A tethered drone assembly is provided. The tethered drone assembly may be a vehicle-based tethered drone assembly system or may be a free standing tethered drone assembly system. The tethered drone assembly system is especially suitable for use on moving vehicles, for example, a self-propelled conventional type vehicle operated by an operator or autonomous vehicle with no operator on board. The tethered drone assembly system may be used in, for example, the agricultural, construction, defense or other industries. The tethered drone assembly has a plurality of drones each tethered by a cord. In the embodiment utilizing a vehicle, the tethered drones may hover in front of, behind or on either side of the vehicle so as to better survey the surrounding area of the vehicle. In some embodiments, a main product tank is used to supply liquids, foams, gases, powders, electrical power and/or electrical communication to the plurality of drones. A plurality of sensors located on the drones allows the drones to detect objects and environmental conditions in front of, behind or on either side of the moving vehicle in real-time and to allow the vehicle to therein adjust its work accordingly. The drones may be controlled remotely by a user or may be automatically controlled by sensors. In an embodiment, the tethered drones may have downward or upward extending retractable tubes for delivering a substance.
Over the years, attempts have been made to incorporate drones into the agricultural industry. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,653,971 to Guice discloses a method and a system for detecting airborne plant material, such as mold spores and pollen, and flying insects and birds, and classifying them as to whether they are harmful to field crops, production animals or other assets within a protected volume or area. Lasers, radar, and other types of radiation may be used to illuminate at least a perimeter around such assets to be protected, with radiation returns detected and applied to a pattern classifier to determine whether the detected objects of interest are harmful, benign or beneficial. In the event the objects are determined to be harmful (pests), a variety of measures controllable via the radiation returns may be taken to eliminate the harmful objects, these measures including firing pulses of laser, microwave or other radiation of a sufficient intensity to at least incapacitate them, or mechanical measures such as controlled drone aircraft to macerate the pests with propellers or spray limited amounts of pesticide in the area of the pests.
U.S. Publication No.: 20140316614 to Newman discloses a data collection system having a first computer media for collecting image data, a second computer media for analyzing the image data and locating anomalies in the image data, a third computer media for linking particular image data to address data of the property where the anomaly is present and a fourth computer media for generating a list of pertinent properties having similar anomalies by address. The image data collected by an unmanned aerial vehicle or drone.
However, these patents and publications fail to describe a tethered drone assembly for use in, for example, the agricultural, construction, defense or other industries which is easy to use and efficient. Further, these patents and publications fail to describe a tethered drone assembly which has a plurality of drones tethered to a plurality of cords which provide electrical communication to the drones and which the drones provide real-time information on objects and environmental conditions surrounding the drones. The tethers may also be used for delivering materials to the surrounding environment.
A tethered drone assembly is provided. The tethered drone assembly may be a vehicle-based tethered drone assembly system or may be a free standing tethered drone assembly system. The tethered drone assembly system is especially suitable for use on moving vehicles, for example, a self-propelled conventional type vehicle operated by an operator or autonomous vehicle with no operator on board. The tethered drone assembly system may be used in, for example, the agricultural, construction, defense or other industries. The tethered drone assembly has a plurality of drones each tethered by a cord. In the embodiment utilizing a vehicle, the tethered drones may hover in front of, behind or on either side of the vehicle so as to better survey the surrounding area of the vehicle. In some embodiments, a main product tank is used to supply liquids, foams, gases, powders, electrical power and/or electrical communication to the plurality of drones. A plurality of sensors located on the drones allows the drones to detect objects and environmental conditions in front of, behind or on either side of the moving vehicle in real-time and to allow the vehicle to therein adjust its work accordingly. The drones may be controlled remotely by a user or may be automatically controlled by sensors. In an embodiment, the tethered drones may have downward or upward extending retractable tubes for delivering a substance.
An advantage of the present tethered drone assembly is that the present tethered drone assembly may have a plurality of sensors on the drones which provide real-time information related to the ground surrounding the areas of the drones, near-by objects and environmental conditions surrounding the drones and further work performed around the drones so as to allow the operator of the drones to make adjustments in real-time,
Still further, an advantage of the present tethered drone assembly is that the present tethered drone assembly may allow a user to visually inspect for or for sensors to detect dangers, such as improvised explosive devices (LEDs) which may be located around the drones.
