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Transformer & SP- Drone
(4 Patents/Applications) |
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Patent Portfolio (does not include provisional applications):
#1 US 10,589,838 Multicopter with Passively-Adjusting Tiltwing. Filed 10-Sep-2019. Issued 17-Mar-2020.
#2 US 11,186,367 Multicopter with Improved Propulsor and Failsafe Operation. Filed 06-Feb-2020. Issued 30-Nov-2021.
#3 PCT/US20/36936 Multicopter with Improved Propulsor and Failsafe. Filed 10-Jun-2020.
#4 PCT/US21/16392 Flat Plate Airfoil Platform Vehicle. Filed 03-Feb-2021. - see Article 34 Claims (above) identified as patentable.
#5 PCT/US22/14884 (addition of electric motor and new hybrid electric-fuel jet technology).
See Prototypes for proofs of concepts, HS-Drone, and Summary for further more details on Transformer and SP- Drones.
#1 US 10,589,838 Multicopter with Passively-Adjusting Tiltwing. Filed 10-Sep-2019. Issued 17-Mar-2020.
#2 US 11,186,367 Multicopter with Improved Propulsor and Failsafe Operation. Filed 06-Feb-2020. Issued 30-Nov-2021.
#3 PCT/US20/36936 Multicopter with Improved Propulsor and Failsafe. Filed 10-Jun-2020.
#4 PCT/US21/16392 Flat Plate Airfoil Platform Vehicle. Filed 03-Feb-2021. - see Article 34 Claims (above) identified as patentable.
#5 PCT/US22/14884 (addition of electric motor and new hybrid electric-fuel jet technology).
See Prototypes for proofs of concepts, HS-Drone, and Summary for further more details on Transformer and SP- Drones.
Path of Innovation - These patents are more than technologies, they are a new path and evolution in aerial platforms and related technologies. The following are the topics of independent claims (including the currently pending European patent application):
Towed Platform of Unlimited Upside Potential - HS-Drone's Towed Platforms deliver to the lead aircraft/tiltwing >4X more power than is needed to sustain their 24/7 flight. This translates to an essentially unlimited amount of energy to SP-Drone aircraft. And that energy is solar energy at less than 20% of the cost of solar energy on Earth's surface due to higher solar panel productivity in the stratosphere and the ultra-low cost of towed solar platforms. Here is the basis for these estimates.
Attainable power generation from a Towed Platform is 300-600 W/kg; which is a range between photovoltaic cells supported on a standard honeycomb array (150 W/kg) and the thin film photocell array (>1000 W/kg) (see Sprectrolab Inc.). The required thrust power (per kg) is acceleration (9.8 m/s2) times velocity (m/s) divided by L:D. At an L:D of 50:1 (i.e. half of 100:1 goal) and speeds of 360 and 720 km/h; the thrust power requirements are 20 and 40 W/kg; the provided power is >10X that needed (>4X is a toned-down factor and accounts for night time) to tow the platform. Since both weight and lift are evenly distributed, little structure is needed for flight; a structured shuttle aircraft can be used to take the platform to flight/altitude.
Opportunity - Most new aircraft are incremental changes to concepts known for decades, including the V-22 Osprey (bicopter) tiltrotor and the B-2 flying wing. Also, it takes too long and costs too much to commercialize these incremental changes.
The Disruption - Two patented/patent-pending advances are creating INCREDIBLE capabilities.
1) Transformer Drone performs safer and simpler transitions to more-efficient cruising configurations. For example, the V-22 targets transformation to a twin-prop plane while Transformer Drone targets transformation to aircraft like the D8 Double Bubble, having a > 100% increase in cruising energy efficiency with higher speeds. Correction, a >200% increase in cruising energy efficiency, because drones can have thinner profiles that do not require pressurized cabins.
2) SP-Drone is a lighter-weight, lower-drag, and and easily expandable method to collect solar energy on an aircraft. The solar energy collected per weight for SP-Drone's solar platforms is literally >300% more than possible with the increased wingspan approaches of NASA's HELIOS (and other) solar aircraft. Implications extend to dominance of freight and passenger transit as well as new stratosphere-based manufacturing.
Unprecedented - This project brings forth at least two (not one) disruptive technologies which are inter-related in two dimensions of innovation (transformations vs solar power enhancement). And those innovations are early in the patent protections, with 19 years of world-wide patent protection in the balance. These scalable innovations can be commercialized faster and better than ever before by early emphasis on kit/hobby/toy scale drone markets.
- A tiltwing that longitudinally aligns with a flat fuselage surface for form a flat, long, lifting body.
- A mostly thin/long platform fuselage being towed through a front hinge joint.
- An aircraft with a forward-extending arm attached to a front tiltwing(s).
- A failsafe landing method where a front tiltwing (alone) can achieve an emergency vertical landing.
Towed Platform of Unlimited Upside Potential - HS-Drone's Towed Platforms deliver to the lead aircraft/tiltwing >4X more power than is needed to sustain their 24/7 flight. This translates to an essentially unlimited amount of energy to SP-Drone aircraft. And that energy is solar energy at less than 20% of the cost of solar energy on Earth's surface due to higher solar panel productivity in the stratosphere and the ultra-low cost of towed solar platforms. Here is the basis for these estimates.
Attainable power generation from a Towed Platform is 300-600 W/kg; which is a range between photovoltaic cells supported on a standard honeycomb array (150 W/kg) and the thin film photocell array (>1000 W/kg) (see Sprectrolab Inc.). The required thrust power (per kg) is acceleration (9.8 m/s2) times velocity (m/s) divided by L:D. At an L:D of 50:1 (i.e. half of 100:1 goal) and speeds of 360 and 720 km/h; the thrust power requirements are 20 and 40 W/kg; the provided power is >10X that needed (>4X is a toned-down factor and accounts for night time) to tow the platform. Since both weight and lift are evenly distributed, little structure is needed for flight; a structured shuttle aircraft can be used to take the platform to flight/altitude.
Opportunity - Most new aircraft are incremental changes to concepts known for decades, including the V-22 Osprey (bicopter) tiltrotor and the B-2 flying wing. Also, it takes too long and costs too much to commercialize these incremental changes.
The Disruption - Two patented/patent-pending advances are creating INCREDIBLE capabilities.
1) Transformer Drone performs safer and simpler transitions to more-efficient cruising configurations. For example, the V-22 targets transformation to a twin-prop plane while Transformer Drone targets transformation to aircraft like the D8 Double Bubble, having a > 100% increase in cruising energy efficiency with higher speeds. Correction, a >200% increase in cruising energy efficiency, because drones can have thinner profiles that do not require pressurized cabins.
2) SP-Drone is a lighter-weight, lower-drag, and and easily expandable method to collect solar energy on an aircraft. The solar energy collected per weight for SP-Drone's solar platforms is literally >300% more than possible with the increased wingspan approaches of NASA's HELIOS (and other) solar aircraft. Implications extend to dominance of freight and passenger transit as well as new stratosphere-based manufacturing.
Unprecedented - This project brings forth at least two (not one) disruptive technologies which are inter-related in two dimensions of innovation (transformations vs solar power enhancement). And those innovations are early in the patent protections, with 19 years of world-wide patent protection in the balance. These scalable innovations can be commercialized faster and better than ever before by early emphasis on kit/hobby/toy scale drone markets.