阅读说明：本技术 空中起降系统及空中起降方法 (Air take-off and landing system and air take-off and landing method ) 是由 郄新越 于 2021-11-03 设计创作，主要内容包括：本发明提出一种空中起降系统及空中起降方法,空中起降系统包含起降平台、多旋翼无人机以及控制单元；起降平台设置有传送带,传送带作为固定翼无人机的起降跑道；多旋翼无人机分别连接于起降平台；控制单元分别连接于传送带及多旋翼无人机,用于采集固定翼无人机的位置信息,并据此控制传送带及多旋翼无人机；其中,空中起降系统能够通过控制传送带沿与固定翼无人机飞行方向相反的方向传动工作,而供固定翼无人机降落,并能够通过控制多旋翼无人机带动起降平台,沿与固定翼无人机的起飞方向相同的方向飞行,而供固定翼无人机起飞。(The invention provides an aerial take-off and landing system and an aerial take-off and landing method, wherein the aerial take-off and landing system comprises a take-off and landing platform, a multi-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle and a control unit; the take-off and landing platform is provided with a conveyor belt which is used as a take-off and landing runway of the fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicle; the multi-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle is respectively connected with the take-off and landing platform; the control unit is respectively connected with the conveyor belt and the multi-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle and is used for acquiring the position information of the fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicle and controlling the conveyor belt and the multi-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle according to the position information; wherein, the system of taking off and land in the air can supply fixed wing unmanned aerial vehicle to descend along the direction transmission work opposite with fixed wing unmanned aerial vehicle flight direction through control conveyer belt to can drive the platform of taking off and land through controlling many rotor unmanned aerial vehicle, fly along the direction the same with fixed wing unmanned aerial vehicle's the direction of taking off, and supply fixed wing unmanned aerial vehicle to take off.)

1. An airborne take-off and landing system for enabling airborne take-off and landing of a fixed wing drone, the airborne take-off and landing system comprising:

the take-off and landing platform is provided with a conveyor belt, and the conveyor belt is used as a take-off and landing runway of the fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicle; and

the multi-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle is connected to the take-off and landing platform;

the control unit is respectively connected with the conveyor belt and the multi-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle and is used for acquiring the position information of the fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicle and controlling the conveyor belt and the multi-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle according to the position information;

wherein the airborne take-off and landing system is configured to: through control the conveyer belt is followed the direction transmission work opposite with fixed wing unmanned aerial vehicle flight direction, and supplies fixed wing unmanned aerial vehicle to descend, and through control many rotor unmanned aerial vehicle drive take off and land the platform, fly along the direction the same with fixed wing unmanned aerial vehicle's the direction of taking off, and supply fixed wing unmanned aerial vehicle to take off.

2. The airborne take-off and landing system of claim 1, wherein said take-off and landing platform is provided with a plurality of driving rollers through a plurality of fixed shafts, said airborne take-off and landing system comprises a plurality of pairs of said multi-rotor unmanned aerial vehicles, said plurality of pairs of multi-rotor unmanned aerial vehicles correspond to said plurality of driving rollers, and two of said multi-rotor unmanned aerial vehicles in the same pair are connected to both ends of said corresponding fixed shafts, respectively.

3. The airborne take-off and landing system of claim 1, wherein said take-off and landing platform is provided with a DPS positioning module for transmitting position information of said take-off and landing platform to a fixed wing drone.

4. The airborne take-off and landing system of claim 1, wherein said conveyor belts are wrapped around the top and bottom surfaces of said take-off and landing platform such that said conveyor belts on the top surface of said take-off and landing platform act as a take-off and landing runway for a fixed wing drone.

5. The aerial lift system of claim 1, wherein the multi-rotor drone is connected to the lift platform by a connection structure.

6. An airborne take-off and landing method for airborne take-off and landing of a fixed wing drone, the airborne take-off and landing method comprising:

providing an airborne take-off and landing system as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 5;

controlling the conveyor belt to work in a transmission mode in the direction opposite to the flying direction of the fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicle, so that the fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicle can land on the conveyor belt;

and controlling the multi-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle to drive the take-off and landing platform to fly in the same direction as the take-off direction of the fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicle so as to enable the fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicle to take off.

7. The airborne method of claim 6, wherein the transmission speed of said conveyor belt is less than the landing speed of a fixed wing drone.

8. The aerial takeoff and landing method of claim 6, wherein the flying speed of said multi-rotor drone with said takeoff and landing platform is greater than or equal to the takeoff speed of a fixed-wing drone.

