This invention relates unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) systems. More particularly, this invention relates to UAV launch technologies.
Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are used in connection with many different operations. UAVs come in many shapes and sizes. A need exists to improve UAVs and to improve UAV launch systems to make UAVs more useful and deployable.
Aspects of the present invention relate to UAV launch technologies.
These and other systems, methods, objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment and the drawings. All documents mentioned herein are hereby incorporated in their entirety by reference.
Embodiments are described with reference to the following Figures. The same numbers may be used throughout to reference like features and components that are shown in the Figures:
While the invention has been described in connection with certain preferred embodiments, other embodiments would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art and are encompassed herein.
Aspects of the present invention relate to head-worn computing (“HWC”) systems. HWC involves, in some instances, a system that mimics the appearance of head-worn glasses or sunglasses. The glasses may be a fully developed computing platform, such as including computer displays presented in each of the lenses of the glasses to the eyes of the user. In embodiments, the lenses and displays may be configured to allow a person wearing the glasses to see the environment through the lenses while also seeing, simultaneously, digital imagery, which forms an overlaid image that is perceived by the person as a digitally augmented image of the environment, or augmented reality (“AR”).
HWC involves more than just placing a computing system on a person's head. The system may need to be designed as a lightweight, compact and fully functional computer display, such as wherein the computer display includes a high resolution digital display that provides a high level of emersion comprised of the displayed digital content and the see-through view of the environmental surroundings. User interfaces and control systems suited to the HWC device may be required that are unlike those used for a more conventional computer such as a laptop. For the HWC and associated systems to be most effective, the glasses may be equipped with sensors to determine environmental conditions, geographic location, relative positioning to other points of interest, objects identified by imaging and movement by the user or other users in a connected group, and the like. The HWC may then change the mode of operation to match the conditions, location, positioning, movements, and the like, in a method generally referred to as a contextually aware HWC. The glasses also may need to be connected, wirelessly or otherwise, to other systems either locally or through a network. Controlling the glasses may be achieved through the use of an external device, automatically through contextually gathered information, through user gestures captured by the glasses sensors, and the like. Each technique may be further refined depending on the software application being used in the glasses. The glasses may further be used to control or coordinate with external devices that are associated with the glasses.
Referring to
We will now describe each of the main elements depicted on
The HWC 102 is a computing platform intended to be worn on a person's head. The HWC 102 may take many different forms to fit many different functional requirements. In some situations, the HWC 102 will be designed in the form of conventional glasses. The glasses may or may not have active computer graphics displays. In situations where the HWC 102 has integrated computer displays the displays may be configured as see-through displays such that the digital imagery can be overlaid with respect to the user's view of the environment 114. There are a number of see-through optical designs that may be used, including ones that have a reflective display (e.g. LCoS, DLP), emissive displays (e.g. OLED, LED), hologram, TIR waveguides, and the like. In embodiments, lighting systems used in connection with the display optics may be solid state lighting systems, such as LED, OLED, quantum dot, quantum dot LED, etc. In addition, the optical configuration may be monocular or binocular. It may also include vision corrective optical components. In embodiments, the optics may be packaged as contact lenses. In other embodiments, the HWC 102 may be in the form of a helmet with a see-through shield, sunglasses, safety glasses, goggles, a mask, fire helmet with see-through shield, police helmet with see through shield, military helmet with see-through shield, utility form customized to a certain work task (e.g. inventory control, logistics, repair, maintenance, etc.), and the like.
The HWC 102 may also have a number of integrated computing facilities, such as an integrated processor, integrated power management, communication structures (e.g. cell net, WiFi, Bluetooth, local area connections, mesh connections, remote connections (e.g. client server, etc.)), and the like. The HWC 102 may also have a number of positional awareness sensors, such as GPS, electronic compass, altimeter, tilt sensor, IMU, and the like. It may also have other sensors such as a camera, rangefinder, hyper-spectral camera, Geiger counter, microphone, spectral illumination detector, temperature sensor, chemical sensor, biologic sensor, moisture sensor, ultrasonic sensor, and the like.
