EP-4739576-A2 - SOLAR POWERED PLANE

Abstract

A solar powered plane configured to operate in the stratosphere includes a hinged vertical stabiliser that that pivots about a hinge; the stabiliser extends both above the fuselage and also below the fuselage, and the base of the vertical stabiliser includes a skid. The hinged vertical stabiliser is configured such that when the skid contacts the ground on landing, the top of the vertical stabiliser pivots forwards around the hinge point, minimising damage to the aircraft on landing. the skid includes a lightweight, replaceable sacrificial layer.

Inventors

• DOULTON, DANIEL MICHAEL
• ELSON, Andrew Charles

Assignees

• Solaris Suborbital Inc.

Dates

Publication Date

20260513

Application Date

20240708

Claims (1)

1. 81 Attorney Docket No.391529.00003 CLAIMS 1. A solar powered plane, such as a plane configured to operate in the stratosphere and including a hinged vertical stabiliser that pivots about a hinge, and where the vertical stabiliser extends both above a fuselage of the plane and also below that fuselage, and a base of the vertical stabiliser includes a skid. 2. The solar powered plane of Claim 1 in which the hinged vertical stabiliser is configured such that when the skid contacts the ground on landing, the top of the vertical stabiliser is configured to pivot forwards around the hinge, minimising damage to the plane on landing 3. The solar powered plane of Claim 1 or 2 in which the skid includes a lightweight, replaceable sacrificial layer. 4. The solar powered plane of any preceding Claim in which the vertical stabiliser is prevented from hinging during normal flight by means of either a frangible pin or a lashing. 5. The solar powered plane of any preceding Claim in which the plane includes downward facing winglets and these also are configured to act as landing skids. 6. The solar powered plane of any preceding Claim in which the plane is a dual fuselage plane with an approximately 32m - 34m wingspan and each fuselage includes a hinged vertical stabiliser. 7. The solar powered plane of any preceding Claim that includes at least one or more structural sections, each configured to be attachable, detachable and replaceable during normal servicing or operations. 8. The solar powered plane of any preceding Claim that includes a light-weight structural section, formed as a tube with a circular or elliptical cross section, with carbon fibre inner and outer surfaces, between which is a structural foam core. 82 Attorney Docket No.391529.00003 9. The solar powered plane of any preceding Claim that includes downward facing structures, such as winglets, that are also configured to act as landing skids. 10. The solar powered plane of any preceding Claim that includes batteries or one or more battery packs that are configured to be positioned pre-flight in a battery position adjustment system to give an optimal mass distribution to offset or compensate for the mass and position of different payloads. 11. The solar powered plane of any preceding Claim that includes dihedral wings, and in which one or more non-airframe items are positioned inside the dihedral wings. 12. The solar powered plane of any preceding Claim including a carbon fibre structure made using a vacuum / compression moulding process, with carbon fibre pre-impregnated sheets formed in a mould around an over-sized structural foam core to form the carbon fibre structure. 13. The solar powered plane of any preceding Claim including a carbon fibre structure that comprises an outer carbon fibre shell enclosing an internal structural foam core together with a second material with a different mechanical property to the internal structural foam core or the carbon fibre shell. 14. The solar powered plane of any preceding Claim including at least one fuselage with a substantially triangular cross-section with apex at the top, and in which an array of PV cells is formed on at least part of two upward facing surfaces of the fuselage. 15. The solar powered plane of any preceding Claim in which the plane includes, or receives data from, a sensor configured to detect the approach of the plane to an autonomous ground platform (AGP) on which the plane is designed to land; and in which the sensor is further configured to generate a signal that is used to control propeller blades of the plane to be in-line with wings of the plane when the height of the plane above the AGP and/or its rate of descent to the AGP or the time to landing on the AGP meet defined criteria. 83 Attorney Docket No.391529.00003 16. The solar powered plane of any preceding Claim including movable control surfaces extending from a fuselage of the plane and positioned adjacent to, but behind main wings of the plane. 17. The solar powered plane of any preceding Claim in which a surface of the plane comprises panels that are each made up of a sheet that includes a non-heat-shrinkable film substrate and a heat shrinkable border to the sheet, and in which these panels are joined or attached together to form part of a surface of the plane that is tensioned or tightened by heating the heat shrinkable border. 