Polyhedral rotorcraft modules for modular aircraft
A modular and reconfigurable aircraft including a first aircraft module, a second aircraft module, a plurality of connectors, and a coupler. The first aircraft module can include a polyhedral cage structure, a propeller disposed in an interior of the polyhedral cage structure, and a motor disposed in the interior of the polyhedral cage structure and configured to drive the propeller. The second aircraft module can include a polyhedral cage structure, a propeller disposed in the interior of the polyhedral cage structure, and a motor disposed in the interior of the polyhedral cage structure and configured to drive the propeller. A plurality of connectors can be configured to couple the polyhedral cage structure of the first aircraft module to the polyhedral cage structure of the second aircraft module. A coupler can be configured to attach a payload to the polyhedral cage structure of the first aircraft module.
1 . A method comprising:
rigidly coupling at least a first adjacent aircraft module to a second adjacent aircraft module to form a modular aircraft;
wherein:
each aircraft module comprises:
a regular dodecahedral cage structure having regular pentagon faces, each of the regular pentagon faces lying in a different plane one from another, each of the regular pentagon faces having five sequential edges and five vertices forming a complete loop defining the regular pentagon face, each pair of adjacent sequential edges connected at a common single vertex from among the five vertices and forming an interior angle of 108°;
a single, fixed-pitched propeller with an axis of rotation; and
a motor configured to drive the propeller;
rigidly coupling comprises attaching one of the regular pentagon faces of the first adjacent aircraft module to one of the regular pentagon faces of the second adjacent aircraft module;
the attached regular pentagon faces of the adjacent aircraft modules lie in the same plane; and
the attached regular pentagon faces of the adjacent aircraft modules are in one of two relative alignments, a first alignment in which all five vertices of each regular pentagon face coincide exactly, or a second alignment in which only two of the five vertices of each regular pentagon face coincide exactly.
2 . The method of claim 1 further comprising:
attaching a first payload to the modular aircraft at a first point;
controlling the motor of at least one of the aircraft modules to compensate for a moment induced by the first payload to maintain an orientation of the modular aircraft; and
arranging the aircraft modules such that control of the modular aircraft is maintained upon a failure of at least one motor of the aircraft modules.
3 . The method of claim 2 further comprising:
attaching a second payload to the modular aircraft at a second point different than the first point; and
splitting the modular aircraft into two or more smaller modular aircrafts;
wherein each smaller modular aircraft has no more than one of the attached payloads.
4 . The method of claim 2 further comprising:
remotely piloting the modular aircraft to a target site; and
employing an end effector at the target site;
wherein:
the first payload comprises the end effector; and
the end effector is selected from the group consisting of an RGB camera, a hyperspectral camera, an infrared camera, a gas detector, a pellet spreader, a cargo container, a passenger transport pod, a LIDAR sensor, an ultrasonic sensor, a sprayer, a grasper, and a bucket.
5 . The method of claim 1 further comprising:
arranging four of the aircraft modules in a tetrahedral configuration.
6 . The method of claim 1 further comprising:
arranging all of the aircraft modules in a flat configuration.