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The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.

The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.

Patent No.:

US 11815911 B1

PDFFull Text
Date of Patent:
Nov. 14, 2023

Filed:

Jul. 26, 2021

Multicopter with self-adjusting rotors

Applicant:

Kitty Hawk Corporation, Palo Alto, CA (US);

Inventors:

Sebastian Thrun, Los Altos Hills, CA (US);

Benjamin Otto Berry, Mountain View, CA (US);

Assignee:

Kitty Hawk Corporation, Palo Alto, CA (US);

Attorney:

Van Pelt, Yi & James LLP

Primary Examiner:

Donald J Wallace

Assistant Examiner:

Jalal C Coduroglu

Int. Cl.
CPC ...
G05D 1/04 (2006.01); B64C 27/52 (2006.01); B64C 29/00 (2006.01); B64D 1/00 (2006.01); B64C 27/20 (2023.01); B64C 27/08 (2023.01); B64C 27/48 (2006.01); B64C 27/32 (2006.01); B64F 1/02 (2006.01); B64U 30/10 (2023.01); B64U 30/20 (2023.01); B64U 50/14 (2023.01);
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
G05D 1/046 (2013.01); B64C 27/08 (2013.01); B64C 27/20 (2013.01); B64C 27/32 (2013.01); B64C 27/48 (2013.01); B64C 27/52 (2013.01); B64C 29/0033 (2013.01); B64D 1/00 (2013.01); B64F 1/0295 (2020.01); B64U 30/10 (2023.01); B64U 30/20 (2023.01); B64U 50/14 (2023.01);
Abstract

A vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) vehicle that includes a flight controller and a rotor. During a vertical landing state, during which the VTOL vehicle is performing a vertical landing, the flight controller decides whether to switch from the vertical landing state to a self adjusting state and in the event it is decided to do so, the flight controller switches from the vertical landing state to the self adjusting state. During the self adjusting state, the flight controller generates a control signal for a rotor where the control signal causes: (1) the rotor to rotate during the self adjusting state and (2) the VTOL vehicle to stay in place during the self adjusting state, such that an occupant is able to enter or exit the VTOL vehicle during the self adjusting state.

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