Battery powered quadrotors or drones have a limited operation time. To extend operation time, a powered tether can be used. This tether provides power to the drone allowing it to stay up indefinitely. Most tethered drones are captured to the base station. The tether can reel in and out as the drone moves, but the drone can't go higher or further than the maximum length of the tether. If the tether can be automatically disconnected, the drone could fly off for some remote mission, assuming the drone had an onboard power source such as rechargeable batteries. The present invention relates to a self-powered drone tether that comprises a rechargeable drone in flight which is referred to as the rechargeable drone, a drone that carries a powered tether which is referred to as the tether drone, a coupling mechanism between the rechargeable drone and the tether drone, and a base station with a powered tether and tether deployment system.
Self-powered drone tether
2024-01-30
Patent
Elektronische Ressource
Englisch
IPC: | B60L PROPULSION OF ELECTRICALLY-PROPELLED VEHICLES , Antrieb von elektrisch angetriebenen Fahrzeugen / B64C AEROPLANES , Flugzeuge / B64F GROUND OR AIRCRAFT-CARRIER-DECK INSTALLATIONS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR USE IN CONNECTION WITH AIRCRAFT , Boden- oder Flugzeugträgerdeckeinrichtungen besonders ausgebildet für die Verwendung in Verbindung mit Luftfahrzeugen / B64U / G05D SYSTEMS FOR CONTROLLING OR REGULATING NON-ELECTRIC VARIABLES , Systeme zum Steuern oder Regeln nichtelektrischer veränderlicher Größen |