9. The method according to claim 6, wherein during landing of the fixed-wing drone, the position information of the fixed-wing drone is collected, and when the distance between the fixed-wing drone and the lifting platform in the flying direction of the fixed-wing drone is less than a preset distance, the conveyor belt is controlled to operate in a transmission manner.

10. The airborne taking-off and landing method according to claim 6, wherein during take-off of the fixed-wing drone, position information of the fixed-wing drone is collected, and when the fixed-wing drone is more than a preset distance from the lifting platform in the height direction, the multi-rotor drone is controlled to hover or fly away.

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of unmanned aerial vehicles, in particular to an aerial take-off and landing system and an aerial take-off and landing method.

Background

The existing take-off and landing schemes of the fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicle mainly include two schemes, one scheme is a conventional runway running take-off and landing scheme, and the other scheme is a scheme combining catapult take-off and parachute landing. However, runway landing and take-off solutions have high requirements for landing sites, and require a straight and long-length runway. Moreover, the failure probability of the launch parachute landing combination scheme is higher than that of the runway sliding take-off and landing scheme, and damage can be caused to the fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicle. In addition, above-mentioned two kinds of take-off and landing schemes to fixed wing unmanned aerial vehicle all need accomplish on ground, cause the land to occupy, and can't realize nimble transition.

Disclosure of Invention

It is a primary object of the present invention to overcome at least one of the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art and to provide an airborne takeoff and landing system for a fixed-wing drone.

Another main object of the present invention is to overcome at least one of the above drawbacks of the prior art, and to provide an airborne taking-off and landing method for a fixed-wing drone.

In order to achieve the purpose, the invention adopts the following technical scheme:

according to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided an airborne take-off and landing system for enabling airborne take-off and landing of a fixed-wing drone, the airborne take-off and landing system comprising a take-off and landing platform, a multi-rotor drone and a control unit; the take-off and landing platform is provided with a conveyor belt which is used as a take-off and landing runway of the fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicle; the multi-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle is connected to the take-off and landing platform; the control unit is respectively connected with the conveyor belt and the multi-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle and is used for acquiring the position information of the fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicle and controlling the conveyor belt and the multi-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle according to the position information; wherein the airborne take-off and landing system is configured to: through control the conveyer belt is followed the direction transmission work opposite with fixed wing unmanned aerial vehicle flight direction, and supplies fixed wing unmanned aerial vehicle to descend, and through control many rotor unmanned aerial vehicle drive take off and land the platform, fly along the direction the same with fixed wing unmanned aerial vehicle's the direction of taking off, and supply fixed wing unmanned aerial vehicle to take off.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the take-off and landing platform is provided with a plurality of transmission rollers through a plurality of fixed shafts respectively, the aerial take-off and landing system comprises a plurality of pairs of multi-rotor unmanned aerial vehicles, the multi-pair multi-rotor unmanned aerial vehicles correspond to the plurality of transmission rollers respectively, and two multi-rotor unmanned aerial vehicles in the same pair are connected to two ends of the corresponding fixed shafts respectively.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the take-off and landing platform is provided with a DPS positioning module, and the GPS positioning module is used for transmitting the position information of the take-off and landing platform to the fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicle.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the conveyor belts are wound on the top surface and the bottom surface of the take-off and landing platform, so that the conveyor belts positioned on the top surface of the take-off and landing platform are used as a take-off and landing runway of the fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicle.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the multi-rotor drone is connected to the take-off and landing platform by a connecting structure.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an airborne taking-off and landing method for a fixed-wing drone, the airborne taking-off and landing method comprising: providing an airborne take-off and landing system as set forth in the present invention and described in the above embodiments; controlling the conveyor belt to work in a transmission mode in the direction opposite to the flying direction of the fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicle, so that the fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicle can land on the conveyor belt; and controlling the multi-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle to drive the take-off and landing platform to fly in the same direction as the take-off direction of the fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicle so as to enable the fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicle to take off.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the transmission speed of the conveyor belt is less than the landing speed of the fixed-wing drone.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the flight speed of the multi-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle driving the take-off and landing platform is greater than or equal to the take-off speed of the fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicle.

According to one embodiment of the invention, during landing of the fixed-wing drone, position information of the fixed-wing drone is collected, and when the distance between the fixed-wing drone and the lifting platform in the flight direction of the fixed-wing drone is less than a preset distance, the conveyor belt is controlled to operate in a transmission manner.

According to one embodiment of the invention, during the take-off process of the fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicle, the position information of the fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicle is collected, and when the fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicle and the lifting platform are greater than a preset distance in the height direction, the multi-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle is controlled to hover or fly away.

