Abstract
The invention is a robotic bird that uses flapping flight for lift and propulsion. The bird has a body, two wings, tail and head with a beak in addition to on-board electronics and batteries. Each wing is controlled separately by four motors. One motor controls the flapping, one the angle of attack (wing tilt), one the degree of morphing and folding of the wing and one the horizontal motion of the wing. The tail is controlled by three servomotors, one for up and down motion, one for tilting and one for spreading the tail feathers. Thus, the bird has 11 degrees of freedom in total in its wings and tail. This design allows the use of evolutionary methods for teaching the bird to fly in a much more efficient way than has previously been possible.
Claims
1. A flying machine comprising a main body further comprising controllers and motors for moving movable parts of the flying machine, opposite wings pivotally coupled and extending from the main body, each wing further comprising three main parts, said main parts being: i) an innermost part corresponding to the humerus of a wing, ii) a mid part corresponding to the radius and ulna of a wing, and iii) the outermost part corresponding to the metacarpus, basal phalanx and the terminal phalanx of a bird's wing, each wing further comprising primary, secondary and tertiary (tertials) feathers supported by the three main parts of the wing, a head section, a tail section, characterized in that each wing is connected to and controlled separately by at least two motors, and in that the tail section comprises tail feathers on a tilting joint for moving the tail up and down, tilting the tail sideways and spreading the feathers.
2. The flying machine according to claim 1, wherein each wing is connected to and controlled separately by four motors, wherein: i) a first motor controls the flapping of the wing, ii) a second motor controls the angle of attack (wing tilt), iii) a third motor controls the degree of morphing and folding of the wing, and iv) a fourth motor controls the horizontal motion of the wing.
3. The flying machine according to claim 1, wherein each primary and secondary feather is made from an upper plate and a lower plate giving the wing an airfoil transection shape and where levers or beams control the direction of the secondary feathers keeping the secondary feathers parallel to the direction of the airflow.
4. The flying machine according to claim 1, wherein the feathers on the wings are artificial feathers that have an upper and lower plate that allows them to be folded into the adjacent feather and spread out from it again.
5. The flying machine according to claim 1, wherein the tertiary feathers are made of a cloth that can stretch or artificial feathers.
6. The flying machine according to claim 1, wherein the wings and the feathers are designed to allow the wings secondary feathers to be aligned to the body of the bird and thereby in the direction of travel, where the upper and lower plates of the secondary feathers maintain their position, relative to the direction of travel, all the way from a fully stretched wing to the folded wing.
7. The flying machine according to claim 1, wherein the tail section is controlled by three motors, wherein i) one motor controls the up and down motion, ii) one motor controls the tilting; and iii) motor controls the spreading of the tail feathers.
8. The flying machine according to claim 7, wherein the motors are servomotors or other electrical motors.
9. The flying machine according to claim 7, wherein the motors are controlled by an on-board computer system running a control software which controls at least the wing and tail motions, communications and sensors.
10. The flying machine according to claim 9, wherein an on-board energy source, such as batteries or solar cells power the system.
11. The flying machine according to claim 8, wherein the servomotors and positioning controllers for wing and tail control allow the wings and tail to move at a given speed and acceleration to a certain given position that can be varied in real-time by the on-board software operating system.
12. The flying machine according to claim 7, wherein the first motor controlling the flapping of the wings and the second motor controlling the angle of attack (wing tilt) are controlled separately.
13. The flying machine according to claim 1, wherein the motors of the flying machine comprise shaft encoders being read by servomotor positioning controllers.
14. The flying machine according to claim 1, wherein the electrical system of the flying machine further comprises attitude sensors, communication system, energy source, one or more cameras and other sensors, such as environmental sensors and navigation system such as GPS, attitude sensors, gyro and compass.
15. The flying machine according to claim 1, wherein the flying machine further comprises one or more computing devices for allowing the flying machine to learn new flying patterns.
16. A method for flying the flying machine of claim 1, wherein the wings are independently controlled and morphed such that wings can move freely in three-dimensional space.
17. The method according to claim 16, the flying machine has 11 degrees of freedom (DOF) and allows the use of evolutionary methods for teaching the flying machine to fly.
