ES2335632B1 - AUTONOMOUS FLIGHT SYSTEM WITH LASER. - Google Patents

Abstract

Autonomous laser flight system, consisting of of a ground crew (ST) and an aerial team (SA) well differentiated; said land equipment (ST) provided with means to feed the aerial team (SA) in addition to communicating with him of totally wireless way, transmitting with laser (L) the necessary power and information; and said aerial equipment (SA) provided with means to collect data and equipment power terrestrial (ST), and send experimental data to the terrestrial team (ST).

Description

Autonomous laser flight system.

In the current state of the art already known systems for energy transfer without wires; existing today basically two types of technologies for the transfer of it:

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Microwave transmission, preferred by the Japanese researchers.

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Laser transmission, preferred by the European Space Agency (ESA).

They are also known, and profusely used, signal transfer systems telecommunications without wires (some of which is described in, for example, Patents EP0711476, GB2082995, EP1031242 and EP1232579, among others).

Although no applications were found precedents that perform wireless transmission of power and data simultaneously, evidence has been found that it is Researching on technology. The wireless transmission of power can be achieved by microwave or by To be. Below are some known applications that have been developed for each of them and that can be include within the field of power and data transmission.

Microwave transmission

- Project "SHARP" (CANADA): The Project Sharp was first conceived in 1980. In September 1982 the Department of Communications of the Government of Canada approved a development and research program that used the concept of Transmission of electrical energy by means of microwaves. The front of waves was directed from a ground antenna, feeding a aircraft that was able to fly at a height of 21 km with a radius of 1 km.

On September 17, 1987, at the Center of Communications and Investigations, the first flight of the Sharp project with a 4.5 m wingspan model.

On October 7, 1987, the first took place public demonstration of the Sharp project before the Minister of Canadian communications and the press. The International Federation Aeronautics recognized it as the first flight of this class.

- Project "MILAX", MIcrowave Lifted Airplane Experiment (JAPAN): In this project, driven by Japanese, the same concept was used as in the SHARP project, that is, microwave energy transmission. The prototype is presented in 1992.

Laser transmission

- Project "Power in space by lighting from a station on earth ", Presented by the NASA in the 26th edition of Intersociety Energy.

Conversion Engineering Conference (USA): East system will reduce the mass of the power equipment that is carried to the space, because in periods of eclipse or lunar night the photovoltaic cells would be illuminated by a laser from a station located on earth. This project is in the phase of study.

- Project "Coded Optical Power System", Technology Service Corporation (USA): In March 2004 it was held a demonstration in the "Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center "of the ability to drive and transmit data by laser. The project is still under study today.

- Project "SPI", Solar Power Initiative (Germany): This project was presented in September 2003 by EADS Space. There was a demonstration of feeding a small robot using a laser beam. The project is still in phase today study.

The object of the invention is to apply this technology, achieve an autonomous system that flies without needing no energy or antenna other than that emitted by laser from a platform located on land.

The most important feature of this system is that you can fly continuously without the need for land on land to recharge your power system, put that the system will be fully powered from the ground.

A preferred, but not limiting, application of the autonomous laser flight system object of the invention is the aerospace sector.

The autonomous laser flight system according to the invention is characterized in that it consists of a ground team and a well differentiated aerial equipment; going:

to)

said ground equipment provided with means to feed the air team in addition to communicating with it, laser transmitting power and information necessary;

b)

said aerial equipment provided with means to collect the energy and data coming from the ground equipment, and in turn the collection of experimental data to send to the team land.

Both ground equipment and air equipment employees include subsystems to achieve specific purposes proposed; varying, where appropriate, the components of these subsystems for better achievement of the proposed purposes, without alter the essence of the invention.

The number of applications of this technology is infinity both in the aerospace sector and in the sector land.

Preferred, but not limiting, applications of the system object of the invention are, for example and among others:

- Geostationary Generator. Is innovative technology would serve to supply energy and communicate to anywhere on earth, even those that result inaccessible due to its geographical location.

The minimum number of transmitting satellites of energy to cover the whole earth would be three. With this number it would be possible to cover the entire globe. Thus, any user in need of energy or information in anywhere in the world would have direct access to it.

- Power between satellites: The system could supply energy or send information to any Satellite that needs it. You might even consider that in the future satellites will not carry solar panels, since they could Be supplied by this system.

This would greatly reduce the cost of satellites. and above all it greatly reduces the rate of failures in them, since that one of the most critical systems when you put the satellite in Orbit is the correct deployment of the panels. That stands out that if the deployment of the panels is unsuccessful, the mission completes It could fail.