The HWC 102 may also have integrated control technologies. The integrated control technologies may be contextual based control, passive control, active control, user control, and the like. For example, the HWC 102 may have an integrated sensor (e.g. camera) that captures user hand or body gestures 116 such that the integrated processing system can interpret the gestures and generate control commands for the HWC 102. In another example, the HWC 102 may have sensors that detect movement (e.g. a nod, head shake, and the like) including accelerometers, gyros and other inertial measurements, where the integrated processor may interpret the movement and generate a control command in response. The HWC 102 may also automatically control itself based on measured or perceived environmental conditions. For example, if it is bright in the environment the HWC 102 may increase the brightness or contrast of the displayed image. In embodiments, the integrated control technologies may be mounted on the HWC 102 such that a user can interact with it directly. For example, the HWC 102 may have a button(s), touch capacitive interface, and the like.
As described herein, the HWC 102 may be in communication with external user interfaces 104. The external user interfaces may come in many different forms. For example, a cell phone screen may be adapted to take user input for control of an aspect of the HWC 102. The external user interface may be a dedicated UI, such as a keyboard, touch surface, button(s), joy stick, and the like. In embodiments, the external controller may be integrated into another device such as a ring, watch, bike, car, and the like. In each case, the external user interface 104 may include sensors (e.g. IMU, accelerometers, compass, altimeter, and the like) to provide additional input for controlling the HWD 104.
As described herein, the HWC 102 may control or coordinate with other local devices 108. The external devices 108 may be an audio device, visual device, vehicle, cell phone, computer, and the like. For instance, the local external device 108 may be another HWC 102, where information may then be exchanged between the separate HWCs 108.
Similar to the way the HWC 102 may control or coordinate with local devices 106, the HWC 102 may control or coordinate with remote devices 112, such as the HWC 102 communicating with the remote devices 112 through a network 110. Again, the form of the remote device 112 may have many forms. Included in these forms is another HWC 102. For example, each HWC 102 may communicate its GPS position such that all the HWCs 102 know where all of HWC 102 are located.
An aspect of the present invention relates to launch technologies related to unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). In embodiments, the launch system is adapted to use a grenade launcher (e.g. 40 mm grenade launcher) for ease of field integration. In embodiments, the launch system is adapted to be relatively quiet to allow for covert operations. When a grenade launcher is normally used in the field, quietness is not a significant requirement because the grenade being launched is going to land at a relatively short distance from the launcher and there is going to be a rather large noise made by the exploding grenade. The inventors of the present invention have realized that the use of a grenade launcher can provide ease for field integration and the launch should be relatively quiet to allow for those instances where one wants to launch the UAV and remain unnoticed. The inventors have also discovered that the use of an explosive charge to send the UAV to its usable or near usable height can significantly save on UAV battery life and hence increase the fly time of the UAV.
As indicated in
Although embodiments of HWC have been described in language specific to features, systems, computer processes and/or methods, the appended claims are not necessarily limited to the specific features, systems, computer processes and/or methods described. Rather, the specific features, systems, computer processes and/or and methods are disclosed as non-limited example implementations of HWC.
All documents referenced herein are hereby incorporated by reference.
This application is a continuation of the following U.S. patent application, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety: U.S. Ser. No. 14/271,028, filed May 6, 2014.
