Field configurable autonomous airplane
US20250206423A1
Abstract
A field configurable autonomous airplane comprising modular elements and attachable components. The airplane can be assembled from these modular elements and components to meet desired mission and performance characteristics without the need to purchase specially designed airplane for each mission.
Description (excerpt)
CROSS REFERENCE TO OTHER PATENT APPLICATIONS The present application claims the benefit of provisional patent application serial number: U.S. App. No. 62/973,045, titled: “Field Configurable Underwater Autonomous Vehicle,” filed Sep. 12, 2019 and incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. The present application claims the benefit of provisional patent application serial number: U.S. App. No. 62/974,118, titled: “Magnetic Coupling for UUV Systems,” filed Nov. 13, 2019 and incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. The present application is a continuation in part and claims the benefit of design application Ser. No. 29/742,034, titled: Marine Vehicle, filed Oct. 3, 2019; the complete disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. The present application is a continuation in part and claims the benefit of design application serial numbers: U.S. application Ser. No. 29/742,134 titled “Marine Vehicle with Shroud;” U.S. application. No. 29/742/130 titled “Marine Vehicle with Shroud and Lens:” U.S. application Ser. No. 29/742,137 titled “Marine Vehicle with Shroud and Top Lens;” U.S. application Ser. No. 29/742,129 titled “Marine Vehicle with Shroud and Top Continuous Lens;” U.S. application Ser. No. 29/742,138 titled “Marine Vehicle with Shroud and Continuous Lens;” Ser. No. 29/742,132 titled “Marine Vehicle with Lens;” U.S. application Ser. No. 29/742,135 titled “Marine Vehicle with Top Lens;” U.S. application Ser. No. 29/742,133 titled “Marine Vehicle with Continuous Top Lens;” and U.S. application Ser. No. 29/742,131, titled “Marine Vehicle with Continuous Front Lens”; each filed on Jan. 30, 2020; the complete disclosures of each which are incorporated herein by reference. The present application is related to the following copending patent application serial numbers, each filed the same day herewith: U.S. application Ser. No. 16/974,049 titled “Field Configurable Spherical Underwater Vehicle” (Attorney Docket No. 11510-1); U.S. application Ser. No. 16/974,043 titled “Apparatus and Method for Joining Modules in a Field Configurable Vehicle (Attorney Docket No. 111510-2); U.S. application Ser. No. 16/974,044 titled “Propulsion System for Field Configurable Vehicle” (Attorney Docket No. 111510-3); U.S. application Ser. No. 16/974,045 titled “Method and Apparatus for Coupling and Positioning Elements on a Configurable Vehicle” (Attorney Docket No. 111510-4); U.S. application Ser. No. 16/974,042 titled “Method and Apparatus for Transporting Ballast or Cargo in an Autonomous Vehicle” (Attorney Docket No. 111510-5); U.S. application Ser. No. 16/974,040 titled “System and Apparatus for Attaching and Transporting an Autonomous Vehicle “(Attorney Docket No. 111510-6); U.S. application Ser. No. 16/974,047 titled “Method for Parasitic Transport of an Autonomous Vehicle” (Attorney Docket No. 111510-7); U.S. application Ser. No. 16/974,046 titled “Method and Apparatus for Positioning the Center of Mass on a Configurable Device” (Attorney Docket No. 111510-8); U.S. application Ser. No. 16/974,054 titled “Optical Communications for Autonomous Vehicles” (Attorney Docket No. 111510-9); U.S. application Ser. No. 16/974,048 titled “Buoyancy Control Module for Field Configurable Autonomous Vehicle” (Attorney Docket No. 111510-10); and U.S. application Ser. No. 16/974,041 titled “Scuttle Module for Field Configurable Vehicle” (Attorney Docket No. 111510-11), the complete disclosures of each which are incorporated herein by reference. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Unmanned Undersea Vehicles (UUVs) and other unmanned and autonomous vehicles are highly specialized, specially configured vehicles. Their configuration, payload and propulsion, as well as other attributes, are designed specifically for a single or very narrow range of missions. This fact results in the expenditure of significant nonrecurring engineering and development costs to make and manufacture each special purpose vehicle. These factors contribute to the cost of existing unmanned vehicles and UUVs making them especially expensive to produce and acquire. Such specially designed vehicles also have very narrowly defined types of use and utility. This narrow range of uses, correspondingly limits the addressable market or numbers of potential purchasers, foreclosing opportunities to produce at numbers large enough to take advantage of economies of scale. The narrow range of uses for each vehicle is thus an additional factor in driving up the cost of production. The weight, mass, drag, center of gravity, center of buoyancy, size and location of the control surfaces, as well as propulsion and electrical requirements for existing vehicles are fixed at time of vehicle design and manufacture. The vehicle cannot be modified in the field after manufacture. Expanding, altering, or changing the vehicle design to meet a wider or new range of customer needs requires redesigning, reconfiguring and re-manufacturing a completely new vehicle. Thus, UUV and unmanned vehicle designs and their missions remain f
Filing details
- Inventors
- Eric Seeley
- Assignee
- The United States Of America As Represented By The Secretary Of The Navy
- Filed
- Mar 7, 2025
- Granted
- Application pending
Bibliographic data and excerpted text sourced from Google Patents (public record) as part of IP TechMatch's current-filings monitor. This filing is not part of the 2019 historical archive. For the authoritative full text, drawings, and legal status, see the source links above or consult USPTO records directly.