According to the technical scheme, the aerial taking-off and landing system and the aerial taking-off and landing method have the advantages and positive effects that:

the invention provides an aerial take-off and landing system which comprises a take-off and landing platform, a multi-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle and a control unit. The lifting platform is provided with a conveyor belt. Many rotor unmanned aerial vehicle connect in the platform of taking off and land. The control unit is used for collecting the position information of the fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicle and controlling the conveyor belt and the multi-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle according to the position information. Through the design, the fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicle can land by controlling the conveyor belt to work in a transmission mode in the direction opposite to the flying direction of the fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicle, and can fly in the direction same as the flying direction of the fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicle by controlling the multi-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle to drive the take-off and landing platform to take off the fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicle. Therefore, the fixed wing unmanned aerial vehicle can take off and land in the air, the failure probability is low, the fixed wing unmanned aerial vehicle is not easy to be damaged, the ground land does not need to be occupied, and the flexible transition can be realized.

Drawings

Various objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments of the invention, when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. The drawings are merely exemplary of the invention and are not necessarily drawn to scale. In the drawings, like reference characters designate the same or similar parts throughout the different views. Wherein:

FIG. 1 is a system diagram illustrating an airborne takeoff and landing system for landing a fixed-wing drone, according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a system schematic diagram of the airborne take-off and landing system shown in FIG. 1 when used for take-off of a fixed wing drone;

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating a method of airborne takeoff and landing, according to an exemplary embodiment.

The reference numerals are explained below:

100. an aerial take-off and landing system;

110. a take-off and landing platform;

120. a conveyor belt;

130. a multi-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle;

140. a fixed shaft;

150. a cable;

200. a fixed wing drone;

S1-S3.

Detailed Description

Exemplary embodiments that embody features and advantages of the invention are described in detail below. It is to be understood that the invention is capable of other and different embodiments and its several details are capable of modification without departing from the scope of the invention, and that the description and drawings are accordingly to be regarded as illustrative in nature and not as restrictive.

In the following description of various exemplary embodiments of the invention, reference is made to the accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof, and in which are shown by way of illustration various exemplary structures, systems, and steps in which aspects of the invention may be practiced. It is to be understood that other specific arrangements of parts, structures, example devices, systems, and steps may be utilized and structural and functional modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. Moreover, although the terms "over," "between," "within," and the like may be used in this specification to describe various example features and elements of the invention, these terms are used herein for convenience only, e.g., in accordance with the orientation of the examples described in the figures. Nothing in this specification should be construed as requiring a specific three dimensional orientation of structures in order to fall within the scope of the invention.

Referring to fig. 1, a system diagram of an airborne takeoff and landing system 100 of the present invention is representatively illustrated as it is being landed by a fixed-wing drone 200. In the exemplary embodiment, the airborne take-off and landing system 100 of the present invention is described as applied to a fixed-wing drone 200. Those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that many modifications, additions, substitutions, deletions, or other changes may be made to the specific embodiments described below in order to utilize the inventive concepts of the present invention in other types of applications, and still fall within the scope of the principles of the airborne takeoff and landing system 100 as set forth herein.

As shown in fig. 1, in the present embodiment, the present invention provides an airborne take-off and landing system 100 for implementing airborne take-off and landing of a fixed-wing drone 200, where the airborne take-off and landing system 100 includes a take-off and landing platform 110, a multi-rotor drone 130, and a control unit. Referring to fig. 2, a system diagram of an airborne takeoff and landing system 100 capable of embodying principles of the present invention as it lands on a fixed-wing drone 200 is representatively illustrated in fig. 2. The structure, connection and functional relationship of the main components of the airborne take-off and landing system 100 according to the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the above-mentioned drawings.

As shown in fig. 1 and 2, in the present embodiment, the landing platform 110 is provided with a conveyor belt 120, and the conveyor belt 120 serves as a landing runway for the fixed-wing drone 200. The multi-rotor drone 130 is connected to the take-off and landing platform 110 for suspending the take-off and landing platform 110 from the control and for driving the take-off and landing platform 110 to fly under control. The control unit is connected respectively in conveyer belt 120 and many rotor unmanned aerial vehicle 130, and the control unit can control conveyer belt 120 and many rotor unmanned aerial vehicle 130 in view of the above through gathering fixed wing unmanned aerial vehicle 200's positional information. Through the design, when the air take-off and landing system 100 provided by the invention realizes the air take-off and landing of the fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicle 200, the fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicle 200 can land by controlling the transmission belt 120 to work in a transmission way along the direction opposite to the flying direction of the fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicle 200, and the multi-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle 130 can be controlled to drive the take-off and landing platform 110 to fly along the direction same as the flying direction of the fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicle 200, so that the fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicle 200 can take off. Accordingly, the invention can realize the aerial takeoff and landing of the fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicle 200, has low failure probability, is not easy to damage the fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicle 200, does not need to occupy ground land, and can realize flexible transition.