18. The method according to claim 16 the flying machine can take off from standstill and land without a runway.
19. The method according to claim 16, wherein a software for operating the flying machine keeps track of the wing and tail position at each moment.
20. The method according to claim 16, wherein the up-stroke and down-stroke of wing flapping can be set to arbitrary values within the limits of the mechanism.
21. The method according to claim 16, wherein the wing-tilt motor inside the bird controls the angle of attack of the wing relative to the flight direction.
22. The method according to claim 16, wherein each wing has 4 degrees of freedom, for moving each wing up and down, in and out for morphing, back and forth in a horizontal plane and tilting.
23. The method according to claim 16, wherein motors located in the upper arm of each wing, corresponding to the tertials of a bird's wing, control the morphing, folding and back and forth motion of the wing.
24. The method according to claim 16, wherein the flying machine controls each wing separately by the use of separate sets of electric motors for each wing.
25. The method according to claim 16, wherein actuators, levers or beams keep the secondary feathers in line with the body irrespective of the degree of folding.
Description
DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
[0071] The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given hereinafter and the accompanying drawings which are given by way of illustration only, and thus, are not limitative of the present invention, and wherein:
[0072] FIG. 1 is an overview of the bird, showing both wings, the body, head and tail.
[0073] FIG. 2 outlines the composition of the wings.
[0074] FIG. 3 is a view of the right wing seen from below.
[0075] FIG. 4 is a view of a half-extended wing seen from below.
[0076] FIG. 5 shows the arrangement for fixing and folding the Secondary feathers.
[0077] FIG. 6 is a view below the right wing showing the actuators used for moving the wing and feathers in and out.
[0078] FIG. 7 shows the Fingers part of the right wing.
[0079] FIG. 8 is a view of a primary feather seen from above.
[0080] FIG. 9 shows a secondary feather and its lower plate.
[0081] FIG. 10 is a view of a secondary feather seen from below.
[0082] FIG. 11 is a front view of a secondary feather.
[0083] FIG. 12 is a view of the right wing from behind the bird.
[0084] FIG. 13 is a view of the forearm (20) part of the Wrist joint seen from below.
[0085] FIG. 14 shows the finger's part of the wrist joint.
[0086] FIG. 15 shows the Tail Module attached to the inside frame of the bird seen from above.
[0087] FIG. 16 shows the Tail module of the bird in detail.
[0088] FIG. 17 shows the Tail-tilting mechanism inside the frame of the bird.
[0089] FIG. 18 shows the servomotor assembly of the right wing consisting of four motors.
[0090] FIG. 19 outlines the wing-flapping motor and the wing-tilting motor.
[0091] FIG. 20 shows the motors of the right wing exposed.
[0092] FIG. 21 shows a transection of a winglet or feather.
[0093] FIG. 1 is an overview of the bird, showing both wings, the body, head and tail. The figure shows the Primary feathers (1), the Secondary feathers (2), and the Tertials (tertial feathers) (3) or innermost feathers of the right wing. While the primary and secondary feathers can be printed using a 3D printer, the tertials can be made of a cloth that can stretch. This closes the gap between the Secondary feathers and the body of the bird. The body is composed of two shells (14) and (15), which cover the internal electronics and batteries. Tail feathers (13) take part in controlling the flight of the bird along with the wings. The tail can be moved up and down, tilted and the feathers can be spread and folded. The tail motions are controlled by three motors. The head (16) can be moved up and down and sideways by two motors. The lower beak (17) of the head can be opened and closed by a third motor. Rotating joints are located at the intersection of the three wing parts, i.e. Shoulder-joint (28), Elbow-joint (27) and Wrist-joint (26). Covers (10), (11) and (12) form a streamlined leading edges and also protect the feathers of the Fingers, Forearm and Upper arm. The leading edges can be slid off in case of damage or if a feather has to be replaced.
[0094] The embodiment of the wing shown in FIG. 1 has six feathers on the forearm, five on the fingers and a cloth or foil on the upper arm resembling tertiary feathers, closing the gap between the body of the bird and the forearm of the wing. A different number of feathers can be used without modifying the design or function of the wing.
