US-12617510-B1 - Systems and methods for joining modules of airborne vehicles

Abstract

An airborne vehicle comprising modular elements and attachable components, including a male end adapted to join a single-piece female end by rotating the male end into the single-piece female end such that data bus terminals align and power bus terminals align. The vehicle can be assembled from these modular elements and components to meet desired mission and performance characteristics without the need to purchase specially designed vehicles for each mission. The joints connecting the modules are designed such that power and data connections between modules are reliably made.

Inventors

• Eric Seeley
• Jacob Snow

Assignees

• THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AS REPRESENTED BY THE SECRETARY OF THE NAVY

Dates

Publication Date

20260505

Application Date

20230710

Claims (20)

1. 1 . A connector for joining a first component to a second component in an airborne vehicle, comprising: a male end, comprising: a plurality of pins; a first data bus terminal; and a first power bus terminal; a single-piece female end, comprising: a plurality of slots sized for receiving the plurality of pins; a second data bus terminal, wherein the second data bus terminal is positioned on the single-piece female end to align with the first data bus terminal when the single-piece female end is joined with the male end by rotating the male end into the single-piece female end; and a second power bus terminal, wherein the second power bus terminal is positioned on the single-piece female end to align with the first power bus terminal when the single-piece female end is joined with the male end by rotating the male end into the single-piece female end.
2. 2 . The connector of claim 1 , wherein: the first data bus terminal further comprises a first terminal located at a first position and a second terminal located at a second position; the second data bus terminal further comprises a third terminal located at a third position and a fourth terminal located at a fourth position; the first power bus terminal further comprises a fifth terminal located at a fifth position and sixth terminal located at a sixth position; and, the second power bus terminal further comprises a seventh terminal located at a seventh position and an eighth terminal located at an eighth position.
3. 3 . The connector of claim 2 , wherein: the plurality of slots further comprise a channel for receiving and securing the plurality of pins; and, the first, the second, the third, the fourth, the fifth, the sixth, the seventh and the eighth positions are located such that when the male end joins to the single-piece female end by inserting the plurality of pins into the plurality of slots and rotating the male end to guide the pins in the slots: the first position aligns with the third position; the second position aligns with the fourth position; the fifth position aligns with the seventh position; and the sixth position aligns with the eighth position.
4. 4 . The connector of claim 1 , further comprising: a sealing gasket.
5. 5 . The connector of claim 1 , further comprising: a visual indicator for indicating when the first component is properly connected to the second component.
6. 6 . The connector of claim 5 , wherein the visual indicator comprises an LED.
7. 7 . The connector of claim 6 , wherein the LED is coupled to receive a signal from the first data bus indicative of a status of the first component.
8. 8 . The connector of claim 6 , wherein the LED is coupled to the first power bus terminal.
9. 9 . A connector for joining a first component to a second component in an airborne vehicle, comprising: a male end, comprising: a male thread; a first data bus terminal; and a first power bus terminal; a single-piece female end, comprising: a female thread; a second data bus terminal, wherein the second data bus terminal is positioned on the single-piece female end to align with the first data bus terminal when the single-piece female end is joined with the male end by rotating the male end into the single-piece female end; and a second power bus terminal, wherein the second power bus terminal is positioned on the single-piece female end to align with the first power bus terminal when the single-piece female end is joined with the male end by rotating the male end into the single-piece female end.
10. 10 . The connector of claim 9 , wherein: the first data bus terminal further comprises a first terminal located at a first position and a second terminal located at a second position; the second data bus terminal further comprises a third terminal located at a third position and a fourth terminal located at a fourth position; the first power bus terminal further comprises a fifth terminal located at a fifth position and sixth terminal located at a sixth position; and the second power bus terminal further comprises a seventh terminal located at a seventh position and an eighth terminal located at an eighth position.
11. 11 . The connector of claim 10 , wherein the first, the second, the third, the fourth, the fifth, the sixth, the seventh and the eighth positions are located such that when the male end joins to the single-piece female end by inserting the male thread into the female thread: the first position aligns with the third position; the second position aligns with the fourth position; the fifth position aligns with the seventh position; and the sixth position aligns with the eighth position.
12. 12 . The connector of claim 9 , further comprising: a sealing gasket.
13. 13 . The connector of claim 9 , further comprising: a visual indicator for indicating when the first component is properly connected to the second component.
14. 14 . The connector of claim 13 , wherein the visual indicator comprises an LED.