Specifically, as shown in fig. 1 and 2, in the present embodiment, the lifting platform 110 may be provided with two driving rollers through two fixed shafts 140, respectively, and the two driving rollers may be used for arrangement and driving of the conveyor belt 120. On this basis, the system 100 that takes off and land in the air can contain two pairs of many rotor unmanned aerial vehicles 130, four many rotor unmanned aerial vehicles 130 promptly, and two pairs of many rotor unmanned aerial vehicles 130 correspond two driving rollers respectively, and connect respectively in the both ends of the fixed axle 140 that corresponds with two many rotor unmanned aerial vehicles 130 of pair. Through the design, the multi-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle 130 can suspend the take-off and landing platform 110 more stably and reliably. In some embodiments, the airborne takeoff and landing system 100 may also include three or more pairs of multi-rotor drones 130. Furthermore, the multi-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle 130 may also be connected to other positions of the lifting platform, on this basis, the arrangement form of the multi-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle 130 is not limited to the paired arrangement, but may adopt other arrangement forms such as the surrounding arrangement, and the number of the multi-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle 130 may also be less than four or more than four, specifically, the selection may be flexibly made according to the size and weight of the conveyor belt 120 and the weight of the fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicle 200 landing on the lifting platform 110, and the number of the multi-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle may be appropriately increased to improve the mounting capacity.

Optionally, in this embodiment, a DPS positioning module may be disposed on the landing platform 110, and the GPS positioning module can be used to transmit the position information of the landing platform 110 to the fixed-wing drone 200. Through the design, when the fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicle 200 needs to land to the air take-off and landing system 100, the real-time position of the air take-off and landing system 100 can be accurately identified according to the position information sent by the DPS positioning module, so that the fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicle 200 can select a flight path and adjust a flight attitude to land to the air take-off and landing system 100 more accurately and safely.

Specifically, as shown in fig. 1 and fig. 2, in the present embodiment, the conveyor belt 120 may be wound around the top surface and the bottom surface of the landing platform 110, so that the conveyor belt 120 on the top surface of the landing platform 110 serves as a landing runway of the fixed-wing drone 200. In some embodiments, the conveyor belt 120 may be disposed only on the top surface of the landing platform 110, for example, the support may be disposed around the conveyor belt 120 and disposed on the landing platform 110, and the disclosure is not limited thereto.

Alternatively, as shown in fig. 1 and 2, in this embodiment, the multi-rotor drone 130 may be connected to the landing platform 110 by a connecting structure. Wherein the connecting structure may be a cable 150. In some embodiments, the multi-rotor drone 130 may also be connected to the landing platform 110 through other connecting structures, such as a chain, or the multi-rotor drone 130 may be directly disposed on the landing platform 110, all without limitation.

It should be noted herein that the airborne take-off and landing systems illustrated in the figures and described in this specification are but a few examples of the wide variety of airborne take-off and landing systems that the principles of the present invention can be employed in. It should be clearly understood that the principles of the present invention are in no way limited to any of the details or any of the components of the airborne take-off and landing system shown in the drawings or described in this specification.

Based on the above detailed description of the exemplary embodiment of the airborne take-off and landing system 100 proposed by the present invention, an exemplary embodiment of the airborne take-off and landing method proposed by the present invention will be described below.

Referring to fig. 3, a flow chart of the air take-off and landing method provided by the invention is representatively shown. In the exemplary embodiment, the airborne taking-off and landing method proposed by the present invention is described by taking the application to a fixed-wing drone 200 as an example. Those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that many modifications, additions, substitutions, deletions, or other changes may be made to the specific embodiments described below in order to utilize the teachings of the present invention in other types of applications, and still be within the scope of the principles of the airborne takeoff and landing method set forth herein.

As shown in fig. 3, in the present embodiment, the method for taking off and landing in the air according to the present invention includes:

step S1: providing an airborne take-off and landing system 100 as proposed by the present invention and in the above described embodiments;

step S2: controlling the conveyor belt 120 to work in a transmission mode in the direction opposite to the flying direction of the fixed-wing drone 200, so that the fixed-wing drone 200 can land on the conveyor belt 120;

step S3: the multi-rotor drone 130 is controlled to drive the take-off and landing platform 110 to fly in the same direction as the take-off direction of the fixed-wing drone 200 for the fixed-wing drone 200 to take-off.