18. The solar powered plane of any preceding Claim including a wing-skin that has been created using the following steps: (i) unreeling a heat shrinkable plastic film on to a frame; (ii) securing the film to the frame; (iii) applying heat to the plastic film to shrink it evenly; (iv) positioning the frame over a pre-glued wing structure; (v) bringing the plastic film into contact with the pre-glued wing structure. 19. The solar powered plane of any preceding Claim including PV cells that are manufactured on or integrated with a plastic film substrate and the plastic film substrate of multiple PV cells are joined together to form a part of the wing and/or fuselage surface. 20. The solar powered plane of any preceding Claim including PV cells that are protected for high altitude flight operations with an application of a layer of lacquer. 21. The solar powered plane of any preceding Claim configured with an imaging system including a carbon fibre parabolic surface that has been sputter coated with a metallic, light reflecting coating. 22. The solar powered plane of any preceding Claim including an antenna and/or sensor formed directly onto a stretched plastic, e.g. polyester, film substrate to form part of the surface of the plane. 84 Attorney Docket No.391529.00003 23. The solar powered plane of any preceding Claim including multiple sensors configured to capture a swath width that is greater than the width that a single sensor could capture, and the plane includes a local processor, such as a GPU, configured to process at least some of the data from the multiple sensors into a single dataset covering the entire swath. 24. The solar powered plane of any preceding Claim configured to fly a path that enables the plane to transmit data back down to a mobile ground station at a defined location. 25. The solar powered plane of any preceding Claim configured to send data to, or receive data from, one or more different solar powered planes, and for one or more of those different planes to transmit data to, or receive data from, a ground station or other ground based system, or a satellite. 26. The solar powered plane of any preceding Claim configured to operate with a launch system including a secondary device, comprising a propulsion system with a propeller optimised for take-off and not for stratospheric flight and a secondary battery, in which the secondary device is configured to be attached to the plane and to provide some or all take-off thrust for the plane, and the secondary device draws its power from one or more batteries in the plane and not its secondary battery, but is configured to re-charge one or more batteries in the plane from its secondary battery. 27. The solar powered plane of any preceding Claim configured to be launched using the steps of (a) raising the plane tail first and then (b) releasing the plane at launch altitude so that it initially flies down substantially nose-first, and then attains approximately level flight. 28. The solar powered plane of any preceding Claim configured to land on to an Autonomous Ground Platform (AGP); in which the AGP is configured to move along a runway at a velocity that matches the plane that is coming in to land, with either the plane and/or the AGP operating an imaging unit that enables, if in the plane, the plane to track the position and motion of the AGP and/or, if in the AGP, for the AGP to track the position and motion of the plane, to ensure that the plane lands safely on the AGP. 85 Attorney Docket No.391529.00003 29. The solar powered plane of any preceding Claim configured to land on a ground handling vehicle, the vehicle including (i) a wheeled chassis, (ii) fuselage holders extending from the chassis and (iii) a pair of lateral spars extending from the wheeled chassis, and (iv) a series of support arms mounted on the chassis and lateral spars and configured to support the wings of the plane. 30. The solar powered plane of any preceding Claim configured to generate training data for an AI based system, in which the plane is configured to (a) capture data for a region over a continuous period that is at least 10 times longer than the continuous period for which a light aircraft could capture data for that region and to (b) capture a quantity of data for that region that is at least 10 times greater than the quantity of data that a constellation of low earth orbit satellites could capture over the same continuous period. 31. The solar powered plane of any preceding Claim configured to generate inference data for an AI based system, in which the plane is configured to (a) capture data for a region over a continuous period that is at least 10 times longer than the continuous period for which a light aircraft could capture data for that region and to (b) capture a quantity of data for that region that is at least 10 times greater than the quantity of data that a constellation of low earth orbit satellites could capture over the same continuous period. 