Patent ID: 11891166
Assignee: THE BOEING COMPANY
Field: Transport (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC B  Y | IPC B

Claim 0:
1. An aircraft comprising:
a frame including a wing;
a battery carried by the frame;
a thruster coupled to the frame;
a rotor coupled to the wing;
a motor operatively coupled to the rotor; and
a processor operatively coupled to the motor, the processor to:
cause the motor to operate in a first motor operational state, the rotor to operate in a first rotor operational state when the motor is operating in the first motor operational state, the motor to drive rotation of the rotor in the first motor operational state;
cause the motor to operate in a second motor operational state, the rotor to operate in a second rotor operational state when the motor is operating in the second motor operational state, the motor to refrain from driving rotation of the rotor in the second motor operational state, the motor to provide electrical energy to the battery in the second motor operational state, the rotor to autorotate in the second rotor operational state during flight of the aircraft;
cause the motor to operate in a third motor operational state at a time during which the motor is switching from the first motor operational state to the second motor operational state, the rotor to autorotate when the motor is operating in the third motor operational state, the motor to refrain from applying torque in the third motor operational state;
determine that one or more of a yaw, a pitch, or a roll of the aircraft is to be adjusted during flight of the aircraft; and
in response to the determination,
cause the motor to switch from operating in the third motor operational state to the second motor operational state during flight of the aircraft; and
cause the one or more of the yaw, the pitch, or the roll of the aircraft to be adjusted based on a thrust generated by the thruster when the motor is operating in the second motor operational state.