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
1897833 | Benway | Feb 1933 | A |
4852988 | Velez | Aug 1989 | A |
5596451 | Handschy | Jan 1997 | A |
5717422 | Fergason | Feb 1998 | A |
5748264 | Hegg | May 1998 | A |
5808800 | Handschy | Sep 1998 | A |
6078427 | Fontaine | Jun 2000 | A |
6195136 | Handschy | Feb 2001 | B1 |
6347764 | Brandon | Feb 2002 | B1 |
6359723 | Handschy | Mar 2002 | B1 |
6369952 | Rallison | Apr 2002 | B1 |
6433760 | Vaissie | Aug 2002 | B1 |
6456438 | Lee | Sep 2002 | B1 |
6491391 | Blum et al. | Dec 2002 | B1 |
6847336 | Lemelson | Jan 2005 | B1 |
6943754 | Aughey | Sep 2005 | B2 |
6977776 | Volkenandt et al. | Dec 2005 | B2 |
6987787 | Mick | Jan 2006 | B1 |
7088234 | Naito | Aug 2006 | B2 |
7199934 | Yamasaki | Apr 2007 | B2 |
7206134 | Weissman | Apr 2007 | B2 |
7347551 | Fergason et al. | Mar 2008 | B2 |
7488294 | Torch | Feb 2009 | B2 |
7830370 | Yamazaki | Nov 2010 | B2 |
7855743 | Sako | Dec 2010 | B2 |
7928926 | Yamamoto | Apr 2011 | B2 |
8004765 | Amitai | Aug 2011 | B2 |
8190147 | Kauffman | May 2012 | B2 |
8235529 | Raffle | Aug 2012 | B1 |
8378924 | Jacobsen | Feb 2013 | B2 |
8427396 | Kim | Apr 2013 | B1 |
8494215 | Kimchi | Jul 2013 | B2 |
8505430 | Miralles | Aug 2013 | B2 |
8564883 | Totani | Oct 2013 | B2 |
8576276 | Bar-zeev | Nov 2013 | B2 |
8576491 | Takagi | Nov 2013 | B2 |
8587869 | Totani | Nov 2013 | B2 |
8594467 | Lu | Nov 2013 | B2 |
8611015 | Wheeler | Dec 2013 | B2 |
8638498 | Bohn et al. | Jan 2014 | B2 |
8662686 | Takagi | Mar 2014 | B2 |
8670183 | Clavin | Mar 2014 | B2 |
8696113 | Lewis | Apr 2014 | B2 |
8698157 | Hanamura | Apr 2014 | B2 |
8711487 | Takeda | Apr 2014 | B2 |
8733927 | Lewis | May 2014 | B1 |
8733928 | Lewis | May 2014 | B1 |
8745058 | Garcia-barrio | Jun 2014 | B1 |
8750541 | Dong | Jun 2014 | B1 |
8752963 | Mcculloch | Jun 2014 | B2 |
8803867 | Oikawa | Aug 2014 | B2 |
8823071 | Oyamada | Sep 2014 | B2 |
8837880 | Takeda | Sep 2014 | B2 |
8929589 | Publicover et al. | Jan 2015 | B2 |
9010929 | Lewis | Apr 2015 | B2 |
9274338 | Robbins et al. | Mar 2016 | B2 |
9292973 | Bar-zeev et al. | Mar 2016 | B2 |
9658473 | Lewis | May 2017 | B2 |
9720505 | Gribetz et al. | Aug 2017 | B2 |
10013053 | Cederlund et al. | Jul 2018 | B2 |
10025379 | Drake et al. | Jul 2018 | B2 |
10185147 | Lewis | Jan 2019 | B2 |
20020021498 | Ohtaka | Feb 2002 | A1 |
20030030597 | Geist | Feb 2003 | A1 |
20060023158 | Howell et al. | Feb 2006 | A1 |
20090279180 | Amitai | Nov 2009 | A1 |
20110051627 | El-Damhougy | Mar 2011 | A1 |
20110211056 | Publicover et al. | Sep 2011 | A1 |
20110213664 | Osterhout | Sep 2011 | A1 |
20120021806 | Maltz | Jan 2012 | A1 |
20120050493 | Ernst | Mar 2012 | A1 |
20120062850 | Travis | Mar 2012 | A1 |
20120194551 | Osterhout | Aug 2012 | A1 |
20120212593 | Na | Aug 2012 | A1 |
20120223885 | Perez | Sep 2012 | A1 |
20120250152 | Larson | Oct 2012 | A1 |
20120264510 | Wigdor | Oct 2012 | A1 |
20120306850 | Balan | Dec 2012 | A1 |
20120327116 | Liu | Dec 2012 | A1 |
20130009366 | Hannegan | Jan 2013 | A1 |
20130044042 | Olsson | Feb 2013 | A1 |
20130100259 | Ramaswamy | Apr 2013 | A1 |
20130127980 | Haddick | May 2013 | A1 |
20130154913 | Genc | Jun 2013 | A1 |
