IP Library Granted Patent US 10,507,938
Granted Patent B2
US 10,507,938 · App. 16/064,465 · Granted Dec 17, 2019

Methods and systems of anchoring an unmanned aerial vehicle on a ground station

Inventors: Raviv Raz (Doar-Na Lachish Darom, IL); Jonathan Jaffe (Jerusalem, IL); Sagi Blonder (Ness Ziona, IL)
Assignee: Percepto Robotics Ltd
B64F1/12B64C39/024B64F1/007B64F1/125B64F1/205G05D3/10B64C2201/024B64C2201/027B64C2201/20H02J7/0042
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 10,507,938
App. No.
16/064,465
Granted
Dec 17, 2019
Kind
B2
Abstract

An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) ground station, comprising: a landing surface having a perimeter and a center; a plurality of pushers held above the landing surface by a plurality of linear actuators; at least one electro-mechanical connector attached to one of the plurality of pushers, mechanically adapted to be electrically connected to a compatible electro-mechanical connector of a UAV; and a landing detection controller adapted to instruct the plurality of linear actuators to move the plurality of pushers simultaneously from the perimeter toward the center when a landing event related to the UAV is detected.

Claims (24)

1. An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) ground station, comprising:

a landing surface having a perimeter and a center;

a plurality of pushers held above said landing surface by a plurality of linear actuators;

at least one electro-mechanical connector attached to one of said plurality of pushers, mechanically adapted to be electrically connected to a compatible electro-mechanical connector of a UAV; and

a landing detection controller adapted to instruct said plurality of linear actuators to move said plurality of pushers from said perimeter toward said center when a landing event related to said UAV is detected;

wherein said electro-mechanical connector includes a set of horizontally aligned teeth adapted to be mechanically combined and electrically coupled to a matching set of horizontally aligned teeth of said compatible electro-mechanical connector.

2. The UAV ground station of claim 1 , wherein said plurality of pushers includes at least two horizontally disposed pushing rods and said plurality of linear actuators include a plurality of vertical rods, each of said plurality of vertical rods is attached to an end of one of said at least two horizontally disposed pushing rods.

3. The UAV ground station of claim 1 , wherein said plurality of pushers includes a first pair of pushing rods and a perpendicular second pair of pushing rods, wherein said first pair of pushing rods is located above said second pair of pushing rods to allow simultaneous movement of said first and second pairs of pushing rods and toward said center.

4. The UAV ground station of claim 3 , wherein said plurality of linear actuators move each of said first pair of pushing rods and said second pair of pushing rods simultaneously from said perimeter toward said center.

5. The UAV ground station of claim 1 , wherein said plurality of linear actuators move said plurality of pushers until said UAV is held by said plurality of pushers.

6. The UAV ground station of claim 1 , wherein when said UAV is held by said plurality of pushers, said at least one electro-mechanical connector is electrically and mechanically connected to said compatible electro-mechanical connector of said UAV, so said UAV is electronically communicating and electrically charging via said electro-mechanical connector.

7. The UAV ground station of claim 1 , further comprising:

an enclosure having an open position and a closed position;

wherein said landing detection controller is further adapted to instruct said enclosure to move from said open position to said closed position when said landing event is detected.

8. The UAV ground station of claim 1 , further comprising:

a back-light located below said landing surface and illuminating said landing surface;

wherein said landing surface is made of semi-transparent material so said landing surface is visible at night from above.

9. The UAV ground station of claim 1 , wherein said landing surface is covered with an anti-glare coating to prevent light reflections from said landing surface.

10. An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) ground station, comprising:

a landing surface having a perimeter and a center;

a plurality of pushers held above said landing surface by a plurality of linear actuators;

at least one electro-mechanical connector attached to one of said plurality of pushers, mechanically adapted to be electrically connected to a compatible electro-mechanical connector of a UAV; and

a landing detection controller adapted to instruct said plurality of linear actuators to move said plurality of pushers from said perimeter toward said center when a landing event related to said UAV is detected;

wherein said UAV includes an electronic power switching mechanism adapted to disconnect a power source of said UAV from electronic components of said UAV and connect said power source to said compatible electro-mechanical connector for charging.

Assignments (4)
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Apr 21, 2025
From: PERCEPTO ROBOTICS LTD.
To: KREOS CAPITAL VII AGGREGATOR SCSP
Reel/Frame 070889/0593 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded May 17, 2023
From: PERCEPTO ROBOTICS LTD
To: KREOS CAPITAL VII AGGREGATOR SCSP
Reel/Frame 063664/0444 →
CHANGE OF NAME Recorded Jan 23, 2019
From: VISION CORTEX LTD
To: PERCEPTO ROBOTICS LTD
Reel/Frame 048097/0499 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jun 29, 2018
From: RAZ, RAVIV; JAFFE, JONATHAN; BLONDER, SAGI
To: VISION CORTEX LTD.
Reel/Frame 046234/0941 →
Continuity (2)
Provisional Application 62364855 · Jul 21, 2016
Related Publication 20190002128A1 · Jan 3, 2019
Cited By (5)
US 12,337,992 US 12,437,659 US 12,643,696 US 12,703,525 US 12,735,210