A typical drone has to tilt into the direction of flight, but why not just tilt its engines? What if you need the drone to remain oriented to the horizontal plane during flight? This invention proposes a solution.
Aerbots has patented a system of omnidirectional propeller housings that can rotate independently from the drone, keeping the drone constantly level during flight and maneuvers. In addition, each propeller is housed in a cage to prevent accidents and prop strikes.
The inventors state that “when the propellers tilt in response to a remote command, so must the whole arm and the whole drone.” This is not always desirable or practical, hence this invention. The invention’s propeller housings can be rotated in any direction using a simple combination of two servos that orient the housing in any direction, giving it a spherical range of movement.
In addition, drones equipped with such propeller housings can be attached together in a lattice or a swarm, rendering unexpected advantages. The patent states that “traditional drone swarms do not provide physical connections between unit drones. Physically connected drones in a drone system may be able to scale the thrust and the durability of unit drones for any number of applications.”
The patent discloses not only a quadcopter drone design, but also a flying saucer, and a myriad of other UAV configurations.
Claim 1: “A drone system, comprising: a plurality of unit drones, each unit drone being connectable to another unit drone such that when the plurality of unit drones are directly or indirectly connected, the plurality of connected unit drones form a remotely controllable unitary body, wherein at least one of the unit drones comprises a housing; a ring assembly supported by the housing, the ring assembly comprising a top bearing with a top movable inner portion and a bottom bearing with a bottom movable inner portion and a wall connected with and extending between the top movable inner portion and the bottom movable inner portion; an external rotator supported by the housing, the external rotator being outside of the ring assembly and having an outer surface mechanically engaged with an outer surface of the wall in the ring assembly, the external rotator configured to drive circumferential rotation of the movable portions of the ring assembly about a first axis; and the wall of the ring assembly having a pair of openings opposite one another, each opening having an internal rotator therein, the pair of internal rotators directly or indirectly supporting a propulsion system inside the ring assembly, where at least one of the internal rotators is configured to drive rotation of the propulsion system about a second axis perpendicular to the first axis; wherein, in operation, the housing has an orientation that is independent of an orientation of the propulsion system, and rotation of the ring assembly about the first axis is independent of rotation of the propulsion system about the second axis, permitting the propulsion system to assume substantially any position within a sphere inside the ring assembly.”
Title: “Drones And Drone Systems”
US Patent No: 12240616
Filed (US Prov.): 2021-02-12
Granted: 2025-03-04
Applicant: Aerbots, Inc.
