Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc.

Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha

Taewoo Nam

Yufei Zhu

Rikin Gupta

Umesh N Gandhi

Ryohei Tsuruta

Shardul S Panwar

Paul A Gilmore

Deborah Bumgardner

Xintong Deng

Eric W Smith

Yasuo Uehara

Yuyang Song

An actuator can include one or more contracting members and a clutch. When an activation input is provided to the one or more contracting members, the one or more contracting members contract, which causes the actuator to morph into an activated configuration. A height of the actuator increases in the activated configuration. The clutch can be configured to maintain the actuator in the activated configuration when the activation input to the one or more contracting members is discontinued. One or more processors can be operatively connected to selectively and/or independently activate the one or more contracting members and the clutch.

Contracting member-based actuator with clutch

An actuator can include one or more shape memory material members and an electrostatic clutch. When an activation input is provided to the one or more shape memory material members, the one or more shape memory material members contract, which causes the actuator to morph into an activated configuration. A height of the actuator increases in the activated configuration. The electrostatic clutch can be configured to maintain the actuator in the activated configuration when the activation input to the one or more shape memory material members is discontinued. One or more processors can be operatively connected to selectively and independently activate the one or more shape memory material members and the electrostatic clutch.

Shape memory material member-based actuator with electrostatic clutch preliminary class

An aircraft can include a wing. The wing can include a tip. A winglet can be pivotably connected to the wing proximate the tip. A connecting member can be operatively connected to the wing and the winglet. The connecting member can include a flexible material with a super elastic material member operatively connected to the flexible material. Thus, the connecting member can allow passive movement of the winglet responsive to real-time operational forces acting upon the aircraft. In some arrangements, the flexible material can be a fabric, and the super elastic material member can be a wire. In some arrangements, the super elastic material member can be configured to exhibit a non-linear stiffness profile. The non-linear stiffness profile can include a region of quasi-zero stiffness. The stiffness profile of the super elastic material member can be selectively varied, such as by controlling a temperature of the super elastic material member.

Winglets with passive aeroelastic tailoring

An aircraft can include a wing. A morphing member can be operatively connected to the wing. The morphing member can include a base and a shape memory material member operatively connected to the base. The base can be made of a flexible material. When the shape memory material member is activated, a shape of the morphing member can change. As a result, one or more aerodynamic characteristics of the aircraft can be changed. In some arrangements, the flexible material can be a fabric, and the shape memory material member can be a shape memory alloy wire.

Wing shape control

An aircraft can include a first wing and a second wing. The first wing can extend laterally from an aircraft body to a first tip, and the second wing can extend laterally from the aircraft body to a second tip. The aircraft can include a first end effector and a second end effector, each including a fore winglet and an aft winglet. The fore and aft winglets of the first end effector can be pivotably connected to the first tip. The fore and aft winglets of the second end effector can be pivotably connected to the second tip. The fore and aft winglets of the first and second end effectors can be independently operable. The first and second end effectors can be independently operable. A processor can be operatively connected to control movement of the fore and aft winglets of the first and second end effectors.

Wing tip control effector

A body can be configured to be selectively morphable. The body can be at least partially hollow. The body can include a surface. A shape memory material member, such as a shape memory alloy wire, can extend along the surface. The shape memory material member can include a first region, a second region, and a central region located between the first region and the second region. The first and second regions of the shape memory material member can be constrained on the surface, such as by stitches. The central region of the shape memory material member can be unconstrained on the surface. When activated, the shape memory material member can contact, causing the body to bend in the central region due being constrained in the first and second regions. Thus, the body can be morphed into an activated configuration.

Morphable body with shape memory material members

Systems, methods, and other implementations described herein relate to a manner of detecting kinking or other bending on a bendable structure. In one implementation, a bendable structure is configured to kink at different locations. First and second sensors surface-mounted antiparallel along the bendable structure have bending responses that increase with increasing amounts of bending, and that are increasingly sensitive along their lengths. The bending responses from first and second sensors are received at a first time and a second time subsequent to the first time. The formation of a kink is identified in response to identifying that the bending responses are indicative of unkinked bending at the first time and indicative of kinked bending at the second time. In response to identifying the formation of the kink, the location of the kink is identified based on the bending responses at the first time.

Bending and kinking detection apparatus and method

A dual-mode vehicle, wheels for the vehicle, and a method of transitioning the vehicle from a land mode to a flight mode. In the land mode, the method includes rotating a pair of spaced wheel arms about a central pivot to lower a body of the dual-mode vehicle to a ground surface. Each wheel arm extends from the central pivot to a wheel. The method also includes rotating the central pivot about a longitudinal vehicle axis to raise the wheel arms and the wheels above the ground surface. After raising the wheel arms and wheels above the ground surface, the method includes rotating the wheel arms about the central pivot to position the wheels for use as rotors in the flight mode. In the flight mode, the method includes rotating the wheels in order to extract rotor blades positioned within the wheels to extend beyond the wheels.

Dual-mode vehicle with wheel rotors

An aerodynamic lift enhancing system for increasing aerodynamic lift generated by a body of an automotive flying vehicle is disclosed. The automotive flying vehicle includes a vehicle body enclosing a passenger compartment and having an upper surface at least partially defined by a hood, a roof extending over the passenger compartment, and a front windshield disposed between the hood and roof. The front windshield includes a leading edge positioned proximate a trailing edge of the hood and a trailing edge positioned adjacent the roof. The automotive flying vehicle includes wings extending laterally outward from the vehicle body. The aerodynamic lift enhancing system includes an air discharge nozzle located upstream from the leading edge of the front windshield, the air discharge nozzle operable to discharge a stream of air over the upper surface of the vehicle.

Aerodynamic lift enhancing system for a flying automotive vehicle

A shape morphing fuselage and method of transitioning an aerocar from a land mode to a flight mode are disclosed. The fuselage includes a plurality of flexible frame members and tensile skin extending between the plurality of flexible frame members as well as an actuation system configured to bend the plurality of flexible frame members between a contracted configuration associated with a flight mode and an expanded configuration associated with a land mode. The fuselage can also include a hatch pivotable about an axis of one of the flexible frame members in the expanded configuration and configured to open for deployment and retraction of wings for the aerocar.

Shape morphing fuselage for an aerocar

A dual channel wing for an aircraft, comprising an inboard and an outboard portion, wherein each portion comprises a channel wing section. Each channel may include a propulsor and the propulsors of each of the channels may be offset relative to one another in the chordwise direction of the wing. The wing may be foldable upon itself about a chordwise axis such that the inboard and outboard channels overlap. At least one dual channel wing may also be located on an aerocar.

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Ann Arbor, MI, United States of America

Taewoo Nam