Methods and systems for retaining lateral control of an unmanned aerial vehicle during landing with leveled inboard propellers
Systems, devices, and methods including an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV); one or more inner wing panels of the UAV; one or more outer wing panels of the UAV; at least one inboard propeller attached to at least one engine disposed on the one or more inner wing panels; at least one tip propeller attached to at least one engine disposed on the one or more outer wing panels; at least one microcontroller configured to: determine an angular position of the at least one inboard propeller; and send a signal to halt rotation of the at least one inboard propeller such that the at least one inboard propeller is held in an attitude that provides for clearance of the propeller blade to the ground upon landing.
1 . A system comprising:
at least one microcontroller in communication with at least one first engine and at least one second engine, wherein the at least one microcontroller is configured to:
send a first signal to the at least one first engine to halt rotation of at least one inboard propeller attached to the at least one first engine; and
send a second signal to the at least one second engine to adjust rotation of at least one tip propeller attached to the at least one second engine while the at least one inboard propeller halts rotation according to the first signal;
wherein the at least one second engine is configured to operate independently from the at least one first engine, according to the second signal; and
wherein the at least one inboard propeller is identical to the at least one tip propeller;
an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV);
one or more inner wing panels of the UAV; and
one or more landing pods of the UAV, wherein the one or more landing pods are configured to be attached to the one or more inner wing panels of the UAV to assist in landing of the UAV, wherein a distance from a center of a propeller hub to a tip of the at least one inboard propeller is greater than a height of the one or more landing pods, and wherein the at least one tip propeller can freely rotate when the UAV is on the ground.
2 . The system of claim 1 , further comprising:
a position sensor in communication with the microcontroller, wherein the position sensor is configured to detects a position of the at least one inboard propeller, and wherein the position sensor is a Hall-Effect rotary position sensor.
3 . The system of claim 1 , wherein a position of the at least one tip propeller provides a safe distance between the at least one tip propeller and a ground at all times.
4 . The system of claim 1 , further comprising:
one or more outer wing panels of the UAV;
wherein the at least one inboard propeller is attached to the at least one first engine disposed on the one or more inner wing panels; and
wherein the at least one tip propeller is attached to the at least one second engine disposed on the one or more outer wing panels.
5 . The system of claim 4 , wherein the one or more outer wing panels are disposed on either side of the one or more inner wing panels, and wherein the one or more outer wing panels are disposed at an upward angle to a plane formed by the one or more inner wing panels.
6 . The system of claim 4 , wherein the UAV is a high altitude long endurance aircraft.
7 . The system of claim 4 , further comprising a solar array covering at least a portion of: the one or more inner wing panels and the one or more outer wing panels.
8 . The system of claim 4 , wherein the at least one microcontroller is further configured to:
determine an altitude of the UAV;
send the first signal to halt rotation of the at least one inboard propeller if the determined altitude is below a threshold altitude; and
send the second signal to adjust rotation of the at least one tip propeller while the at least one inboard propeller is held in the attitude that provides for clearance of a propeller blade to the ground.
9 . The system of claim 4 , wherein the at least one microcontroller is further configured to:
determine an altitude of the UAV; and
send a signal to start rotation of the at least one inboard propeller if the determined altitude is above a threshold altitude.
10 . A method comprising:
sending, by at least one microcontroller in communication with at least one first engine and at least one second engine, a first signal to the at least one first engine to halt rotation of the at least one inboard propeller attached to the at least one first engine; and
sending, by the at least one microcontroller, a second signal to the at least one second engine to adjust rotation of at least one tip propeller attached to the at least one second engine while the at least one inboard propeller halts rotation according to the first signal;
wherein the at least one second engine is configured to operate independently from the at least one first engine, according to the second signal; and
wherein the at least one inboard propeller is identical to the at least one tip propeller; and
wherein the first signal to halt rotation of the at least one inboard propeller is configured to be sent if a determined altitude is below a threshold altitude.
11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the at least one first engine is on an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), and wherein the at least one inboard propeller is disposed on one or more inner wing panels of the UAV.
12 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
determining, by the at least one microcontroller, the altitude of the UAV.
13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the at least one microcontroller is configured to send the first signal to the at least one first engine to halt rotation of the at least one inboard propeller such that the at least one inboard propeller is configured to be held in an attitude that provides for clearance of a propeller blade to a ground upon landing;
wherein the at least one microcontroller, is configured to send the second signal to adjust rotation of the at least one tip propeller connected to the at least one second engine while the at least one inboard propeller is held in the attitude that provides for clearance of the propeller blade to the ground upon landing, wherein the at least one tip propeller is configured to be disposed on one or more outer wing panels, and wherein the at least one tip propeller can freely rotate when the UAV is on the ground.
14 . A system comprising:
at least one microcontroller in communication with at least one first engine and at least one second engine, wherein at least one inboard propeller is attached to the at least one first engine, wherein at least one tip propeller is attached to the at least one second engine, and wherein the at least one microcontroller is configured to:
send a first signal to the at least one inboard propeller;
send a second signal to the at least one second engine to adjust rotation of at least one tip propeller while the at least one inboard propeller halts rotation according to the first signal;
send a signal to the at least one tip propeller to adjust a thrust to guide an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for take-off while the at least one inboard propeller is in an attitude that provides for clearance of a propeller blade to a surface, wherein the at least one tip propeller is configured to retain lateral control of the UAV during take-off; and
send a signal to the at least one inboard propeller after take-off such that the at least one inboard propeller starts rotation;
wherein the at least one second engine is configured to operate independently from the at least one first engine, according to the second signal; and
wherein the at least one inboard propeller is identical to the at least one tip propeller.
15 . The system of claim 14 , wherein the UAV comprises the at least one tip propeller attached to the at least one second engine of the UAV, wherein the at least one tip propeller can rotate freely without contacting the surface during rotation of the at least one tip propeller when the UAV is located on the surface.
16 . The system of claim 15 , wherein the at least one microcontroller is further configured to:
send a signal to the at least one tip propeller to adjust a thrust to guide the UAV in for landing while the at least one inboard propeller is held in the attitude that provides for clearance of the a propeller blade to the surface, wherein the at least one tip propeller retains lateral control of the UAV during landing.
17 . The system of claim 16 , further comprising:
one or more landing pods to assist in the safe landing of the UAV at the surface, wherein a distance from a center of a propeller hub to a tip of the at least one inboard propeller is greater than a height of the one or more landing pods, and wherein the distance from the center of the propeller hub to the tip of the at least one tip propeller is greater than or equal to a height from the center of the propeller hub of the at least one tip propeller to a bottom of the one or more landing pods;
one or more inner wing panels of the UAV, wherein the at least one inboard propeller is attached to the one or more inner wing panels;
one or more outer wing panels of the UAV, wherein the at least one tip propeller is attached to the one or more outer wing panels, wherein the one or more outer wing panels are disposed on either side of the one or more inner wing panels, and wherein the one or more outer wing panels are disposed at an upward angle to a plane formed by the one or more inner wing panels; and
a position sensor in communication with the microcontroller, wherein the position sensor is configured to detects a position of the at least one inboard propeller.