To put everybody in context, this is the very first idea that I had
in mind and since picture worth a thousand words,
here is the battery exchanger initial concept:
Grabber arms, battery casings, electrical connections
and some flip-flop action strategy mechanism.
Here’s some interesting development aspects in pictures ……….
What we are interested in is to have the incoming VTOL precisely
positioning itself so that the SWAPPER does its job.
The last 10 inches are the most critical for mechanical final touch down alignment.
This is the first concept attempt to mechanically guide de VTOL in place.
In this case, the legs are guided by the conical receptacles.
And then, the concept evolved to this:
Earlier initial mechanical contact with the deck increases
the correction capacity.
The awaiting charged battery is protected from
excessive VTOL derivation on the axes.
This is the last evolution of the deck concept that I came with
The arrow show the derivation slop.
In fact this set up permit a YAW mechanical correction of 90 degrees.
I’am ending this first development report with what is coming next.
Getting some factual datas on this last 10 inches of
pre-landing bumping activity.
Some pictures of the testing material:
