Granted Patent B2

US 12,459,789 · App. 17/748,985 · Granted Nov 4, 2025

Inventors: Derek Sikora (Denver, CO); Logan Goodrich (Golden, CO)

Assignee: Vita Inclinata IP Holdings LLC

B66C13/105B66C13/085B66C13/46B64D1/22

Abstract

Claims (36)

1 . A suspended load control system to control a winch tension on a load suspended by a main load bearing line from a carrier, comprising:

a winch, a winch control line to be secured to the load and the winch, a thruster, a sensor suite, and a computer processor and a memory;

wherein the suspended load control system, including at least the winch and the thruster, is to be suspended below the carrier on the main load bearing line;

wherein the memory comprises a control module which, when executed by the computer processor, is to determine the winch tension on the winch from the winch control line based on a sensor data from the sensor suite and is to control the winch tension from the winch control line to decrease latency between movement or rotation of the load control system and the load and reduce a reaction time between movement or rotation of the load control system and the load, wherein the winch control line spans between the winch and the load, the load is to be secured to the carrier by the main load bearing line, wherein the main load bearing line is to transfer a main lifting force between the carrier and the load, wherein the winch control line is not to transfer the main lifting force between the carrier and the load, wherein the winch tension from the winch control line is to couple movement or orientation of the load and movement or orientation of the load control system; and

wherein the control module is to control the thruster to move or rotate the load control system and the load.

2 . The suspended load control system according to claim 1 , wherein the winch tension from the winch control line is to transfer a thrust from the thruster to the load.

3 . The suspended load control system according to claim 1 , wherein the suspended load control system is to be secured below the carrier with a rotational coupling between the suspended load control system and the main load bearing line, wherein the rotational coupling is to allow the suspended load control system to rotate about a vertical axis of the main load bearing line without imparting a significant torque on the main load bearing line.

4 . The suspended load control system according to claim 1 , wherein the control module is further to determine at least one of a position, orientation, or motion of the load based on the sensor data from the sensor suite and is further to control the thruster to influence at least one of the position, orientation, or motion of the suspended load control system and the load.

5 . The suspended load control system according to claim 4 , wherein the thrust control module is to determine at least the position, orientation, or motion and the winch tension by combining the sensor data from the sensor suite through a non-linear filter.

6 . The suspended load control system according to claim 5 , wherein the non-linear filter comprises a non-linear flavor of a Kalman Filter.

7 . The suspended load control system according to claim 4 , wherein the thruster comprises at least one of a fan or a flywheel.

8 . A computer implemented method to control a winch tension on a load suspended by a main load bearing line from a carrier, comprising:

with a suspended load control system, wherein the suspended load control system comprises a winch, a winch control line to be secured to the load and the winch, a thruster, and a sensor suite and wherein the suspended load control system is be suspended below the carrier on the main load bearing line,

obtaining a sensor data from the sensor suite regarding the winch tension;

determining the winch tension based on the sensor data from the sensor suite, wherein the winch is to secure the load to the suspended load control system with the winch control line; and

controlling the winch tension in order to decrease latency between movement or rotation of the load control system and the load and reduce a reaction time between movement or rotation of the load control system and the load;

controlling the thruster to move or rotate the load control system and the load;

wherein the winch control line spans between the winch and the load, the load is to be secured to the carrier by the main load bearing line wherein the main load bearing line is to transfer a main lifting force between the carrier and the load, wherein the winch control line is not to transfer the main lifting force between the carrier and the load, wherein the winch tension from the winch control line is to couple movement or orientation of the load and movement or orientation of the suspended load control system.

9 . The method according to claim 8 , wherein controlling the winch tension further comprises tensioning the winch control line to improve transfer of at least one of a torque or a horizontal thrust from the suspended load control system to the load.

10 . The method according to claim 8 , further comprising determining at least one of a position, orientation, or motion of the load based on the sensor data from the sensor suite and further comprising controlling the thruster to influence at least one of the position, orientation, or motion of the load.

11 . The method according to claim 8 , further comprising determining the position, orientation, or motion of the load by combining the sensor data from the sensor suite through a non-linear filter to determine a current state.

12 . The method according to claim 11 , wherein the non-linear filter comprises a non-linear flavor of a Kalman Filter.

13 . The method according to claim 11 , further comprising projecting near-term future motion based on the current state and updating the current state with feedback from at least one of a functional mode or command state of an operational module, a thrust and orientation mapping, a fan mapping, or a winch mapping.

14 . An apparatus to control a winch tension on a load suspended by a main load bearing line from a carrier, comprising:

a suspended load control system, wherein the suspended load control system comprises a winch, a winch control line to be secured to the load and the winch, a thruster, and a sensor suite and wherein the suspended load control system is to be ed below the carrier on the main load bearing line;

means to obtain a sensor data from the sensor suite regarding the winch tension;

means to determine the winch tension based on the sensor data from the sensor suite, wherein the winch is to secure the load to the suspended load control system with the winch control line;

means to control the winch tension in order to decrease latency between movement or rotation of the load control system and the load and reduce a reaction time between movement or rotation of the load control system and the load;

means to control the thruster to move or rotate the load control system and the load;

wherein the winch control line spans between the winch and the load, the load is to be secured to the carrier by the main load bearing line wherein the main load bearing line is to transfer a main lifting force between the carrier and the load, wherein the winch control line is not to transfer the main lifting force between the carrier and the load, wherein the winch tension from the winch control line is to couple movement or orientation of the load and movement or orientation of the suspended load control system.

15 . The apparatus according to claim 14 , wherein means to control the winch tension further comprises means to tension the winch control line to improve transfer of at least one of a torque or a horizontal thrust from the suspended load control system to the load.

16 . The apparatus according to claim 14 , further comprising means to transfer at least one of a torque or a horizontal thrust to the load from the suspended load control system via the winch control line.

17 . The apparatus according to claim 14 , further comprising means for a load bearing rotational coupling to allow the load and suspended load control system to rotate about the vertical axis of the main load bearing line without imparting a significant torque on the main load bearing line.

18 . The apparatus according to claim 14 , further comprising means to determine a position, orientation, or motion of the load by combining the sensor data from the sensor suite through a non-linear filter to determine a current state.

19 . The apparatus according to claim 18 , further comprising means to project near-term future motion based on the current state.

20 . The apparatus according to claim 19 , wherein means to project near-term future motion based on the current state comprises means to update the current state with feedback from at least one of a functional mode or command state of an operational module, a thrust and orientation mapping, a fan mapping, or a winch mapping.

Assignments (3)

Continuity (4)

References Cited (296)