- Supply from the Moon. The idea too it could be to place a power plant on the moon, although in this case the energy would be subject to the situation of the moon with respect to the land, and it would also be a huge cost launch of the panels to it.

The reason why it might be interesting is that in the polar regions of the Moon, both in its northern hemisphere as in the South, the sun's rays do not reach all areas, no It is therefore possible to generate electricity through of solar cells in all desirable places. This affects on everything to the craters, whose edges prevent the sun's rays get to the bottom of your cavity.

The use of wireless transmission of energy by means of laser radiation allows the use of lunar research robots to search for ice and, therefore, water in those regions. This is a fundamental condition for humans to live there in the future. But also the search for other subsoil riches and the analysis of the samples in situ are activities of the utmost importance.

The use of batteries causes serious inconveniences due to its size and weight, since its transport to the Moon originates high costs Moreover, the use of energy sources atomic in the form of small nuclear power plants raises large security issues. In turn, the teletransmission of energy by laser means allow you to prolong the duration of the missions, since it is not necessary to return to the base to recharge batteries

- Interplanetary Missions: You can also Consider using the mission system interplanetary (mission to Pluto), where the sun's energy is very faint. In this way, the probe that was sent could be supplied by a satellite that was in a high orbit of the Earth, sending the necessary power to the probe via laser. Besides that the Laser would allow a much faster communication than the transmission via antenna.

- Rovers. The system can be very useful when a vehicle is inserted in the planet (Rover). In this case the Rover neither would I need any type of energy plant since could be supplied by the satellite that orbited around that planet (Orbiter), thus reducing the failure rate in the solar panels, cost and complexity of it.

It may also be imaginable to work with more than One of these research vehicles. Two or three of them could form a "swarm". The vehicles of a swarm would be then interconnected in a power network. This means that each Rover is supplied with at least one neighbor by means of the laser power transmitter

- Space-base telescopes: Large modular telescopes in heliocentric orbits and several astronomical units of the Sun offer benefits to astronomers, impossible to get inside the solar indoor system (for example, absence of zodiacal dust, which interferes with examinations of infrared) Such telescopes could use wireless power to get the necessary energy on board and take care of the station of the modular elements of the telescope.

- Sensor systems connected to a network: Hundreds of tiny sensors receiving power from a satellite "mother" equipped with power transmission capacity wireless, can allow detailed reviews of regions interplanetary and spatial.

- Military Satellites: There could be a great military interest since spy satellites can be built less visible If satellites are not required to carry large solar panels (for example 30 meters), could be more difficult to discover from the ground or by interceptors.

- Commercial satellites. Small satellites commercials could be battery powered, recharging periodically from remote sources of energy.

- Satellite robots: The maintenance of satellites could be made using robots supplied by lightning To be.

- Satellite launch. Small futures Satellites can be launched using wireless power. This It would greatly reduce the expenses of any space mission.

- Autonomous sensors: With this technology you they will be able to build sensors totally independent of their source of power, being able to operate without wires indefinitely. A very useful example can be its use in wind sensors of wind turbines, where carrying cables inside the Shovels can generate serious problems in case of storms.

- Surveillance robots. Technology will allow have robots that explore enclosures continuously, recharging its batteries when passing in front of the wireless power source.

- Sending energy and data to mobiles. There is currently no possibility of transferring energy Wireless to mobile This ability could eliminate cumbersome adapters thereof, since it would be a universal system that exposing it to the wireless power source would allow its recharge automatically. You could even transfer the surplus energy from one mobile to another.

- Recharge laptops. As that in the case of mobile phones, the user could recharge their laptop simply by placing it in front of the power wireless

- Surveillance Systems: With this system you may have drones above our homes that acquire images and data of any anomaly that happens in our surroundings, recharging the aircraft so wireless

- Traffic control systems. It will be possible have planes continuously in areas where you want Control traffic and driver infractions. Currently helicopters are used whose hourly expense is huge.

- Coastal control system. Coasts they will be swept by drones continuously, controlling the entry of vessels to the port, infractions, or you kick

- System for aerial photographs. It will be possible include a high precision camera in the system to be able to take aerial photographs of houses, mountains, rivers, etc ...

To better understand the purpose of this invention, a preferred form of practical realization, susceptible to accessory changes that do not distort its foundation.

Figure 1 schematically represents the autonomous laser flight system object of the invention, with its ground equipment (ST) and aerial equipment (SA) interconnected by laser (L).