[0095] FIG. 1 shows how the wings are composed of three main parts: a) the innermost part that corresponds to the Upper arm or humerus of a bird, b) the mid part that corresponds to the Forearm or radius and ulna of a bird and c) the outermost part that corresponds to the Hand or Fingers (Digits) of a bird's wing. This design mimics the skeletal system of a bird such as a seagull. Each of these parts of the wing have winglets that correspond to feathers of a real bird's wing. The size of the wings can be changed (morphed) as is the case for the wings of birds and they can be folded up to the body of the bird in a similar way as birds can. The winglets or feathers are made of plastic and can be printed using a 3D printer. The figure shows the Primary feathers (digits or fingers) (1); the Secondary feathers (2); Upper arm (22); the Tail with feathers (13); and the battery compartment (30). The drawing further shows the Positioning controllers (32) for the servomotors; the servomotor assembly inside the body (24), consisting of the Wing-flapping motor (33) and the Wing-tilting motor (34); the Shoulder-joint (28); the Elbow-joint (27), the Wrist joint (26); beam (18) holding the Primary feathers (1); beam (20) for holding the Secondary feathers (2); the wing-motor assembly of the wing, for wing-morphing and back-forth motion of the wing, motors (36) and (35); the Tail-hinge (61); the head (16) and the electronics compartment (31). Streamlined leading edges (not shown) are attached to the beam (18), beam (20) and upper arm of the wing. These leading edges also protect the feathers.
[0096] FIG. 2 shows how the feathers fold together. The feathers are slightly tilted so that an outer feather may more easily fold under the next inner feather. In addition, this arrangement closes the gap between the feathers on the down stroke and opens the gap on the up-stroke, thus reducing the power required to move the wing up. This is identical to the arrangement of the wings of real birds. The figure shows the Upper part of a Primary feather (1) and the Lower part (6) of a Primary feather. The fingers part of the wing, holding the Primary feathers, rotates around the wrist-joint (26). Primary rod (37) extends or retracts the fingers, thus spreading or folding the Primary feathers. The figure shows a Secondary feather (2) and the Lower plate of Primary and Secondary feathers (6). The Forearm and Fingers rotate around the elbow-joint (27).
[0097] FIG. 3 shows a half-extended wing seen from below, where most of the primary feathers have been removed for clarity. The leading edges have also been removed, displaying how the feathers are attached to the beam (18) of the Fingers section and the beam (20) of the Forearm of the wing. The Primary rod (37) moves the beam (18) of the fingers in and out, and thus its feathers, in accordance with the Forearm (20). The Primary rod (37) is connected to the rod holder (57), which is fixed to the Upper arm. The primary feathers therefore fold or extract when the rod (37) moves closer or further from the beam (20), in accordance with the wing when it is extended or folded.
[0098] FIG. 4 shows how the Secondary feathers (2) are fixed to the beam (20) on the pins (21) on the upper and lower side of the beam (20) and rotate around this pin. The feathers are snapped in place on the pins. The pins (42) of the Secondary feather lever (41) fit into a hole on the Secondary feathers around which the feathers rotate when lever (41) is pulled in or pushed out when the wing is folded or extended.
[0099] FIG. 5 shows the actuators used for moving the wing and feathers in and out. Items (53), (54), (55) and (56) are levers for moving the secondary feathers in and out and at the same time keeping them almost parallel to the body of the bird irrespective of the degree of wing-folding. Lever (53) is fixed to the shaft (79) of the worm wheel of the Wing-tilting motor and tilts along with the wing. Lever (54) rotates at the junction to lever (53) and also at the junction of lever (55) and lever (56). Lever (56) rotates freely around the elbow joint (27). Lever (55) rotates at the joint of Lever (54) and at the joint of the Feather lever (41).
[0100] FIG. 6 shows how the Primary feathers (1) are attached to the beam (18) by snapping them onto the pins on the upper and lower side of the beam (18). The feathers rotate on these pins when the wing is extended or retracted. At the same time the pins (42) of the Primary feathers lever (38) slide along the grove (8) in the feathers, controlling the folding of the Primary feathers. The actuators (39) and (40) control the degree of spreading of the Primary feathers. Actuator (39) is fixed to the beam (20). Actuator (40) rotates freely at the juncture of Actuator (39) and at the juncture of the Primary feather lever (38).
