Granted Patent B2

US 12,655,740 · App. 18/127,046 · Granted Jun 16, 2026

Inventors: Carrick Detweiler (Lincoln, NE); Brittany Anne Duncan (Lincoln, NE); Justin Mathew Bradley (Lincoln, NE); Jacob Hogberg (Lincoln, NE); Paul Adam Plowcha (Papillion, NE)

Assignee: NUtech Ventures

E21B44/00B64U20/00G01N33/24B64U2101/00

Abstract

Claims (96)

1 . An unmanned aircraft system (UAS) comprising:

a propulsion system;

a sensor;

a sensor emplacement system comprising an auger and one or more motors; and

a control system comprising at least one processor and configured for:

controlling the propulsion system to land the UAS at a sensor emplacement site;

controlling the one or more motors of the sensor emplacement system to drive the auger into soil at the sensor emplacement site;

measuring one or more augering parameters from the sensor emplacement system while driving the auger into the soil;

determining, using an autonomous system trained on soil data and augering data, one or more soil classification values for the soil based on the one or more augering parameters; and

completing, using the soil classification values, an emplacement of the sensor into the soil.

2 . The UAS of claim 1 , wherein the one or more augering parameters comprise one or more of:

revolutions per minute of an auger motor causing the auger to rotate;

current draw of the auger motor;

weight on auger bit as measured by a strain gauge of the sensor emplacement system;

elevator position of an elevator system driving the auger downward into the soil; and

acceleration in an X axis, a Y axis, and/or a Z axis.

3 . The UAS of claim 1 , wherein the one or more soil classification values comprise one or more of: soil moisture and soil compressive strength.

4 . The UAS of claim 1 , wherein the autonomous system comprises a classifier and is trained on the soil data and the augering data using one of the following machine learning models:

decision tree;

linear discriminant;

naïve Bayes;

k-nearest neighbor; and

Gaussian process.

5 . The UAS of claim 1 , wherein the control system is configured for selecting a first digging profile for controlling the one or more motors of the sensor emplacement system and, after initially driving the auger into the soil, selecting a second digging profile based on the one or more soil classification values.

6 . The UAS of claim 5 , wherein selecting the second digging profile based on the one or more soil classification values comprises one of:

adjusting a length of a pecking movement;

slowing revolutions per minute of an auger motor causing the auger to rotate; and

slowing a speed of an elevator system driving the auger downward into the soil.

7 . The UAS of claim 1 , wherein the control system is configured for determining, using the one or more soil classification values, a probability of success in emplacing a sensor into the soil at the sensor emplacement site.

8 . A method performed on an unmanned aircraft system (UAS), the method comprising:

controlling one or more motors of a sensor emplacement system to drive an auger into soil at a sensor emplacement site;

measuring one or more augering parameters from the sensor emplacement system while driving the auger into the soil;

determining, using an autonomous system trained on soil data and augering data, one or more soil classification values for the soil based on the one or more augering parameters; and

completing, using the soil classification values, an emplacement of a sensor into the soil.

9 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the one or more augering parameters comprise one or more of:

revolutions per minute of an auger motor causing the auger to rotate;

current draw of the auger motor;

weight on auger bit as measured by a strain gauge of the sensor emplacement system;

elevator position of an elevator system driving the auger downward into the soil; and

acceleration in an X axis, a Y axis, and/or a Z axis.

10 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the one or more soil classification values comprise one or more of: soil moisture and soil compressive strength.

11 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the autonomous system comprises a classifier and is trained on the soil data and the augering data using one of the following machine learning models:

decision tree;

linear discriminant;

naïve Bayes;

k-nearest neighbor; and

Gaussian process.

12 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the control system is configured for selecting a first digging profile for controlling the one or more motors of the sensor emplacement system and, after initially driving the auger into the soil, selecting a second digging profile based on the one or more soil classification values.

13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein selecting the second digging profile based on the one or more soil classification values comprises one of:

adjusting a length of a pecking movement;

slowing revolutions per minute of an auger motor causing the auger to rotate; and

slowing a speed of an elevator system driving the auger downward into the soil.

14 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the control system is configured for determining, using the one or more soil classification values, a probability of success in emplacing a sensor into the soil at the sensor emplacement site.

15 . A sensor emplacement system for deployment on an unmanned aircraft system (UAS), the sensor emplacement system comprising:

an auger;

a sensor;

one or more motors; and

a control system comprising at least one processor and configured for:

controlling the one or more motors to drive the auger into soil at a sensor emplacement site;

measuring one or more augering parameters during driving the auger into the soil;

determining, using an autonomous system trained on soil data and augering data, one or more soil classification values for the soil based on the one or more augering parameters; and

completing, using the soil classification values, an emplacement of the sensor into the soil.

16 . The sensor emplacement system of claim 15 , wherein the one or more augering parameters comprise one or more of:

revolutions per minute of an auger motor causing the auger to rotate;

current draw of the auger motor;

weight on auger bit as measured by a strain gauge of the sensor emplacement system;

elevator position of an elevator system driving the auger downward into the soil; and

acceleration in an X axis, a Y axis, and/or a Z axis.

17 . The sensor emplacement system of claim 15 , wherein the one or more soil classification values comprise one or more of: soil moisture and soil compressive strength.

18 . The sensor emplacement system of claim 15 , wherein the autonomous system comprises a classifier and is trained on the soil data and the augering data using one of the following machine learning models:

decision tree;

linear discriminant;

naïve Bayes;

k-nearest neighbor; and

Gaussian process.

19 . The sensor emplacement system of claim 15 , wherein the control system is configured for selecting a first digging profile for controlling the one or more motors of the sensor emplacement system and, after initially driving the auger into the soil, selecting a second digging profile based on the one or more soil classification values.

20 . The sensor emplacement system of claim 19 , wherein selecting the second digging profile based on the one or more soil classification values comprises one of:

adjusting a length of a pecking movement;

slowing revolutions per minute of an auger motor causing the auger to rotate; and

slowing a speed of an elevator system driving the auger downward into the soil.

21 . A sensor emplacement system for deployment on an unmanned aircraft system (UAS), the sensor emplacement system comprising:

an auger;

a sensor;

one or more motors; and

a control system comprising at least one processor and configured for:

controlling the one or more motors to drive the auger into emplacement material at a sensor emplacement site;

measuring one or more augering parameters while driving the auger into the emplacement material;

determining, using an autonomous system trained on data from an augering process and emplacement material, one or more emplacement material classification values for the emplacement material based on the one or more augering parameters; and

completing, using the emplacement material classification values, an emplacement of the sensor into the emplacement material.

22 . The sensor emplacement system of claim 21 , wherein the one or more augering parameters comprise one or more of:

revolutions per minute of an auger motor causing the auger to rotate;

current draw of the auger motor;

weight on auger bit as measured by a strain gauge of the sensor emplacement system;

elevator position of an elevator system driving the auger downward into the soil; and

acceleration in an X axis, a Y axis, and/or a Z axis.

23 . The sensor emplacement system of claim 21 , wherein the emplacement material comprises wood, metal, concrete, or ice.

Assignments (2)

Continuity (2)

References Cited (19)