Figure 2 represents a block diagram with the main components that make up the different subsystems (21), (22), (23), (24), (25) and (26) of the ground equipment (ST).

Figure 2a represents the movement (N) in azimuth (A) and elevation (E).

Figure 2b represents an example of the design of the mechanical subsystem (21).

Figure 2c represents the way it affects the energy on the receiver of the aerial equipment (SA) to effect the Power transmission and necessary data from the ground equipment (ST).

Figures 2d, 2e, 2f and 2g represent operation diagrams of the control subsystem (22).

Figure 2h represents the modulation in frequency (FSK).

Figure 2i represents the phase modulation (PSK)

Figure 2j represents regions 3C1, where the laser beam (L) does not diverge (near field) and part 3C2 where the laser beam (L) diverges (far field).

Figure 2k represents the necessary diameter of the receiver with respect to three different wavelengths: 400, 700 and 1000 nm.

Figure 2l represents an example of embodiment, with low power lasers (L1).

Figure 3 represents a block diagram with the main components that make up the different subsystems (31), (32), (33), (34), (35) and (36) of the aerial equipment (SA)

Figure 3a schematically represents the block diagram of the control software (321a).

An example of practical, non-limiting embodiment of the present invention.

The Ground Team (ST) will be responsible for feed the Aerial Equipment (SA) using the laser beam (L), in addition to Communicate with the. The structure of the Ground Team (ST) is shown in Figure 2 and consists of the following subsystems:

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Mechanical subsystem (21), in which they will find the mechanical parts necessary to build the two axis follower platform (211).

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Control subsystem (22), in which find all the software (221) and hardware (222) needed to check the two-axis tracker (211).

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Receiving Subsystem (23), consisting of of the hardware (232) and software (231) necessary for receiving All information from the Air Team (SA).

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Transmission Subsystem (24), which consists of the hardware (242) and software (241) necessary to transmit power and information to the Air Team (SA) (aircraft).

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User Interface Subsystem (25), consisting of the software (251) necessary to allow the user easily and intuitively communicate position, speed and attitude of reference to the Air Team (SA). Also allows visualize the data coming from the Air Team (SA).

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Power Subsystem (26), which provides the necessary power (261) to the Equipment terrestrial (ST).

According to the embodiment shown, in the Mechanical Subsystem (21) of the Ground Equipment (ST) will meet the mechanical parts necessary to build the platform two axis follower (211). The mechanical subsystem (21) will have two degrees of freedom (can move in two axes), azimuth and elevation, This way, you can go to the Air Team (SA), provided it is in your field of view and after This last report grounded your position and speed. He movement (N) in azimuth (A) and elevation (E) will be done by two engines, one for each degree of freedom as shown in the figure 2a.

An example of mechanical subsystem design (21) may be the structure used in solar trackers with two axes (see figure 2b). Automatic followers have a central metal mast (21a) that supports a mobile support (21b), whose position varies.

The preliminary characteristics of the subsystem Mechanical (21) for this exemplary embodiment are:

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He center mast (21a) and mobile support (21b) will support the adverse weather conditions in the geographical area where install the Ground Equipment (ST).

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They must have perforations that allow the use of screws to anchor the systems necessary for the transmission of energy and data with the Aerial equipment (SA).

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The base where systems for energy transmission are supported and Data must be adjustable.

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The structure, metal surface and tortilleria will have a treatment Special to prevent galvanic corrosion and oxidation.

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He Total weight of the follower assembly must be balanced to Better performance

While the possibility of use other mechanical subsystems (21) that vary these characteristics, without altering the essence of the invention.

According to the embodiment shown, the Control subsystem (22) of the Ground Equipment (ST) will be responsible for orient the mechanical subsystem (21) towards the Aerial Equipment (SA). In the example described, this subsystem has been divided into two sets which are detailed below.

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- Platform Control Software

As described in the section Previous, the Ground Platform Control Software (221) will orient a laser (L) located in the mobile support (21b) of the mechanical subsystem (21), so that its energy affects the receiver of the Air Equipment (SA) and thus the transmission can be made of power and necessary data (as represented in the Figure 2c

This platform control software land (221) will have as input the position of the Air Team (SA) in the reference system of the follower platform itself. Depending on the position of the aircraft, the software will demand the position instructions appropriate to the platform's engines Ground equipment (ST) to be oriented until the error enters the laser address (L) and the receiver address (aircraft) be null.

The steps to follow to get the mechanical subsystem (21) point to the Aerial Equipment (SA) are the following:

one.