15. 15 . The connector of claim 14 , wherein the LED is coupled to receive a signal from the first data bus indicative of a status of the first component.
16. 16 . The connector of claim 14 , wherein the LED is coupled to the first power bus terminal.
17. 17 . A modular component for an airborne vehicle, comprising: a male end, comprising: a plurality of pins; a first data bus terminal; and a first power bus terminal; a single-piece female end, comprising: a plurality of slots sized for receiving the plurality of pins; a second data bus terminal, wherein the second data bus terminal is positioned on the single-piece female end to align with the first data bus terminal by rotating the male end into the single-piece female end; and a second power bus terminal, wherein the second power bus terminal is positioned on the single-piece female end to align with the first power bus terminal by rotating the male end into the single-piece female end.
18. 18 . The modular component of claim 17 , wherein: the first data bus terminal further comprises a first terminal located at a first position and a second terminal located at a second position; the second data bus terminal further comprises a third terminal located at a third position and a fourth terminal located at a fourth position; the first power bus terminal further comprises a fifth terminal located at a fifth position and sixth terminal located at a sixth position; and the second power bus terminal further comprises a seventh terminal located at a seventh position and an eighth terminal located at an eighth position.
19. 19 . The modular component of claim 18 , wherein: the plurality of slots further comprise a channel sized to receive and secure the plurality of pins; and the first, the second, the third, the fourth, the fifth, the sixth, the seventh and the eighth positions are located such that when the male end joins to a female end of a second modular component by inserting the plurality of pins into a channel of the second modular component and rotating the male end to guide the pins in the channel of the second modular component: the first position aligns with the third position; the second position aligns with the fourth position; the fifth position aligns with the seventh position; and the sixth position aligns with the eighth position.
20. 20 . The modular component of claim 17 , wherein at least one of the male end and the single-piece female end further comprise a sealing gasket.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO OTHER PATENT APPLICATIONS The present application is a divisional of, and claims priority to, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/974,043 (the Parent Application) filed Sep. 12, 2020 which claims the benefit of provisional patent application Ser. No. 62/973,045, titled: “Field Configurable Underwater Autonomous Vehicle,” filed Sep. 12, 2019. The complete disclosures of each are incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. The Parent Application also claims the benefit of provisional patent application serial number: 62/974,118, titled: “Magnetic Coupling for UUV Systems,” filed Nov. 13, 2019 which is also incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. The Parent Application is also 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 Parent Application is also a continuation in part and claims the benefit of design application serial numbers: 29/742,134 titled “Marine Vehicle with Shroud;” 29/742/130 titled “Marine Vehicle with Shroud and Lens:” 29/742,137 titled “Marine Vehicle with Shroud and Top Lens;” 29/742,129 titled “Marine Vehicle with Shroud and Top Continuous Lens;” 29/742,138 titled “Marine Vehicle with Shroud and Continuous Lens;” 29/742,132 titled “Marine Vehicle with Lens;” 29/742,135 titled “Marine Vehicle with Top Lens;” 29/742,133 titled “Marine Vehicle with Continuous Top Lens;” and 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 Parent Application is related to the following patent application serial numbers, each filed the same day herewith: U.S. application Ser. No. 16/974,039 titled “Field Configurable Autonomous Vehicle”; U.S. application Ser. No. 16/974,049 titled “Field Configurable Spherical Underwater Vehicle”; U.S. application Ser. No. 16/974,044 titled “Propulsion System for Field Configurable Vehicle”; U.S. application Ser. No. 16/974,045 titled “Method and Apparatus for Coupling and Positioning Elements on a Configurable Vehicle”; U.S. application Ser. No. 16/974,042 titled “Method and Apparatus for Transporting Ballast or Cargo in an Autonomous Vehicle”; U.S. application Ser. No. 16/974,040 titled “System And Apparatus For Attaching And Transporting An Autonomous Vehicle”; U.S. application Ser. No. 16/974,047 titled “Method for Parasitic Transport of an Autonomous Vehicle”; U.S. application Ser. No. 16/974,046 titled “Method and Apparatus for Positioning the Center of Mass on a Configurable Device”; U.S. application Ser. No. 16/974,054 titled “Optical Communications for Autonomous Vehicles”; U.S. application Ser. No. 16/974,048 titled “Buoyancy Control Module for Field Configurable Autonomous Vehicle”; and U.S. application Ser. No. 16/974,041 titled “Scuttle Module for Field Configurable Vehicle”; the complete disclosures of each which are incorporated herein by reference. BACKGROUND 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 fairly fixed once produced, devoid of new innovations and new capabilities. The mission specific nature of the designs also drives operator costs and limits operator mission flexibility. To perform a different mission other than the one originally intended requires the purchase of another vehicle designed for that purpose. Operators often purchase a quiver of expensive UUVs to ensure that there is at least o