ACTIVE POSITION CONTROL OF TETHERED HOOK An example system includes, an aerial vehicle, a sensor coupled to the aerial vehicle and a winch system coupled to the aerial vehicle. The winch system includes a tether disposed on a spool, a motor operable to apply a torque to the tether, and a payload coupling apparatus coupled to a leading end of the tether and configured to couple to a payload. A repositioning apparatus is configured to reposition the payload coupling apparatus in at least a horizontal direction. A control system includes a processor and a non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations including identifying the payload to be picked up by the aerial vehicle within an environment, controlling the winch system to deploy the payload coupling apparatus by unwinding the tether from the spool, controlling a position of the aerial vehicle to: (i) maneuver the payload coupling apparatus to within a threshold horizontal distance of the payload and (ii) attempt to hover in a fixed location above the payload to maintain the payload coupling apparatus within the threshold horizontal distance of the payload, and while the aerial vehicle attempts to hover in the fixed location above the payload: (i) receiving, from the sensor, sensor data indicative of a position of the payload coupling apparatus in relation to the payload and (ii) repositioning, using the repositioning apparatus and based on the sensor data, the payload coupling apparatus in the horizontal direction and relative to the aerial vehicle to couple to the payload.
Active position control of tethered hook
26.05.2022
Patent
Elektronische Ressource
Englisch