Set the azimuth (A) and elevation (E) angles of the follower (see Figure 2a).

2.

Transform the position of the Air Team (SA) in axes linked to the platform (azimuth and elevation).

3.

Calculate the error angle between the position of the aircraft \ vec {b} and the normal \ vec {n} of the follower.

Four.

Perform a check of the engines so they arrive to the required azimuth and elevation, making the angles error be zero.

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The output of the control system will be the pair or the intensity that needs to be supplied to the engines to Get to the right position. The control system consists of a PID, where your equation can be expressed as:

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100

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Where T engine is the torque supplied to the engines, \ theta_ {err} is the angle of error between aircraft position
\ vec {b} and the normal \ vec {n}, \ dot {\ theta} _ {err} is its derivative, and \ int \ theta_ {err} is its integral.

The control system has been simulated in Simulink to check its proper functioning (see Figure 2d).

With this model it is verified that for a 1000 second simulation, the system achieves very good control fine. Of course, both Azimuth and angle angles are varied. Elevation over time (see figures 2e, 2f, 2g).

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- Platform Control Hardware (222)

To be able to control the mechanical subsystem (21) it is necessary to have a Hardware of Ground Platform Control (222) that interprets the signal from Control generated by the Platform Control Software ground (221) and transform it into a physical signal (voltage, intensity) that causes the mechanical orientation of the system.

This platform control hardware Earth (222) will consist of the following components:

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Motors to mechanically orientate the Two axis system to the required position.

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Positioning sensors to know the exact position of the engines at every moment. To perform the control of the two-axis follower platform is necessary to know the position at all times of the engines. The position of the engines will be obtained using encoders, which can be install on the azimuth or elevation axes of the mechanical subsystem (21) or in the engines themselves.

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Control Electronics To perform the engine position control hardware may be required additional control of them (for example, a PWM signal generator).

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Microcontroller Control software of the ground platform (221) will be implemented within a microcontroller A possible microcontroller to use is the indart-HSC12 from Softect.

According to the embodiment shown, the Transmission subsystem (24) of the Ground Equipment (ST) is will be responsible for transmitting the power and communicating the data to Aerial equipment (SA) by means of a laser (L) of great power. This subsystem has been divided into two sets that are detailed to continuation.

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- Transmission Software (241)

Once the laser transmitter (L) of the Equipment Earth (ST) is aligned ("hooked") with the photovoltaic panels (receiver) of the Aerial Equipment (SA) can Start the transmission of power and data.

The Transmission Software (241) of the Equipment Terrestrial (ST) will be responsible for making the two transmissions desired (power and data).

- For power transmission, it will suffice with place a laser with the appropriate output power (Watts / m2), so that the necessary power reaches the surface of the photovoltaic panels of the Aerial Equipment (SA), taking into account the losses and deviations that may exist by the way. During the transmission of energy, it must be taken into counts the losses produced by the energy absorption of the atmosphere, the dispersion of energy produced by shocks between particles and other factors that will be studied during Project realization.

- For data transmission, there are several possibilities. The output light of a laser, known as the beam of the laser, is usually represented with a continuous beam that has energy constant. But in the case of laser communications, the beam It can be modulated in a suitable way to transmit information. This modulation can take the form of an amplitude modulation (AM), which alters the strength or energy of the beam, or a modulation of the frequency (FM), which alters the frequency or color of the beam, or a phase modulation that does not alter the energy or color of the make.

Modulation adds information to the laser beam so that it can be transported by the beam and transmitted to a distant place, in which it can be extracted and used. For example, a telephone conversation can be encoded in a laser beam modulated and sent to the other side of the U.S. or, under the sea, to Europe or Asia, where it can be decoded and heard in voice form

Modulation is a process in which a "modulator" changes some attributes of a "signal carrier "higher frequency in relation to the frequency of the "message signal".

The "carrier signal" can be represented by the equation:

101

A change in the signal will produce the change corresponding amplitude, frequency or carrier phase depending on the modulation performed. In analog modulation, a transmitter can send this carrier signal through the medium of communication more efficiently than if we send the signal single message. When the signal reaches its destination, a receiver will demodulate the signal obtaining the original message.

In analog amplitude modulation (AM) the carrier amplitude changes depending on the amplitude of the message to be transmitted

The signal with the message is mounted above the carrier since the amplitudes of the two vary with the weather. However, the carrier frequency is much higher than the frequency of the message

The digital modulation is very similar to the analog modulation, but instead of changing to continuous values of the amplitude (ASK), frequency (FSK) or phase (PSK) is changed only to discrete values of these attributes that correspond to the codes digital There are a few common modulation schemes digital, each varying separately set of parameters.

