Vehicle Capable of Multiple Varieties of Locomotion

1 . A vehicle capable of multiple varieties of locomotion comprising:

a main body;

a plurality of motors and blades providing flying capability;

each motor providing flying capability being associated with and powering a blade assembly;

two legs extending from opposing sides of the main body creating a ground propulsion system;

the ground propulsion system comprised of

two legs;

the each leg connected to a track body at the opposing leg end connected to the main body;

each track body comprised of a plurality of drive gears;

each track body connected to and retaining a track providing ground propulsion; and

the vehicle of the present invention can either drive or fly based on its base structure, in additional to carrying a payload;

2 . The vehicle of claim 1 , further comprising one or more motors providing one or more non-flying capability.

3 . The vehicle of claim 2 , wherein the one or more motors power payload and/or transformation mechanisms.

4 . The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the payload is carried below, above, or in another configuration on the main body of the vehicle and between the tracks or running gear.

5 . The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein when the vehicle is in flight, the tracks are able to rotate up into a fly/flight mode to protect the blades during flight.

6 . The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein

the main body shell is supported by the tracks;

the batteries powering the electric motors are located on the main body, and can be used for changing the center of gravity.

7 . The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein

when in flight mode, the vehicle has the tracks rotated up to protect the blades; and the battery and payload, if so equipped, hang below the main body shell, tracks, electric motors, and blades.

8 . The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein

the motors of the vehicle of the present invention are servo based;

the use of a servo allows the motor to be placed at any angle, not a limited amount of set positions/angles.

9 . The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein

the vehicle can carry an unmanned air vehicle (UAV) or an unmanned ground vehicle (UGV);

the vehicle can fly and drive, and also deliver an additional UAV or UGV to a location by air, land, water, or any combination thereof;

the combined UAV and UGV functionality also allows the vehicle to operate as a multi-vehicle system, where the vehicle can travel and land, then allow the UAV or UGV to carry out its function, which could be anything from delivering a secondary payload by air or ground to a secondary location.

10 . The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein

in an autonomous embodiment, a plurality of sensors including LADAR (in both single line and multiple lines) or radar, structured light sensor, acoustic sensor, or stereo sensor are used; and

the vehicle uses the sensors to provide mapping and obstacle detection and avoidance.

11 . The vehicle of claim 10 , wherein

during autonomous operation, the vehicle uses its sensors to provide mapping in the direction it is moving or to its front, while using LADAR or other sensors to detect the ground so that a correction can be made as the vehicle is in motion.

12 . The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein

ranging radios are used to measure the distance between the vehicle and other objects in its environment; and

ranging radios are used to monitor and maintain a specific distance between the vehicle and a walker/pedestrian or another vehicle.

13 . The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein

a plurality of ranging radios can be placed on each of the four corners of another vehicle, which could be stationary or in motion itself; and

the four ranging radios then provide corner information to the vehicle so that the vehicle can land on it.

14 . The vehicle of claim 13 , wherein

one or more vehicles can maintain complete functionality using only the sensors it is carrying and any additional information received from ranging radios detectable to it;

the need for a GPS signal or any GPS information is removed and the vehicles will still be able to determine and know their location(s); and

a software method has been developed to control and use the information in the proper manner.

15 . The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein

the vehicle of the present invention can be used to gather visual information in a live stream format to be combined with model data for viewing by an operator or other interested parties at one or more remote locations from the vehicle;

the vehicle is equipped with a single line sensor for mapping and the vehicle is rotated around the environment for continuous, real-time mapping;

the vehicle's continuous visual data is combined with a 3D model of the location and the real time data is projected onto the 3D model;

the information can be used to provide the automatic tracking of people and objects; and

the movement of people and objects can be combined or added to the visual representation being show so that the visualizations are not a composite of live information and past or historical information on the movement of people or objects.

16 . The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein

the blades are used in fly mode, but could also be used in a drive mode if the vehicle where on ice, water, or in another situation where additional ground propulsive force or propulsive ground force, not coming from the tracks or in combination with the tracks, is desired.

17 . The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein

the ground propulsion mechanism provides a means of track type propulsion similar to that of a tank;

one or more continuous tracks, also called tank treads or caterpillar tracks, are a system of vehicle propulsion in which a continuous band of treads or track plates is driven by two or more wheels.

18 . The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein

the ground propulsion mechanism rotates up to protect the blades when not in use, providing a means of protection for the blades when in a flight mode;

a servo system allows the ground propulsion mechanism and tracks to be raised or lowered to any angle, not just fixed positions;

this provides a means for adjusting the center of gravity of the vehicle, which is very important as now the vehicle can be optimally adjusted for weight distribution for any payload, sensor package, or operational environmental conditions.

19 . The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein

the ground propulsion mechanism rotates up or down;

an algorithm is used to compute the maximum speed of the vehicle at a specific rotation angle (by changing the relative positions of the center of mass, with respect to the center propulsion);

an option is provided to the operator to increase or decrease the maximum speed of the platform by changing the center of gravity.

20 . The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein a second hinge can be used to control and raise the tracks of the ground propulsion mechanism to any desired angle.

21 . The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein

tracks can be made out of various materials and contain various tread designs and other features, such as blades or paddles.

22 . The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein

the vehicle of the present invention can incorporate solar panels to charge onboard batteries or provide energy directly to the components.

23 . The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the batteries are hot swappable batteries.

24 . The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein

the vehicle can hold a position by using a camera looking down on an object or feature and holding a position with respect to the object or feature; and

a light or infrared (IR) illumination is provided to light the object or feature in which the camera is fixed on and the vehicle is holding its position on.

25 . The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein

a single remote is used to control the vehicle in both ground and fly modes;

a ranging radio in the controller allows the vehicle to follow the operator, any other object with a ranging radio, or return home in a non-GPS environment.

26 . The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein track motors have decoders to provide wheel odometry.

27 . The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the vehicle operates in both drive and fly modes autonomously.

28 . The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein

the vehicle is used for carrying a package; and

the vehicle will land in a first location, and then transform to ground modality to deliver the package to a second location.