A fluid borne vehicle such as a UAV, comprises a vehicle body 101 having a centre of gravity at a location 120. The UAV includes at least one thrust vectoring module having a plurality of thrust producing means 130-133. The thrust vectoring modules are attached to arms 107,108 which are pivotally connected to the UAV body at mounting points 109 about axes 104,105. Individual thrust producing means are connected to mounting bars 111,112 for pivotal movement about the axes 113 of these mounting bars. A controller is arranged to control movement of the thrust producing means and modules about their respective axes to provide required thrust vectoring. The arms and bars may be free to move and thrust vectoring may be controlled by varying thrust of opposing pairs of thrust modules or thrust producing means to alter position and angular rates of arms/bars relative to the body.
Control arrangement for fluid borne vehicles
2020-11-18
Patent
Elektronische Ressource
Englisch