The simplest mode is called the "On-Off Keying (OOK)" (Modulation of all or nothing), where the amplitude of the carrier corresponds to two states digital A nozero amplitude represents a digital one, while than an amplitude of zero a digital zero. An application of OOK is The morse code.

ASK is a form of modulation by which signal amplitude is given by the equation

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one

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ASK then, can be described as the multiplication of the input signal f (t) = A (valid in digital systems) by the carrier signal. In addition, this technique is very similar to modulation in AM amplitude.

In the case of frequency modulation (FM) what is varied is the frequency of the carrier. Modulation in Frequency (FSK) is represented in Figure 2h, where you can Note that a certain frequency represents a binary value.

On the contrary, in phase modulation (PSK) what is modified is the carrier phase as shown in figure 2i.

The combination of phase modulation, amplitude and frequency gives rise to different types of modulation. TO throughout this project we will study which of them is the Optimal to use when transmitting data and power.

In redundant mode, communication with the Team Aerial (SA) will be carried out additionally using a radio modem, encoding the information analogously to the laser.

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- Transmission Hardware (242)

The Transmission Hardware (242) of the Equipment terrestrial (ST) will be formed by physical systems through which the Transmission Software (241) sends the power and data to the Air Team (SA). Transmission Hardware (242) They will form the following components.

- An amplitude, frequency or phase modulator to transform the information and send it together with the transmission of power.

- A high power laser (L) to transmit Energy and data

It should be noted that a radio modem will be used and an antenna as a redundant data transmission system with the Aerial equipment

It should also be noted that lightning in a Laser does not continue without diverging indefinitely. Even in the case of an ideal laser there is a divergence of the beam.

As shown in Figure 2j there is a region (3c1) where the ray does not diverge, (near field) and a part (3c2) where it diverges (far field). For long distances you can consider the (3c1) negligible, considering that the diameter that would be obtained at the receiver would be:

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2

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Where the is the angle of divergence, L is the distance to the receiver and D is the diameter that is obtained in the receiver.

The angle? Depends on the length of λ wave and ray radius when not diverging "r_ {ray}". Such that:

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3

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If we consider these equations we will have the Figure 2k using a beam diameter of 0.6 mm and lengths of 400, 700 and 1000 nm wave.

It can be seen in this figure 2k that for large distances of the receiver, distances of 500 km, and lengths 1000 nm wave, the effect can be considerable, since the diameter of the incident energy in the receiver will be more than 1 km. In the case of the system proposed this effect will not have great consequences since we are talking about distances small, but it is convenient to consider it when considering the transmission of energy from space to earth.

In the design of our system it is necessary also know the amount of energy that affects our receiver (Watts / m2). This energy is very simple to calculate, since if we consider that the effect of the atmosphere is negligible, can get as the laser power used between the Area in the one that distributes the energy.

Of all the existing lasers, they are going to consider different industrial lasers for the experiment, since which are the ones used for the powers that are expected necessary (> 300 W) and that can be used in a laboratory of trials. Each of them works with light of a length of determined wave, according to the following table:

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4

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Among the three options, the CO2 laser option, because the wavelength is not usable by commercial cells, and the laser of diodes In general, they have a lifespan of about 15,000 hours and a yield of 35%, superior to other technologies.

Because the current legislation does not allow radiation of excessive magnitude per square meter in open places, it has been considered to use instead of a single high power laser (L), a large set of low power lasers (L1). Each laser unit (L1) will not in itself exceed the energy allowed by the legislation and will therefore be totally harmless to humans. In this project of realization the beams will converge in a point (LP) of the space so that thanks to the sum of the energies it reaches the required levels. The energy convergence will be carried out by placing the low power lasers (L_ {1}) with the appropriate inclination on a base (B_ {1}) (see figure
2l).

For the embodiment shown, the receiving subsystem (23) of the Ground Equipment (ST) will be the responsible for receiving and demodulating information from the Aerial equipment (SA), obtaining the experimental data sent by means of a radio modem. This subsystem (23) has been divided into two sets detailed below:

The Receiving Software (231) of the Equipment terrestrial (ST) will be responsible for decoding the information transmitted by the Air Team (SA) to get the message original. As in the transmission subsystem, the signal from the radio modem will be modulated in amplitude, frequency or phase and it will have to be decoded to convert it into valid information. The type of demodulation will depend on the modulation chosen for transmit the information from the Air Team (SA) to the Team terrestrial (ST).

