US Navy Drone Holds Shade, Lights
The first thing you need to keep in mind is that this invention was funded by, and can be used by the US Navy without paying a royalty.
What does this invention do? Flying drones have panels or lights attached to them, and coordinate their positions with cameras stationed on the ground to add or subtract light for a specific photo or video shoot.
Out of the 4000 words in the patent application, none of them are “wind”, which is surprising, because the drones are basically attached to sails (if the drone’s job is to provide shade). Perhaps a more practical application is drones with big spotlights. As the Abstract says “Additional embodiments can include a lighting system on the UAV platforms to illuminate targets.” If this is the case, then how big will the drone need to be to support a lighting system? The more you scale up one component, the more you will have to scale up the other components.
Claim 1: “An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) platform comprising: a first camera system comprising at least one camera; a shading system comprising at least one optical filter; and a lighting system comprising at least one light source; wherein the first camera system is configured to detect the location of a target and a light source; wherein the UAV platform is configured to move to an intermediary location between the target and the light source; wherein the UAV platform is configured to move to an intermediary location near the target and illuminate the target with the at least one light source.”
If we unpack this word salad, the drone must have both a shade and a light.
Title: “Unmanned Aerial Vehicle System For Providing Shade And Light”
US Patent Application No: US 20240365009
Filed (USA Reg): 2021-04-29
Published: 2023-04-26
Applicant: Four Inventors