US 12,330,783 B1
Weathervaning for hybrid flight aircraft
Michael Szmuk, Seattle, WA (US); Daniel Robert Hentzen, Seattle, WA (US); Marco Antonio De Barros Ceze, Seattle, WA (US); Raghu Venkataraman, Seattle, WA (US); Umut Zalluhoglu, The Woodlands, TX (US); Christopher J. McFarland, Seattle, WA (US); Simone M. Airoldi, Melrose, MA (US); Kyle W. Reeve, Melrose, MA (US); and Raymond H. Kraft, Seattle, WA (US)
Assigned to Amazon Technologies, Inc., Seattle, WA (US)
Filed by Amazon Technologies, Inc., Seattle, WA (US)
Filed on Dec. 10, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/548,054.
Int. Cl. B64C 39/02 (2023.01); B64C 29/02 (2006.01); G05D 1/00 (2024.01)
CPC B64C 39/02 (2013.01) [B64C 29/02 (2013.01); G05D 1/102 (2013.01); B64U 2201/00 (2023.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), comprising:
a plurality of propulsion mechanisms; and
a flight controller configured to, during hover flight of the UAV, at least:
identify a failure condition associated with at least one propulsion mechanism from the plurality of propulsion mechanisms;
determine, based at least in part on the failure condition, a preferred orientation of the UAV for the identified failure condition relative to a wind direction of a wind;
determine, without assistance from a wind sensor and based at least in part on feedback flight control information, an estimated wind direction, wherein the feedback flight control information includes flight control parameters used to counteract forces imparted by the wind on the UAV; and
generate, based at least in part on the estimated wind direction, a command to orient a heading of the UAV to align with the preferred orientation of the UAV relative to the estimated wind direction.