Once the original message has been obtained, the data will be presented in the user interface for subsequent analysis

The Receiving Hardware (232) of the Equipment Terrestrial (ST) will be responsible for converting information from the radio modem of Equipo Aire (SA) in signals electrical (voltage, intensity), so that they can be interpreted by the Receiving Software (231) explained in the previous point

The receiving hardware (232) is very simple, since it will be formed by a radio modem and a conventional antenna that It will connect directly to the Microcontroller.

It is included in the object of the invention to use photovoltaic cells of different materials to take advantage of the energy transmitted by the ground transmission system, in function of the wavelengths that they can take advantage of.

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The most common materials used in the photovoltaic technology for cell manufacturing are the detailed in the following table:

5

Of all the incident photons, only those that have an energy E_ {foton}> E_ {g} of the material will be capable of generating an electron-hollow pair, and by Both contribute to the generation of electric current.

6

being h the Planck constant, c the speed of light and λ the wavelength of the photon incident.

In view of the results, it is concluded that by means of a suitable combination of laser and solar cell, electrical energy can be generated from the incident beam of laser light. The most appropriate option, or the one that offers greater ease for the acquisition of materials, is a priori that of the binomial crystalline silicon solar cell and diode laser.

Since the solar cells will be mounted on the aircraft that is developed for the demonstration project, and that is important not to exceed its payload, it has been considered as initial idea of the experiment use silicon cells of concentration.

These cells, in their commercial version, are of Small size, not exceeding cm2. In addition, they present a Conversion performance higher than crystalline silicon normal (efficiencies of up to 27% compared to 15-17%), and allow incident light concentrations of up to 100 soles, equivalent to 10 W / cm2, compared to 0.1 W / cm2 of sunlight.

Once chosen the transmission technology and reception of energy, two possible solutions are contemplated:

one.

Use concentration silicon cells (commercial), and mount them on a structure that would be housed in The aircraft.

2.

Use commercial optics for the laser, achieving desired light concentration.

The choice of concentration cells requires further technical development to solve the problems of dissipation, positioning of small cells, development of the support structure, etc. For example, to get a concentration of 100 soles, a power density of 10 W / cm2. If the area occupied by the photovoltaic cells were of 0.1 m 2, an incident power of 1000 would be necessary W.

For the embodiment shown, the user interface subsystem (25) will be the software responsible for allow communication between the user and the subsystems of transmission and reception of ground equipment (ST). The GUI will be designed to make communication with the user easy and intuitive, so that the user can transmit the new coordinates of position, speed and attitude to the Air Team (SA), and at the same time view the data received in real time.

The GUI is divided into two parts, one will be the responsible for transmitting the guidance of position, speed and attitude of the new point or trajectory that the Team must follow air (SA) and another party will be responsible for receiving the position, speed and real attitude as well as experimental data obtained.

For the embodiment shown, the Power Subsystem (26) of the Ground Equipment (ST), will be the responsible for feeding all the ground equipment (ST) providing Enough energy to power all subsystems, in addition to supplying the energy necessary to use the laser and thus feed the Aerial Equipment (SA).

Therefore, the power subsystem (26) It is a fundamental system that is integrated into the Team Ground (ST) but that really feeds both the Ground Team (ST) as to the Air Team (SA).

The power subsystem (26) can be the own power grid, power generators, batteries or panels solar. Depending on the power consumption required, a system or other.

The Air Team (SA) (aircraft model aircraft) will be responsible for collecting all experimental data (pressure, temperature, humidity ...) and send them to the Equipment terrestrial (ST) to be analyzed.

The structure of the Air Team (SA) represented In the following figure 3 it consists of the following subsystems:

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Mechanical Subsystem (31). In this subsystem is included the prototype to fly (311).

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Control Subsystem (32). In this subsystem is all software (321) and hardware (322) necessary to control the aircraft.

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Reception Subsystem (33). In this subsystem is all software (331) and hardware (332) necessary to receive the energy and information from the Laser (L) of the Ground Equipment (ST).

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Transmission Subsystem (34). In this subsystem is all software (341) and hardware (342) necessary to transmit experimental and navigation data to the Ground Team (ST).

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Navigation Subsystem (35). In this subsystem is navigation software (351) and hardware (352) necessary to determine the status vector of the Air Equipment (SA) (position, speed and attitude).

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Power Subsystem (36). In this subsystem is the auxiliary hardware (362) needed to supply the aircraft, in case at any time it could not be Radiated by the laser.