32. The solar powered plane of any preceding Claim configured to enable the detection or monitoring of a natural disaster event by measuring real-time data associated with a region of interest, in which the plane includes a 3D imaging subsystem and a 2D imaging unit. 33. The solar powered plane of any preceding Claim configured to enable the detection of dark sea-going vessels by including (i) an imaging system (e.g. synthetic aperture radar) for detecting and tracking sea vessels; and (ii) a receiver for automatic identification system (AIS, S-AIS or VDES) signals; and in which the plane is configured to process or send data from the imaging system and the receiver to enable vessels that are tracked by the plane but are not sending AIS, S-AIS or VDES signal to be identified as potential dark vessels. 34. The solar powered plane of any preceding Claim including a system designed to be released from the plane to disable a balloon. 86 Attorney Docket No.391529.00003 35. The solar powered plane of any preceding Claim forming part of a constellation of solar powered planes, each configured to operate in the stratosphere and configured to detect their position with reference to a star map, and to transmit that position data with time signal data to enable a user to infer their location using these position and time signals, without the recourse to the GPS or other GNSS systems. 36. A solar powered plane that includes at least one or more structural sections, each configured to be attachable, detachable and replaceable during normal servicing or operations. 37. A solar powered plane that includes a light-weight structural section, formed as a tube with a circular or elliptical cross section, with carbon fibre inner and outer surfaces, between which is a structural foam core. 38. A solar powered plane that includes downward facing structures, such as winglets and/or a vertical stabiliser, that are also configured to act as landing skids. 39. A solar powered plane that includes batteries or one or more battery packs that are configured to be positioned pre-flight in a battery position adjustment system to give an optimal mass distribution to offset or compensate for the mass and position of different payloads. 40. A solar powered plane with dihedral wings and that includes one or more non-airframe items positioned inside the dihedral wings. 41. A solar powered plane including a carbon fibre structure made using a vacuum / compression moulding process, with carbon fibre pre-impregnated sheets formed in a mould around an over-sized structural foam core. 42. A solar powered plane including a carbon fibre structure that comprises an outer carbon fibre shell enclosing an internal structural foam core together with a second material with a different mechanical property to the internal structural foam core or the carbon fibre shell. 87 Attorney Docket No.391529.00003 43. A solar powered plane including at least one fuselage with a substantially triangular cross-section with apex at the top, and in which an array of PV cells is formed on at least part of an upward facing surface of the fuselage. 44. A solar powered plane in which the plane includes, or receives data from, a sensor configured to detect the approach of the plane to an autonomous ground platform (AGP) on which the plane is designed to land; and in which the sensor is further configured to generate a signal that is used to control the propeller blades to be in-line with the wings of the plane when the height of the plane above the AGP and/or its rate of descent to the AGP or the time to landing on the AGP meet defined criteria. 45. A solar powered plane with a fuselage and main wings, including movable control surfaces extending from a fuselage of the plane and positioned adjacent to, but behind the main wings of the plane. 46. A solar powered plane in which a surface of the plane comprises panels that are each made up of a sheet that includes a non-heat-shrinkable film substrate and a heat shrinkable border to the sheet, and in which these panels are joined or attached together to form part of a surface of the plane that is tensioned or tightened by heating the heat shrinkable border. 47. A solar powered plane including a wing-skin that has been created using the following steps: (i) unreeling a heat shrinkable plastic film on to a frame; (ii) securing the film to the frame; (iii) applying heat to the plastic film to shrink it evenly; (iv) positioning the frame over a pre-glued wing structure; (v) bringing the plastic film into contact with the pre-glued wing structure. 48. A solar powered plane including PV cells that are manufactured on or integrated with a plastic film substrate and the plastic film substrate of multiple PV cells are joined together to form a part of a wing and/or a fuselage surface. 88 Attorney Docket No.391529.00003 49. A solar powered plane including PV cells that are protected for high altitude flight operations with an application of a layer of lacquer. 50. A solar powered plane configured with an imaging system including a carbon fibre parabolic surface that has been sputter coated with a metallic, light reflecting coating. 51. A solar powered plane including an antenna and/or sensor formed directly onto a stretched plastic, e.g. polyester, film substrate to form part of the surface of the plane. 52. A solar powered plane including multiple sensors configured to capture a swath width that is greater than a width that a single sensor could capture, and the plane includes a local processor, such as a GPU, configured to process at least some of the data from the multiple sensors into a single dataset covering the entire swath. 53. A solar powered plane configured to fly a path that enables the plane to transmit data back down to a mobile ground station at a defined location. 54. A solar powered plane configured to send data to, or receive data from, one or more different solar powered planes, and for one or more of those different planes to transmit data to, or receive data from, a ground station or other ground based system, or a satellite. 55. A solar powered plane configured to operate with a launch system including a secondary device, comprising a propulsion system with a propeller optimised for take-off and not for stratospheric flight and a secondary battery, in which the secondary device is configured to be attached to the plane and to provide some or all take-off thrust for the plane, and the secondary device draws its power from one or more batteries in the plane and not its secondary battery, but is configured to re-charge one or more batteries in the plane from its secondary battery. 56. A solar powered plane configured to be launched using the steps of (a) raising the plane tail first and then (b) releasing the plane at launch altitude so that it initially flies down substantially nose-first, and then attains approximately level flight. 89 Attorney Docket No.391529.00003 57. A solar powered plane configured to land on to an Autonomous Ground Platform (AGP); in which the AGP is configured to move along a runway at a velocity that matches the plane that is coming in to land, with either the plane and/or the AGP operating an imaging unit that enables, if in the plane, the plane to track the position and motion of the AGP and/or, if in the AGP, for the AGP to track the position and motion of the plane, to ensure that the plane lands safely on the AGP. 58. A solar powered plane configured to land on a ground handling vehicle, the vehicle including (i) a wheeled chassis, (ii) fuselage holders extending from the chassis and (iii) a pair of lateral spars extending from the wheeled chassis, and (iv) a series of support arms mounted on the chassis and lateral spars and configured to support the wings of the plane. 59. A solar powered plane configured to generate training data for an AI based system, in which the plane is configured to (a) capture data for a region over a continuous period that is at least 10 times longer than the continuous period for which a light aircraft could capture data for that region and to (b) capture a quantity of data for that region that is at least 10 times greater than the quantity of data that a constellation of low earth orbit satellites could capture over the same continuous period. 60. A solar powered plane configured to generate inference data for an AI based system, in which the plane is configured to (a) capture data for a region over a continuous period that is at least 10 times longer than the continuous period for which a light aircraft could capture data for that region and to (b) capture a quantity of data for that region that is at least 10 times greater than the quantity of data that a constellation of low earth orbit satellites could capture over the same continuous period. 61. A solar powered plane configured to enable the detection or monitoring of a natural disaster event by measuring real-time data associated with a region of interest, in which the plane includes a 3D imaging subsystem and a 2D imaging unit. 62. A solar powered plane configured to enable the detection of dark sea-going vessels by including (i) an imaging system (e.g. synthetic aperture radar) for detecting and tracking sea vessels; and (ii) a receiver for automatic identification system (AIS, S-AIS or VDES) signals; 90 Attorney Docket No.391529.00003 and in which the plane is configured to process or send data from the imaging system and the receiver to enable vessels that are tracked by the plane but are not sending AIS, S-AIS or VDES signal to be identified as potential dark vessels. 63. A solar powered plane including a system designed to be released from the plane to disable a balloon. 64. A solar powered plane forming part of a constellation of solar powered planes, each configured to operate in the stratosphere and configured to detect their position with reference to a star map, and to transmit that position data with time signal data to enable a user to infer their location using these position and time signals, without the recourse to the GPS or other GNSS systems.