And another advantage of the present tethered drone assembly is that the present tethered drone assembly may be used to deliver liquids, foams, gases and/or powders to crops.
Yet another advantage of the present tethered drone assembly is that the present tethered drone assembly may have an extended, retractable delivery tube which al lows the liquids, foams, gases and/or powders to be delivered, for example, below a canopy of trees without the drone being caught or snagged by the canopy of trees.
Still another advantage of the present tethered drone assembly system is that the present tethered drone assembly may be outside of the control of the FAA due to all the drones being tethered.
And an advantage of the present tethered drone assembly is that the present tethered drone assembly may be controlled remotely by a user or may be controlled automatically by sensors and/or pre-programmed computer instructions.
Still another advantage of the present tethered drone assembly is that the present is tethered drone assembly may allow the plurality of drones to remain airborne almost in perpetuity as a result of the drones receiving a power supply through the tethers.
Yet another advantage of the present tethered drone assembly is that the present tethered drone assembly may have a tether support arm for partially directing and stabilizing the tethers of the tethered drone assembly.
Still another advantage of the present tethered drone assembly is that the present tethered drone assembly may have a band for partially directing one of the tethers of the tethering system.
Another advantage of the present tethered drone assembly is that the present tethered drone assembly may be used by, for example, painters, fire-fighters, farmers, construction workers, military personnel, etc.
Yet another advantage of the present tethered drone assembly is that the present tethered drone assembly may be used to deliver liquid building material, powdered building material, or a solid filament building material.
Yet another advantage of the present tethered drone assembly system is that the present tethered drone assembly may have a UV-laser secured to the underside of a drone which may be used to cure a powder or liquid resin located on the ground for 3D printing.
Another advantage of the present tethered drone assembly is that the present tethered drone assembly may allow the tethered drones to facilitate large scale additive manufacturing or ā3Dā printing.
And another advantage of the present tethered drone assembly is that the present tethered drone assembly may have a grasping device located on one of the drones for grasping and moving an object.
For a more complete understanding of the above listed features and advantages of the present tethered drone assembly reference should be made to the detailed description and the detailed drawings. Further, additional features and advantages of the invention are described in, and will be apparent from, the detailed description of the preferred embodiments.
A tethered drone assembly is provided. The tethered drone assembly may be a vehicle-based tethered drone assembly system or may be a free standing tethered drone assembly system. The tethered drone assembly system is especially suitable for use on moving vehicles, for example, a self-propelled conventional type vehicle operated by an operator or autonomous vehicle with no operator on board. The tethered drone assembly system may be used in, for example, the agricultural, construction, defense or other industries. The tethered drone assembly has a plurality of drones each tethered by a cord. In the embodiment utilizing a vehicle, the tethered drones may hover in front of, behind or on either side of the vehicle so as to better survey the surrounding area of the vehicle. In some embodiments, a main product tank is used to supply liquids, foams, gases, powders, electrical power and/or electrical communication to the plurality of drones. A plurality of sensors located on the drones allows the drones to detect objects and environmental conditions in front of, behind or on either side of the moving vehicle in real-time and to allow the vehicle to therein adjust its work accordingly. The drones may be controlled remotely by a user or may be automatically controlled by sensors. In an embodiment, the tethered drones may have downward or upward extending retractable tubes for delivering a substance.
Referring first to
In an embodiment, at least one of the plurality of drones 30 may have a sensor 250. The sensor 250 may detect objects standing out from the environment such as, for example, ground conditions, water, movement of objects, differences in heat, the speed of moving objects, etc. Further, a camera 140 may be utilized to provide visual confirmation of objects detected by the sensors 250 of the drones 30. The sensors 250 and camera 140 may be especially suitable for detecting dangers such as, for example, improvised explosive devices (IEDs) which may be located in the vehicle's 200 immediate path. The sensors 250 may also be used to detect a hole in the ground which may render the vehicle 200 disabled during operation of the vehicle 200, such as, for example, during the harvesting of a crop.
