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.:
Date of Patent:
Jul. 11, 2006
Filed:
Jul. 15, 2004
Scott M. Maurer, Haymarket, VA (US);
Ryan C. Brewer, Bristow, VA (US);
Larry D. Jackson, Manassas, VA (US);
Kevin J. Kofler, Bristow, VA (US);
Scott M. Maurer, Haymarket, VA (US);
Ryan C. Brewer, Bristow, VA (US);
Larry D. Jackson, Manassas, VA (US);
Kevin J. Kofler, Bristow, VA (US);
Lockheed Martin Corporation, Bethesda, MD (US);
Abstract
The illustrative embodiment of the present invention is a unmanned aerial vehicle that includes a sensing system for the detection and limited identification of biological agents. The system is small, light weight, requires little power to operate and uses few consumables. The system incorporates elements that enable it to obtain an air sample, extract particulates from the air sample and retain them on a stationary-phase collection media, exposes the particulates to electromagnetic radiation, and monitor the particulates for fluorescent emissions. To the extent that fluorescent emissions are detected and exceed a predetermined value, an alarm is triggered. In some embodiments, in addition to performing real-time analyses on the extracted particulates, the collection media is removed from the system and the sample is subjected to more detailed analysis via additional equipment. Various sample-collecting regions on the collection media are 'time stamped' or 'location stamped' so that it can determined when and/or where each sample that is being analyzed “off-line” was obtained.