steps of:

dynamically defining threshold values for the permissible degree of sloshing based on instantaneous flight status; and

determining whether the identified extent of sloshing exceeds said threshold.