[0101] FIG. 7 shows the details of a Primary feather (1) and its Lower plate (6). The Fixing hole of feather (4) snaps on to the pins of the beam (18) of the fingers section. The pins of the Primary feather lever (38) slide inside the Feather slot (8) when the wing is folded or extracted thus folding or spreading the primary feathers. The figure also shows slot 76 for key to keep beam (39) fixed to the upper arm beam (20) and a rotating joint (43).
[0102] FIG. 8 shows the details of a Secondary feather (2) and its Lower plate (6). The Fixing hole of feather (4) snaps on to the pins of the beam (20) of the Forearm of the wing. The Feather rotary hole (5) of the Secondary feather mates with the Feather lever pin (42) of the Secondary feather lever (41) enabling the Secondary feather to rotate freely on the pin as the feathers are spread or folded.
[0103] FIG. 9 outlines the Secondary feather (2) from below. The drawing outlines the Lower plate (6) with a small supporting Feather rib on the underside for increased stiffness and strength. Supporting Feather ribs (7) on the underside of the Upper plate for increased stiffness and strength. Rotating joint for feather (4). The Primary and Tertial feathers also have the supporting ribs on their underside.
[0104] FIG. 10 shows a Secondary feather (2) from the front. The Upper plate (2) is tilted inward to facilitate folding of the wing. The Lower plate (6) of the feather with supporting rib. The Primary and tertial feathers have an identical construction.
[0105] FIG. 11 outlines the right wing from behind showing how the beam (18) of the Fingers, supporting the Primary feathers (not shown), is tilted with respect to the beam (20), supporting the Secondary feathers (not shown). This tilting enables the Primary feathers to fold under the Secondary feathers. The Primary rod (37) pulls the beam (18) in and out. Rotating surfaces (48) and (45) of the wrist joint (26).
[0106] FIG. 12 shows the Forearm Sliding part (47) of the wrist (26) of the beam (20) from below, indicating the tilted Sliding surface (48); the Wrist joint (26); and the Mating surface (52) joining the beam (20) of the forearm. The drawing further shows holes (51) for carbon fibre tubes for stiffening the beam (20) of the Forearm and Tabs (50) for joining the part to the beam (20). The Sliding part (47) may also form a single unit with beam (20). The Sliding surface (48), marked with 30 degrees and 5 degrees, can take on other values.
[0107] FIG. 13 outlines the Sliding part (44) of the wrist joint of the Fingers and sliding surface (45). See also FIG. 13 for further details.
[0108] FIG. 14 shows how the Tail module is fixed to the internal frame of the bird. The Tail hinge (61) on which the tail moves up and down and rotational joint for the tail (65) and (66).
[0109] FIG. 16 outlines the Tail module of the bird in detail seen from above. The drawing shows the Tail feathers (13) and the Tail crescent (58) holding the feathers in place by snapping them onto the Tail pins (59) of the Tail crescent (58). The feathers sit at different levels (60) on the Tail crescent (58) to facilitate folding the feathers such that an outer feather folds over an inner one. Folding and spreading of the feathers is controlled by a Servo motor (81) that pushes or pulls the Tail slider (62) in and out using the Servo horn (85). The Feather pins (64) slide along the Feather slot (8) of the tail feathers controlling the degree of spreading or folding of the feathers. The Tail is tilted up and down by the Servo motor (82). that rotates Servo horn (83), which in turn moves Servo lever (84) that pushes against the Tail hinge (61). The figure also shows levers (63) and 80 for moving tail feathers. Sideways motion is controlled by a servo motor inside the bird. See FIG. 17.
[0110] FIG. 17 shows the tilting mechanism of the Tail module, which is located inside the body of the bird. Servo motor (86) acts on the Tail tilting horn (68) thus rotating the Tail module. Servomotor (86) is fixed to Servo motor holder (78), which in turn is fixed to the internal frame of the bird. The Tail module snaps onto the tilting mechanism using pins (93).