The Aircraft Mechanical Subsystem (311) of the Air Team (SA) will be the prototype to be flown and, in this case, will be an aircraft model aircraft. The Aircraft Mechanical Subsystem (311) of the Air Equipment (SA) will be powered by the energy transmitted by the Earth Equipment (ST) laser, therefore the structure of this set will be covered by solar cells ( a priori concentration cells) that will transform that radiation into electrical energy to provide the necessary power to the electronic systems of the aircraft.

These cells will not only serve to receive power but also to receive the information sent from the Ground equipment (ST). Therefore, the aircraft will have to be modified with respect to an aircraft model aircraft conventional.

For the embodiment shown, the Control subsystem (32) of the Air Team (SA) will be responsible for control the mechanical subsystem (31) of the Aerial Equipment (SA).

The Control Software (321a) of the Aircraft Air team (SA) will be in charge of controlling the aircraft by means of data from the Ground Team (ST) (trajectory and attitude reference) and navigation data (real trajectory and attitude). The complete control system, in schematic form, is the one that has been represented in figure 3a, in which:

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The Dynamic (3a1) of the Aircraft will be subject to forces from:

?

 Acceleration gravitational

?

 Push due to the propeller of the engine

?

 Resistance Aerodynamics.

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He Guided (3a6) will be provided from the Ground Team (ST), sending the reference path (3a4) to the aircraft to follow and the necessary orientation of the aircraft.

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The Navigation (3a2) provides real information to the system from where it is find and how it is oriented (3a7) with respect to a system inertial

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He control system (3a5) calculates the actions to be followed by the actuators (3a3) so that the path can be followed reference (3a4) as precisely as possible.

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The actuators are composed of control surfaces that Orient the aircraft.

The Control Hardware (322a) of the Aircraft Aerial equipment (SA) will be in charge of executing the control signals generated by the Control Software (321a). The control of the aircraft is made by a series of servos that transmit movement to the aerodynamic surfaces of the model. Be They will therefore need the following components:

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Servos for aircraft control

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Electronics needed for the control

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Encoders to know the position of the servos

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Microcontroller

For the embodiment shown, the Transmission subsystem (34) of the Air Team (SA) will be responsible for transmit the data to the Ground Equipment (ST) through a radio modem This subsystem has been divided into the two sets that Are detailed below.

The Transmission Software (341) of the Equipment Aéro (SA) will be responsible for making the desired transmissions. The form of data transmission to the Ground Team (ST) will be exactly the same as explained in the corresponding section of the Ground Team (ST).

The data to be transmitted will be the data Experimental collected, in addition to position data, speed and attitude collected by the navigation subsystem hardware that will be explained in the corresponding section.

The Transmission Hardware (342) of the Equipment air (SA) will be formed by the physical systems through which the transmission subsystem (34) sends the data to the Equipment terrestrial (ST).

The Data Transmission Hardware (342) will be able to transform the information you want to send in the form of radiofrequency pulses

The Data Transmission Hardware (342) lo It will form a radio modem.

The Receiving Software (331) of the Air Equipment (SA) will be responsible for decoding the information transmitted by the Ground Team (ST) to get the original message. As that in the transmission subsystem, the signal will be modulated in amplitude, frequency or phase, and will have to be decoded to Turn it into valid information. The type of demodulation will depend of the modulation chosen to transmit the information from the Ground equipment (ST) to the Air team (SA).

The Receiving Software (331) will be a software specific whose task will be to extract the trajectory and attitude reference and introduce you to the Control Software (321a) of the Equipment air (SA) new input data.

The Reception Hardware (332) of the Aerial Equipment (SA) will be in charge of converting the radiation coming from the laser of the Ground Equipment (ST) into electrical signals (voltage, intensity) so that they can be interpreted by the Reception Software ( 331) in addition to using the incident power to power the Aerial Equipment (SA). The Reception Hardware (332) is very simple and will be formed by solar cells ( a priori concentration cells). It is important to note that the solar cells located in the Aerial Equipment (SA) will not only act as power receivers but also as information receivers.

Data reception is also done by radio modem link (as a redundant device) to ensure that in in case the reception with solar cells did not work correctly, the aircraft is still in contact with the Ground Team (ST).

The Air Team (SA) will be fed by placing solar cells attached to the aircraft that will transform the radiation received from the Ground Equipment (ST) in power to power the Aerial equipment (SA).

