RU-2861480-C1 - CARGO-CARRYING SYSTEM USING UNMANNED HELICOPTER-TYPE AIRCRAFT

Abstract

FIELD: aviation. SUBSTANCE: invention relates to the field of aviation, in particular to the designs of air transport systems. The cargo-carrying system in a cluster format is based on the use of unmanned helicopter-type aircraft in a modular design. Each module comprises a housing of two rectangular frames located one above the other, connected to each other by two vertical posts. An opening for the output of coaxially located shafts of rotation of the rotors is made in the central part of each frame, the upper ones of which are located under the upper frame, and the lower ones are located under the upper blades and above the lower frame. A swashplate common to all blades, with one part with three rods, is located between the upper and lower blades to control the collective pitch, pitch and roll, and the other part, consisting of movable and stationary plates, is located on the upper frame and connected to the swashplate control unit installed above it. The drive for each rotor consists of a brushless DC electric motor placed on the frame, which is connected to the drive shaft via a gearbox, and two power supply units. EFFECT: increased operational and load-carrying capacity of the cluster composed of modular UAVs of helicopter type with coaxial rotors. 1 cl, 6 dwg

Inventors

• Shokhov Valerij Vladimirovich

Dates

Publication Date

20260505

Application Date

20250822

Claims (1)

1. A load-bearing system using helicopter-type unmanned aerial vehicles, which is a cluster made up of interconnected modules made in the form of unmanned aerial vehicles, characterized in that each module contains a body made of two rectangular frames located one above the other, connected to each other by two vertical posts, each of which is connected on one side of the frames with their crossbars of shorter length, in the central part of each frame an opening is made for the output of coaxially located shafts of rotation of quadcopter blades of the rotors, the upper of which are connected to a sleeve connected to an internal drive shaft, and are located under the upper frame, and the lower of which are connected to a sleeve connected to an external drive shaft, and are located under the upper blades and above the lower frame, a swash plate common to all blades with one part with three rods is placed between the upper and lower blades for controlling the collective pitch, pitch and roll, and the other part, consisting of a movable and fixed plate, is placed on the upper frame and is connected to the swash plate control unit installed above it, the drive group for the upper and lower blades is made of the same design and each drive from this group consists of a brushless DC electric motor placed on the frame, which is connected to the corresponding drive shaft through a flattened gearbox, and two power units of this electric motor, located on the frame symmetrically relative to the axis of rotation of the drive shaft, the drive on the lower frame is fixed on the rear side of this frame and is turned 180 degrees vertically and rotated 180 degrees horizontally with respect to the location of the drive units on the upper frame to balance both drives in the drive group relative to the axes of rotation of the drive shafts, wherein each frame is made on the side of the crossbar of shorter length with an extension, which are connected to each other on this side by the specified racks, and in the cluster system, every two modules in a horizontal arrangement are connected to each other by horizontally located rigid rods with a length greater than two radii of the rotor blade, which are connected to the vertically located said racks by detachable clamps for connecting intersecting pipes, and in a vertical arrangement, the said racks are connected to each other by detachable couplings for connecting pipes end-to-end.

Description

The invention relates to aircraft engineering and concerns the modular construction of clusters in which helicopter-type unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) or helicopter-type manned vehicles (MPVs) are connected to each other by rigid connections to increase load-bearing capacity. Within the framework of this invention, the issue of modular design is examined using the example of an ultralight helicopter-type UAV for both unmanned and manned versions. A helicopter-type UAV has multiple rotors and resembles a classic helicopter. Lift in this type of aircraft is also generated aerodynamically by rotating the rotor blades (or rotors). Virtually all UAV configurations and fuselage types found in manned aircraft are applicable to unmanned aircraft. The practical use of quadcopter-type UAVs for civilian purposes has demonstrated the potential for these aircraft to be used as flying vehicles for cargo transportation. However, these UAVs are structurally underpowered and unable to carry heavy loads, limiting their use as carriers. Today, increasing the load-bearing capacity of UAVs is achieved by connecting several aircraft into a single rigid system called a cluster. Such an example of the implementation of a load-carrying cluster based on a quadcopter-type UAV is described in US 2022144431, G05D 1/10, B64C 37/02, B64C 39/02, F16B 1/00, F16B 2/06, G05D 3/20, published 12.05.2022. This solution is accepted as a prototype. The well-known cargo-carrying cluster is constructed using modular units. Each modular unit includes at least four quadcopter-type UAVs of any design, housed within a frame shaped like a geometric figure with flat linear sides (triangle, square, hexagon, etc.). The UAVs, positioned within the frame, are attached to the sides to form a balanced structure. Within the cluster, the frames of the modular units are joined along the linear sides using special locking elements. The geometric shape of the modular unit frames allows for docking along the entire perimeter of the frame. Depending on the modular unit design, four or six quadcopters can be secured within the frame. One or more UAVs in a cluster act as leaders and control the work of other UAVs, which are classified as “workhorses”. Most toy drones or inexpensive drones with brushed motors can only support their own weight. Consumer drones can carry a payload of up to 500 grams. Professional drones can carry up to 10 kg of payload. The DJI Matrix 300 RTK professional drone can lift a maximum of 9 kg, the DJI Agras MG-1 drone can lift 8.8 kg, the Freefly Alta 8 drone can lift 18.1 kg, and the DJI S1000 drone can lift 6.8 kg. However, the increased payload capacity is directly related to the increased weight and size of the drone itself due to the use of powerful motors, large battery packs, and powerful propellers. However, such professional drones are limited in their applications and are considered expensive. Typically, standard drones with a payload capacity of up to 4 kg (for example, the heavy-duty DJI Inspire series drone) are used. But the operation of such drones is linked to the weight of the payload: the greater the payload weight, the lower the range and speed, since everything is tied to the capacity and weight of the battery. Using quadcopters for transporting heavy loads is impractical, as it requires addressing several operational and reliability issues related to the cluster as a supporting system. Cluster payload capacity is related to the increasing number of modular units: the more units in a cluster, the greater the payload that can be transported. However, increasing the number of modular units leads to an increase in the cluster's area and the occurrence of bending moments, as a large system in the airflow is subject to dynamic disturbances, especially in the wing sections. This means that the system of modular units begins to bend and flex locally. The integrity of such a system depends on the reliability of special locks connecting the frames. Another problem arises in that such large clusters require specially prepared surfaces/sites for landing/takeoff and loading/unloading. On such sites, the cluster cannot land directly on the surface; instead, it must have an elevated surface to allow cargo to be brought up from below after landing. The present invention is aimed at achieving a technical result consisting of increasing the operational and load-bearing capacity of a cluster composed of modular helicopter-type UAVs with coaxial rotors. The said technical result is achieved by the fact that in a load-bearing system using helicopter-type unmanned aerial vehicles, which is a cluster made up of interconnected modules made in the form of unmanned aerial vehicles, each module contains a body made of two rectangular frames located one above the other, connected to each other by two vertical posts, each of which is connected on one side of the frames with their crossbars of shorter length, in the central part of each frame an open