Patent ID: 11905005
Assignee: PURDUE RESEARCH FOUNDATION
Field: Transport (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC B  G | IPC B  G

Claim 0:
1. An unmanned ground-based system, comprising:
a chassis;
a plurality of wheels coupled to the chassis and configured to allow the chassis to move about a surface;
a plurality of propeller assemblies configured to provide on-ground motion, the plurality of propeller assemblies each having a propeller include i) two fixed propeller assemblies disposed on port and starboard which are coupled to the chassis and ii) a tail fan, wherein the tail fan configured to apply forces to thereby generate yaw control to enable smooth on ground motion;
a boom having a form of an elongated shaft extending from the chassis and having a boom propeller assembly with a boom propeller disposed on a plane generally perpendicular to the propellers of the fixed propeller assemblies, configured to independently and selectively provide positive and negative rectilinear thrust vectors; and
an end-effector coupled to a distal end of the boom, the end-effector having a force sensor configured to provide contact force between the end-effector and an object, wherein the contact force is used as a feedback signal to determine magnitudes of the positive and negative rectilinear thrust vectors that are generated by the propeller of the boom propeller assembly.