The Boeing Company
Reconfigurable unmanned aerial vehicles for subsurface sensor deployment

Abstract:

Embodiments herein describe a reconfigurable UAV to allow for the deployment of a subsurface sensor. The UAV includes a rotor assembly that is slidably coupled to a landing base. The rotor assembly includes a plurality of rotors and a ring circumscribing the rotors. Upon landing, the rotor assembly rotates in a first direction with respect to the landing base, which reduces a spacing between the rotor assembly and the ground and drives a sensor coupled to the rotor assembly into the ground. To remove the sensor from the ground, the rotor assembly rotates in a second direction to increase the spacing between the rotor assembly and the ground. The ring and/or the landing base may include interlocking features such as helical threads that are utilized to translate a rotational motion of the rotor assembly into a linear translation of the rotor assembly along the length of the landing base.