DJI’s Inspiring Patent Application
We’ve all oohed and awed over DJI’s Inspire’s 360-degree camera pan without the gear getting in the way of the shot, but did you know that the design can also “increase the functional space of a coupled payload”?
From the reading of the patent application, the camera is only a part of what this thing can do. As the patent says, “existing unmanned aerial vehicle designs can be less than ideal for providing unobstructed viewing angles for a payload camera, such as when the visual space is obscured by the vehicle frame.” But, this bird was also designed to be “outfitted with a functional payload, such as sensors for collecting data from the surrounding environment” for performing “surveillance, reconnaissance, and exploration tasks for military and civilian applications.”
“Advantageously, the disclosed systems, devices and methods obviate the need for increasing the size of the aerial vehicle or providing additional mounting structures for the payload to increase the payload functional space”, and this sentiment resounds in the entire application.
Claim 1 is well-written and efficient: A transformable aerial vehicle, the vehicle comprising:
- a central body;
- at least two transformable frame assemblies respectively disposed on the central body, each of the at least two transformable frame assemblies having a proximal portion pivotally coupled to the central body and a distal portion;
- an actuation assembly mounted on the central body and configured to pivot the at least two transformable frame assemblies to a plurality of different vertical angles relative to the central body;
- and a plurality of propulsion units mounted on the at least two transformable frame assemblies and operable to move the transformable aerial vehicle.
Title: “TRANSFORMABLE AERIAL VEHICLE”
US Patent Application Number: 20140263823
Filed (PCT-CN): Dec 25, 2013
Published: September 18, 2014