20130196757 | Latta | Aug 2013 | A1 |
20130257622 | Davalos | Oct 2013 | A1 |
20140028704 | Wu | Jan 2014 | A1 |
20140043682 | Hussey | Feb 2014 | A1 |
20140062854 | Cho | Mar 2014 | A1 |
20140129328 | Mathew | May 2014 | A1 |
20140146394 | Tout | May 2014 | A1 |
20140147829 | Jerauld | May 2014 | A1 |
20140152530 | Venkatesha | Jun 2014 | A1 |
20140152558 | Salter | Jun 2014 | A1 |
20140152676 | Rohn | Jun 2014 | A1 |
20140159995 | Adams | Jun 2014 | A1 |
20140160055 | Margolis | Jun 2014 | A1 |
20140160157 | Poulos | Jun 2014 | A1 |
20140160170 | Lyons | Jun 2014 | A1 |
20140168735 | Yuan | Jun 2014 | A1 |
20140176603 | Kumar | Jun 2014 | A1 |
20140177023 | Gao | Jun 2014 | A1 |
20140195918 | Friedlander | Jul 2014 | A1 |
20150142211 | Shehata | May 2015 | A1 |
20150168731 | Robbins | Jun 2015 | A1 |
20160293015 | Bragin | Oct 2016 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country |
---|---|---|
2316473 | Jan 2001 | CA |
2362895 | Dec 2002 | CA |
2388766 | Dec 2003 | CA |
368898 | May 1990 | EP |
777867 | Jun 1997 | EP |
2486450 | Aug 2012 | EP |
2502410 | Sep 2012 | EP |
WO2011143655 | Nov 2011 | WO |
WO2012058175 | May 2012 | WO |
WO2013050650 | Apr 2013 | WO |
WO2013103825 | Jul 2013 | WO |
WO2013110846 | Aug 2013 | WO |
WO2013170073 | Nov 2013 | WO |
Entry |
---|
US 8,743,465 B2, 06/2014, Totani (withdrawn) |
US 8,792,178 B2, 07/2014, Totani (withdrawn) |
Jacob, R. “Eye Tracking in Advanced Interface Design”, Virtual Environments and Advanced Interface Design, Oxford University Press, Inc. (Jun. 1995). |
Rolland, J. et al., “High-resolution inset head-mounted display”, Optical Society of America, vol. 37, No. 19, Applied Optics, (Jul. 1, 1998). |
Tanriverdi, V. et al. (Apr. 2000). “Interacting With Eye Movements In Virtual Environments,” Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155, USA, Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, eight pages. |
Yoshida, A. et al., “Design and Applications of a High Resolution Insert Head Mounted Display”, (Jun. 1994). |
Final Office Action dated Jan. 27, 2017, for U.S. Appl. No. 14/271,028, filed May 6, 2014, eleven pages. |
Non-Final Office Action dated Apr. 18, 2016, for U.S. Appl. No. 14/271,028, filed May 6, 2014, eight pages. |
Schedwill, “Bidirectional OLEO Microdisplay”, Fraunhofer Research Institution for Organics, Materials and Electronic Device Comedd, Apr. 11, 2014, 2 pages. |
Vogel, et al., “Data glasses controlled by eye movements”, Information and communication, Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, Sep. 22, 2013, 2 pages. |
Azuma, Ronald T. (Aug. 1997). “A Survey of Augmented Reality,” In Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments 6, 4, Hughes Research Laboratories, Malibu, CA, located at: https://web.archive.org/web/20010604100006/http://www.cs.unc.edu/˜azuma/ARpresence.pdf , retrieved on Oct. 26, 2020. |
Bimber, Oliver et al. (2005). “Spatial Augmented Reality: Merging Real and Virtual Worlds,” A. K. Peters, Ltd., Wellesley, MA. |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
20180155025 A1 | Jun 2018 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
Parent | 14271028 | May 2014 | US |
Child | 15873428 | US |