As illustrated in
Referring now to
In an embodiment, a rotating reel 59 (
In an embodiment, a tether support arm 15 having a top 16 may be located on the top 2 of the product tank 1. The tether support arm 15 may be a generally cylindrical rod which extends upward from the product tank 1. A flexible band 18 may connect the top 16 of the of the tether support arm 15 to one of the tethers 50A of the tethering system 50. In particular, the band 18 may be connected near the second end 52 of a tether 50A of the tethering system 50. The tether support arm 15 and the band 18 may allow the individual tethers 50A to properly extend away from the product tank 1 in an upward manner and may further reduce tangling of the individual tethers 50A. In particular, the tether support arm 15 may be generally non-flexible so as to better direct the location of the tethers 50A.
Referring not to
In an embodiment, the plurality of drones 30 may remain airborne almost in perpetuity as the plurality of drones 30 may receive a power supply from electrical wiring 77 (
In an embodiment, each of the plurality of drones 30 may have a top 89 and a bottom 90. The first end 51 of the tethers 50A may be supported by the drones 30, In an embodiment, if the tether 50A has a shorter length, as illustrated by drone 612. in
In a preferred embodiment, the drones 30 may have a plurality of independent units 35 (
Referring now to
In an embodiment, the plurality of drones 30 may have a lighting system 130 and a camera 140 (
In an embodiment, the plurality of drones 30 may have an opening valve 70 (
In an embodiment, the device 1 may have a GPS system secured to, for example, each of the individual of the plurality of drones 30. Securing a separate GPS system to each of the individual of the plurality of drones 30 may prevent the individual drones 30 from accidentally contacting each other while flying and may further prevent a specific drone 30 from double-covering the ground with, for example, an agricultural chemical, when a different drone 30 has already covered that ground.
The device 1 is especially suitable for sensing the ground conditions around the moving vehicle 200. For example, sensors 250 (
Referring now to
The retractable delivery tube 400 may be especially suitable for delivering the liquids, foams, gases or powders 440 in an environment having a narrow opening. The narrow opening may be, for example, openings created in the canopy of trees 425, an opening in a roof of a building caused by an ongoing fire, etc. As a result, the tethered drone 30 may deliver, for example a pesticide to the ground beneath a canopy of trees 425 or may deliver water within the interior of a burning building without the drone 30 being at risk. An operator may retract the retractable delivery tube 400 to reduce air flow drag while the drone 30 is being transported in the air. In an embodiment, an operator (located remote from the drone) may further completely release the retractable delivery tube 400 from the drone 30 if the retractable delivery tube 400 becomes caught or tangled. As a result, the drone 30 may then be freed.
In an embodiment, the first extension tube 403 may be secured to a collar 402 of the drone 30 which is in turn secured to a generally circular support base located within, for example, the support ring 565 (
Located at the distal end of the second extension tube 404 may be, for example, a sprinkler system 430 having a plurality of nozzles 431 which allow the liquids, foams, gases or powders 440 to be dispersed not only in a generally circular manner but also upward and/or downward with respect to the nozzles 431. As a result, the liquids, foams, gases or powders 440 may be delivered to a location below, for example, a canopy of trees 425 while the tethered drone 30 remains flying above the canopy 425 and therein safe from being tangled in the canopy 425. Further, when sprayed upward from the plurality of nozzles 431, the liquids, foams, gases or powders 440 may even spray the underside of the canopy 425.
Although embodiments of the invention are shown and described therein, it should be understood that various changes and modifications to the presently preferred embodiments will he apparent to those skilled in the art. Such changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention and without diminishing its attendant advantages.
The following application is based on U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 62/154,158 filed on Apr. 29, 2015; U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 62/167,836 filed on May 28, 2015; and U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 62/174,006 filed on Jun. 11, 2015 all currently co-pending, and claims the priority benefit of the '158, '836 and the '006 U.S. provisional applications; the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference.
Number | Date | Country | |
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62154158 | Apr 2015 | US | |
62167836 | May 2015 | US | |
62174006 | Jun 2015 | US |