We must also verify that the cells solar will have a much higher efficiency when irradiated with laser that when they are with solar energy, since in this case you can choose the laser wavelength to be optimal for those cells. An example of the energy generated with respect to the Wavelength is known for GaAs cells, frequently used in space applications.

Solar cells will be arranged in the aircraft so that when it gets dark the aircraft can be fully powered by laser energy, and that when done during the day use both sun and laser energy (being able to increase the efficiency of cells by double).

For the embodiment shown, the Navigation Subsystem (35) of the Air Team (SA) will be the responsible for providing the aircraft with the position, speed and real rotation with respect to an inertial system. The aircraft you will need to know this data to be able to address the reference desired. For this you can use different sensors or systems.

It has been verified that the Navigation Hardware (352) that makes the plane as autonomous as possible is the INS (Inertial Navigation System), since they not only provide the system position and speed but also your attitude. He problem that usually exists with these systems is that it usually need an additional system (Global Position System GPS) to Avoid drifts over time. For the precise calculation of the height and speed of the aircraft with respect to the wind is have used static and dynamic pressure sensors respectively.

Integration of all GPS, INS and static and dynamic pressure sensors has been carried out in the Navigation Software (351) using a Kalman filter.

For the embodiment shown, the Power Subsystem (36) of the Air Team (SA) will be a security system that will be responsible for feeding the systems above mentioned in case due to any setback the laser does not It totally affects the device.

This system will consist of a battery and a power regulator, being able to be additionally charged when the Aircraft is under solar radiation.

Claims (7)

1. Autonomous laser flight system, characterized in that it consists of a well-differentiated ground equipment (ST) and aerial equipment (SA); going:

to)

said ground equipment (ST) provided with means for feed the aerial equipment (SA) as well as communicate with him fully wireless, transmitting with laser (L) the power and information needed;

b)

said aerial equipment (SA) provided with means to collect data and energy from ground equipment (ST), and send experimental data to ground equipment (ST).

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2. Autonomous laser flight system according to claim 1, characterized in that the ground equipment (ST) includes at least:

to)

a terrestrial mechanical subsystem (21) with the parts mechanics necessary to constitute a two-follower platform shafts (211);

b)

a ground control subsystem (22) with all the software (221) and hardware (222) necessary to control said two-axis follower platform (211);

C)

a ground reception subsystem (23); with everything the software (231) and hardware (232) necessary for receiving all information from the aircraft (SA);

d)

a ground transmission subsystem (24), with all the software (241) and hardware (242) necessary to transmit power and information to the aircraft (SA);

and)

a terrestrial interface subsystem (25), with all the software (251) necessary to allow the user, easy and intuitively communicate the position, speed and attitude of reference to the aircraft (SA), as well as visualize the data coming from her;

F)

a ground feeding subsystem (26) with, at less, a power supply (261) that provides energy necessary for at least one laser (L) that transmits (n) to the aircraft (SA) the necessary power and information.

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3. Autonomous laser flight system according to claim 1, characterized in that the aerial equipment (SA) includes at least:

to)

an aerial mechanical subsystem (31) that encompasses a aircraft (311)

b)

an air control subsystem (32) with all the software (321a) and hardware (322a) needed to control, the cited aircraft (311).

C)

an air reception subsystem (33), with all the software (331) and hardware (332) necessary to receive the power e information from the laser (L), with all the hardware necessary to communicate the ship in case at any time it could not communicate with the laser (L);

d)

an air transmission subsystem (34), with all the software (341) and hardware (342) necessary to transmit the data experimental and navigation to ground equipment (ST);

and)

an air navigation subsystem (35), with all the hardware (352) and software (351) necessary to determine the vector of air equipment status (SA) (position, speed and attitude);

F)

an air supply subsystem (36), with everything the hardware (362) necessary to supply the aircraft (311) if in sometime it could not be radiated directly from the laser (L).

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4. Autonomous laser flight system according to claim 3, characterized in that, in particular, said data transmission hardware is a radio modem. 5. Autonomous laser flight system according to claim 1, characterized in that, in particular, said aerial equipment (SA) is an aircraft model aircraft. 6. Autonomous laser flight system according to claim 2, characterized in that, in particular, the terrestrial power subsystem (26) consists of a plurality of low power lasers (L1) arranged on a base (B1) ) with the appropriate inclination so that your beams converge at a point (LP) of space so that the sum of energies reaches the required levels. 7. Autonomous laser flight system according to claim 3, characterized in that said reception hardware (332) is formed by solar cells (particularly concentration cells), and an auxiliary system formed by a radio modem.