EXTENDED DURATION REGENERATIVE POWERED UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLE (UAV) PLATFORM
FIG2 is a perspective view of a UAV cluster configured according to the present aspects in-flight and delivering one or more payloads to corresponding delivery locations
FIG2 illustrates a UAV cluster 10 configured to perform a mission according to the present disclosure. Particularly, UAV cluster 10 is created to comprise a plurality of individual mission UAVs 12 and a plurality of core UAVs. The core UAVs include fuel storage UAVs 14 and propulsion UAVs 16. In one aspect, the creation of a given UAV cluster 10 occurs "on the ground" at one of the distribution points DP. In these aspects, the individual UAVs 12, 14, 16, for use in creating the UAV cluster 10 are selected and interconnected physically and communicatively while at the distribution location. The UAV cluster 10 is then launched to fly its mission, with the individual mission UAVs 12 detaching from the UAV cluster 10 to deliver their respective payloads to their respective destination locations DL. In other aspects, individual UAVs 12, 14, 16 may be launched from one or more of the distribution points DP and join an already existing UAV cluster 10 in-flight. In these aspects, the individual UAVs 12, 14, 16 are configured to autonomously dock with each other while in-flight and form the physical and communication connections.
perspective view
10
UAV cluster UAV clusters
20
frame
['1. An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) cluster (10) comprising: a plurality of mission UAVs arranged in a cluster, with a set of one or more mission UAVs being configured for controlled independent flight; and a plurality of core UAVs (14, 16, 30, 40) distributed throughout the cluster according to a selected distribution pattern that distributes the core UAVs according to a predefined mission characteristic of the UAV cluster.']