Autonomous, back-packable computer-controlled breakaway unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)

Abstract

A modular unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) having a fuselage, a nose cone, a left wing piece, a right wing piece, and a tail section. The tail section and nose cone each join to the fuselage through mating bulkhead structures that provide quick connection capability while being readily separated so as to enable the UAV to break apart at these connection points and thereby absorb or dissipate impact upon landing. The UAV is capable of rapid assembly in the field for two-man launch and data retrieval, as well as quick disassembly into these five component parts for transport and storage in a highly compact transport case that can be carried as a backpack.

1 . A modular hand-launchable unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) comprising:
 a plurality of modules including a fuselage, a nose cone, a tail section and two wing pieces, said modules being readily assembled to construct said UAV and disassembled for compact transport;   a front side and a rear side of said fuselage having a forwardly-facing fuselage through-hole and a rearwardly-facing fuselage through-hole, respectively;   said nose cone having a rearwardly-facing nose cone through-hole for coupling to said forwardly-facing fuselage through-hole;   said tail section having a forwardly-facing tail section through-hole for coupling to said rearwardly-facing fuselage through-hole;   each of said two wing pieces having a fuselage-mounting surface for coupling to a wing-mounting surface on a respective side of said fuselage; and   each of said through-holes being defined and reinforced with a bulkhead mounted therein that fits cooperatively with a mating bulkhead on a corresponding one of said fuselage, nose cone and tail section modules.   
   
   
       2 . The UAV as set forth in  claim 1 , wherein each wing piece includes a servo mounted on a lower surface thereof, said servo being coupled to a push rod that is hingedly connected to a corresponding elevon of said wing piece for control thereof, said push-rod being generally perpendicular to a trailing edge of said wing piece. 
   
   
       3 . The UAV as set forth in  claim 1 , wherein each of said bulkheads has a generally rectangular frame including a flat outer surface and a flat inner surface joined by a side wall that is generally perpendicular to said inner and outer surfaces, said outer surface having an integrally formed lip extending outwardly and on a same plane therewith such that, when said bulkhead side wall is adjacent an inner wall of a corresponding through-hole, said lip abuts against an outer edge of said through-hole. 
   
   
       4 . The UAV as set forth in  claim 1 , wherein each of said bulkheads is further provided with at least one of an aperture and a projecting alignment structure, each of which fits cooperatively with a complementary projecting alignment structure and aperture, respectively, on the mating bulkhead to facilitate rapid and accurate alignment of the mating bulkheads during assembly of the modules. 
   
   
       5 . The UAV as set forth in  claim 3 , wherein said side wall is beveled to slope from said outer surface to said inner surface. 
   
   
       6 . The UAV as set forth in  claim 1 , wherein said plurality of modular components when disassembled fit within a compact transport case that is less than eighteen inches in height and length, and approximately ten inches in depth. 
   
   
       7 . The UAV as set forth in  claim 1 , wherein for each pair of mating bulkheads, a first bulkhead of said pair includes a diagonal pair of projecting alignment structures on the outer surface thereof, and a second bulkhead of said pair includes a diagonal pair of apertures positioned to be in alignment with said projecting alignment structures, respectively. 
   
   
       8 . The UAV as set forth in  claim 7 , wherein each of said projecting alignment structures includes a conical portion and each of said apertures is generally circular. 
   
   
       9 . The UAV as set forth in  claim 3 , wherein a width of said side wall between said outer and inner surfaces is about 0.25 inches. 
   
   
       10 . The UAV as set forth in  claim 1 , further comprising a launch clip mounted on a lower surface of said fuselage, said launch clip having a beveled forward edge for reduced profile and a mounting plate secured to the fuselage through the bulkhead mounted in said forwardly-facing fuselage through-hole. 
   
   
       11 . The UAV as set forth in  claim 1 , wherein a break-away wing spar is pivotally coupled to a mounting rod at the wing-mounting surface on each side of said fuselage, said wing spar having an extended wing-mounting position for connection of the wing pieces in operation and a folded storage position so as to be flush against said wing-mounting surface when disassembled. 
   
   
       12 . The UAV as set forth in  claim 11 , wherein each of said wing pieces has a fuselage-mounting surface with an opening therein for receiving said wing spar in said extended wing-mounting position. 
   
   
       13 . The UAV as set forth in  claim 12 , further comprising a plurality of openings in said wing-mounting surface and a plurality of corresponding projections on said fuselage-mounting surface for insertion into said openings to secure removable connection of said wing pieces to said fuselage. 
   
   
       14 . A modular hand-launchable unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) comprising:
 a plurality of modules including a fuselage, a nose cone, a tail section and two wing pieces, said modules being readily assembled to construct said UAV and disassembled for compact transport, a front side of said fuselage having a forwardly-facing fuselage through-hole defined and reinforced with a bulkhead mounted therein that fits cooperatively with a mating bulkhead on said nose cone, and   a low-profile launch clip mounted on a lower surface of said fuselage, said launch clip having a beveled forward edge for reduced profile and a mounting plate secured to the fuselage through said bulkhead mounted in said forwardly-facing fuselage through-hole.   
   
   
       15 . A compact transport case for a modular hand-launchable unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) comprising:
 a hard shell case having a compartment area with an opening thereto, said compartment area being partially filled with an impact absorbing insert having specially sized cutouts therein to accommodate a plurality of UAV modules including a fuselage, at least one nose cone, a tail section and two wing pieces, said modules being inserted through said opening and fitting into their respective cutouts in said compartment area with a friction fit; and   a lid for closing said opening to said compartment area.   
   
   
       16 . The UAV transport case as set forth in  claim 15 , wherein an exterior of said hard shell case is waterproof. 
   
   
       17 . The UAV transport case as set forth in  claim 15 , wherein said insert is a foam-type cushioning element. 
   
   
       18 . The UAV transport case as set forth in  claim 15 , wherein said compartment is separated into a fuselage side and a wing piece side by a divider element, said fuselage side being provided with a foam-type cushioning insert having specially formed nose cone cutouts and fuselage cutout therein to accommodate and hold the fuselage and at least one nose cone with a friction fit, and said wing piece side being generally open and sized to receive both wing pieces in a juxtaposed relationship. 
   
   
       19 . The UAV transport case as set forth in  claim 18 , wherein said divider element further defines within itself a sleeve for receipt of a stabilizer portion of the tail section, said sleeve having a relatively narrow top opening enclosed by sides of the divider element. 
   
   
       20 . The UAV transport case as set forth in  claim 18 , wherein the wing pieces, tail section and fuselage are aligned against one another so as to be in a generally vertically-oriented stacked arrangement within said transport case, with the nose cone being offset to one side of a central body portion of the fuselage.