US 11,851,162 B1
Unmanned aerial vehicle with capacitive sensor propeller stoppage
Nir Daube, Pacific Palisades, CA (US); and Simon Nielsen, Beverly Hills, CA (US)
Assigned to Snap Inc., Santa Monica, CA (US)
Filed by Nir Daube, Pacific Palisades, CA (US); and Simon Nielsen, Beverly Hills, CA (US)
Filed on Jan. 27, 2020, as Appl. No. 16/752,828.
Int. Cl. B64C 19/00 (2006.01); B64C 39/02 (2023.01); B64C 27/20 (2023.01); B64U 10/13 (2023.01); B64U 30/20 (2023.01)
CPC B64C 19/00 (2013.01) [B64C 39/024 (2013.01); B64C 27/20 (2013.01); B64U 10/13 (2023.01); B64U 30/20 (2023.01)] 17 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) comprising:
a propeller assembly including a propeller and a motor that turns the propeller, the propeller having rotation states including a first rotation state indicative of a first electromagnetic field and a second rotation state indicative of a second electromagnetic field;
a housing supporting the propeller assembly, the housing including an exterior conductive surface;
a capacitive sensor coupled to the exterior conductive surface, the capacitive sensor configured to sense a capacitance; and
a controller coupled to the propeller assembly and to the capacitive sensor coupled to the exterior conductive surface, the controller configured to monitor the rotation states of the propeller, set a capacitance threshold indicative of human touch on the exterior conductive surface to a first threshold when the propeller is in the first rotation state and to a second threshold when the propeller is in the second rotation state, detect the capacitance sensed by the capacitive sensor on the exterior conductive surface crossing the capacitance threshold set by the controller, and stop rotation of the propeller in response to the detected capacitance crossing the capacitance threshold indicative of human touch on the exterior conductive surface set by the controller in response to the rotation states of the propeller only after an initial start-up sequence in which the propeller is brought up to speed for lift off.