[0111] FIG. 18 outlines the servo motor assembly of the right wing. The left-wing motor assembly is a mirror image of that of the right wing. The Wing-flapping motor (33) moves the wing up and down to an arbitrary angle set by the operating system of the bird and the corresponding servo motor positioning controller. Wing-tilting motor (34), controls the angle of attack of the wing by rotating the Shaft (79), onto which the wing is attached. Servo motor (36) moves the wing back and forth and also takes part in folding the wing. Servo motor (35) extends and folds the Forearm and Fingers part of the wing. The whole wing is folded or extended by using both servomotor (36) and servomotor (35). Motor housing (25) is attached to the frame inside the bird. Torsion spring (71) balances the wing in a horizontal position when power is not applied to the motors.
[0112] FIG. 19 outlines the details of the Wing-flapping motor (33) and Wing-tilting motor (34). The Wing-flapping motor (33) has a spur-gear (72) fixed to its shaft. The Wing-tilting motor (34) has a mating spur gear (72) fixed to its body and thus rotates along with the Wing-flapping motor shaft when the wing moves up and down. The shaft (73) of the Wing-tilting motor (34) is fixed to a worm-gear (74), which tilts the wing by moving the worm-wheel (75) and the shaft (79) onto which the wing is attached. Since the wing-tilting motor moves along with the wing, wing-tilting is independent of the wing position during wing-flapping. The software controlling the wing-tilting therefore does not have to take into consideration the position of the wing when setting the value of wing-tilting as would have been the case if the wing-tilting motor did not rotate along with the wing-flapping motor. Thus, the wing tilting motor can operate faster when commanded to change the wing tilting. The motors are controlled by positioning servomotor controllers, which sense the position of the motor shafts and thus the position of the wing.
[0113] FIG. 20 shows the motors of the right wing exposed. The motor housings have been removed for clarity. The shaft of the Wing-back-forth motor (36) is attached to a Worm-gear (74) that turns a Worm-wheel (75), which in turn rotates the wing at the Shoulder joint. This moves the wing back and forth but also participates in extending and folding the wing. The shaft of the Wing-folding motor (35) is also attached to a Worm-gear (74), which in turn rotates a Worm-wheel (75), which in turn rotates the Elbow-joint, folding or extracting the Forearm and Finger of the wing. The motors are controlled by positioning servomotor controllers, which sense the position of the motor shafts and thus the position of the win
[0114] FIG. 21 shows a transection of a single winglet and how it resembles an airfoil transection. In fact, when a plurality of winglets are arranged side by side on the wing of the robotic bird of the present invention the wing will have an airfoil transection. The orientation of the winglets on the wing is controlled by beams and levers, such that they are directed along the direction of the airflow, or against the airflow if looking from the leading edge to the trailing edge.
[0115] As used herein, including in the claims, singular forms of terms are to be construed as also including the plural form and vice versa, unless the context indicates otherwise. Thus, it should be noted that as used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” include plural references unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.
[0116] Throughout the description and claims, the terms “comprise”, “including”, “having”, and “contain” and their variations should be understood as meaning “including but not limited to”, and are not intended to exclude other components.
[0117] The present invention also covers the exact terms, features, values and ranges etc. in case these terms, features, values and ranges etc. are used in conjunction with terms such as about, around, generally, substantially, essentially, at least etc. (i.e., “about 3” shall also cover exactly 3 or “substantially constant” shall also cover exactly constant).
[0118] The term “at least one” should be understood as meaning “one or more”, and therefore includes both embodiments that include one or multiple components. Furthermore, dependent claims that refer to independent claims that describe features with “at least one” have the same meaning, both when the feature is referred to as “the” and “the at least one”.
[0119] It will be appreciated that variations to the foregoing embodiments of the invention can be made while still falling within the scope of the invention. Features disclosed in the specification, unless stated otherwise, can be replaced by alternative features serving the same, equivalent or similar purpose. Thus, unless stated otherwise, each feature disclosed represents one example of a generic series of equivalent or similar features.
[0120] Use of exemplary language, such as “for instance”, “such as”, “for example” and the like, is merely intended to better illustrate the invention and does not indicate a limitation on the scope of the invention unless so claimed. Any steps described in the specification may be performed in any order or simultaneously, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.
[0121] All of the features and/or steps disclosed in the specification can be combined in any combination, except for combinations where at least some of the features and/or steps are mutually exclusive. In particular, preferred features of the invention are applicable to all aspects of the invention and may be used in any combination.
