Patent ID: 11858632
Assignee: PARALLEL FLIGHT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
Field: Transport (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC B  F | IPC B

Claim 0:
1. A system for generating thrust at an aerial vehicle comprising:
a primary electric motor comprising a motor output;
a rotor coupled to the motor output and configured to generate a first thrust;
an internal-combustion engine coupled to the rotor;
an engine shroud defining a shroud inlet and a shroud outlet, and extending over the internal-combustion engine;
a cooling fan configured to displace air through the engine shroud to cool the internal-combustion engine and output a second thrust, from the shroud outlet, to augment the first thrust;
a nozzle coupled to the shroud outlet;
a nozzle actuator configured to drive the nozzle over a range of orientations; and
a local controller configured to:
access a target total thrust;
calculate a target rotor speed of the rotor based on the target total thrust and a component of a thrust output from the nozzle;
drive the primary electric motor to selectively output torque to the rotor or regeneratively brake the rotor according to the target total thrust;
adjust an orientation of the nozzle to direct the thrust output from the shroud outlet in one or more different orientations relative to the rotor;
adjust a throttle setpoint of the internal-combustion engine according to the target rotor speed; and
drive the primary electric motor to selectively output torque to the rotor or regeneratively brake the rotor according to the calculated target rotor speed.