Description

1 Attorney Docket No.391529.00003 SOLAR POWERED PLANE Field of the invention This invention relates to a solar powered plane; the plane is a UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) configured to take-off and land at a conventional runway and to ascend to the stratosphere and to then operate in the stratosphere for days, weeks or even months. Implementations can operate as high altitude platform stations (known as HAPS), which are long endurance, high altitude planes able to offer various services, such as observation and communications. Other terms used to describe this class of aircraft include solar gliders and high altitude solar powered platforms. The solar powered plane described in this specification has many applications, such as weather monitoring, earth observation and earth imaging, border security, maritime patrols, anti-piracy operations, disaster response and agricultural observation. Description of the Prior Art Designing a stratospheric solar powered plane presents multiple challenges: the plane has to be light and yet rigid enough to survive the ascent and descent from stratospheric altitudes. It has to be light and yet able to lift a significant payload. It has to be light and yet be equipped with sufficient batteries and PV cells to enable it to stay in the air for many days, weeks or even months. It should ideally be low cost, straightforward to manufacture and service, be re-usable, have a configurable payload layout, and have the flight stability essential for high precision data-gathering. There have been numerous attempts to design stratospheric solar powered plane, including the NASA Pathfinder (1993), Pathfinder Plus (1998), NASA Centurion/Helios (1999), Airbus Zephyr (2005 to date), Titan Aerospace Solara (2012 - 2017), Korea Aerospace Research Institute EAV 92010 - 2015), Astigan A3 (2014 - 2021), and Facebook Aquila (2016 - 2018). These planes are however complex and costly to build and repair; some have very limited re- useability. 2 Attorney Docket No.391529.00003 Reference may be made to WO 2018/234798, WO 2018/234799, WO 2014/013268, US 9,169,014, WO 2017/207968, WO 2018/237797, WO 2018/234797, WO 2017/051159, WO 2017/051160, the contents of which are incorporated by reference. US Patent No.10,214,295 for High-efficiency, lightweight solar sheets by inventors Pan et al., filed May 8, 2017 and issued February 26, 2019, discloses embodiments including a high efficiency, lightweight solar sheet. Some embodiments include a solar sheet configured for installation on a surface of a UAV or on a surface of a component of a UAV. The solar sheet includes a plurality of solar cells and a polymer layer to which the plurality of solar cells are attached. Some embodiments include a kit for supplying solar power in a battery-powered or fuel cell powered unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) by incorporating flexible solar cells into a component of a UAV, affixing flexible solar cells to a surface of a UAV, or affixing flexible solar cells to a surface of a component of a UAV. The kit also includes a power conditioning system configured to operate the solar cells within a desired power range and configured to provide power having a voltage compatible with an electrical system of the UAV. US Patent No. 9,957,037 for High altitude aircraft with integrated solar cells, and associated systems and methods by inventors Cornew et al., filed June 20, 2014 and issued May 1, 2018, discloses a method of making a solar cell assembly including placing backsides of multiple solar cells in contact with a substrate. The solar cells are electrically connected to each other. Heat and pressure are applied to the solar cells and the substrate to simultaneously impress the solar cells into the substrate and bond the solar cells to the substrate. US Patent No.8,322,650 for Aircraft by inventors Kelleher et al., filed July 30, 2010 and issued December 4, 2012, discloses an aircraft, particularly a solar powered, high altitude, long endurance, unmanned aerial vehicle, being equipped with a combination of canted down, raked back wing tips and trailing “tip tails” carried on booms from the tip regions of the mainplane. Each tip tail is positioned to be subject to the upwash field of the respective wing tip vortex, at least in the cruise condition of the aircraft. The wing tip form can achieve a reduction in induced drag and help to relieve wing root bending moment while the tip tails can act through their connections to the mainplane to provide torsional relief to the latter, particularly under lower incidence/higher speed conditions. In the higher incidence/lower speed cruise condition, however, the presence of the tip tails in the upwash fields of the wing tip vortices means that 3 Attorney Docket No.391529.00003 they can generate lift with a component in the forward direction of flight and hence contribute to the thrust requirements of the aircraft. US Patent No. 9,169,014 for Unmanned aerial vehicle and method of launching b