In this embodiment, as shown in fig. 1, the transmission speed V1 of the conveyor belt 120 may be slightly less than the landing speed V0 of the fixed-wing drone 200. Wherein, the landing speed V0 of the fixed-wing drone 200 can be understood as the speed of the fixed-wing drone relative to the landing platform 110 when just contacting the conveyor belt 120, at this time, the transmission speed of the conveyor belt 120 in the opposite direction is smaller than the landing speed V0, so that the fixed-wing drone can move forward relative to the landing platform to make itself finally fall into the range of the landing platform, and in the process, due to the transmission of the conveyor belt 120, the fixed-wing drone actually travels a longer deceleration distance, but the moving distance relative to the landing platform is smaller, thereby finally achieving the landing of the fixed-wing drone 200.

In this embodiment, for step S2, when the fixed-wing drone 200 needs to land, the multi-rotor drone 130 may be controlled to drive the take-off and landing platform 110 to fly to a designated position, and wait for the fixed-wing drone 200 to land at the designated position.

In this embodiment, for step S3, when the fixed-wing drone 200 needs to land, the multi-rotor drone 130 may be controlled to drive the take-off and landing platform 110 parked with the fixed-wing drone 200 to fly to a designated location, and then the fixed-wing drone 200 takes off at the designated location.

In the present embodiment, as shown in fig. 2, the flying speed V2 of the multi-rotor drone 130 driving the takeoff and landing platform 110 may be equal to the takeoff speed of the fixed-wing drone 200. The takeoff speed of the fixed-wing drone 200 is the speed of the fixed-wing drone 200 when the wings of the fixed-wing drone 200 are lifted off the lifting platform by the lift force of the air. In some embodiments, the flying speed V2 of the multi-rotor drone 130 driving the landing platform 110 may also be greater than or less than the flying speed of the fixed-wing drone 200, and when the flying speed V2 of the multi-rotor drone 130 driving the landing platform 110 is less than the flying speed of the fixed-wing drone 200, when the multi-rotor drone 130 driving the landing platform 110 to fly, the relative speed of its wing and air may be increased by the forward movement of the fixed-wing drone 200, thereby realizing the flying speed.

In this embodiment, the method for taking off and landing in the air provided by the present invention may further include the following steps: in the landing process of the fixed-wing drone 200, the position information of the fixed-wing drone 200 is collected, and when the distance between the fixed-wing drone 200 and the lifting platform in the flight direction of the fixed-wing airplane is less than a preset distance, the transmission of the control conveyor belt 120 works. In some embodiments, the transmission operation of the conveyor belt 120 may also be controlled when the fixed-wing drone 200 contacts the conveyor belt 120, and on the basis, a detection device such as a pressure sensor may be disposed on the conveyor belt 120, which is not limited to this.

In this embodiment, the method for taking off and landing in the air provided by the present invention may further include the following steps: during the takeoff process of the fixed-wing drone 200, the position information of the fixed-wing drone 200 is collected, and when the fixed-wing drone 200 and the lifting platform are greater than a preset distance in the height direction, the multi-rotor drone 130 is controlled to hover or fly away.

It is noted herein that the airborne take-off and landing methods illustrated in the drawings and described in this specification are but a few examples of the wide variety of airborne take-off and landing methods that can employ the principles of the present invention. It should be clearly understood that the principles of the present invention are in no way limited to any of the details or any of the steps of the airborne take-off and landing method shown in the drawings or described in this specification.

In summary, the present invention provides an airborne take-off and landing system 100 including a take-off and landing platform 110, a multi-rotor drone 130, and a control unit. The landing platform 110 is provided with a conveyor belt 120. A multi-rotor drone 130 is attached to the landing platform 110. The control unit is used for acquiring the position information of the fixed-wing drone 200 and controlling the conveyor belt 120 and the multi-rotor drone 130 accordingly. Through the design, the fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicle 200 can land by controlling the transmission belt 120 to work in a transmission way along the direction opposite to the flying direction of the fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicle 200, and the multi-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle 130 can be controlled to drive the take-off and landing platform 110 to fly along the direction same as the flying direction of the fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicle 200 so as to take off the fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicle 200. Accordingly, the invention can realize the aerial takeoff and landing of the fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicle 200, has low failure probability, is not easy to damage the fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicle 200, does not need to occupy ground land, and can realize flexible transition.

Exemplary embodiments of the airborne take-off and landing system and the airborne take-off and landing method proposed by the present invention are described and/or illustrated in detail above. Embodiments of the invention are not limited to the specific embodiments described herein, but rather, components and/or steps of each embodiment may be utilized independently and separately from other components and/or steps described herein. Each component and/or step of one embodiment can also be used in combination with other components and/or steps of other embodiments. When introducing elements/components/etc. described and/or illustrated herein, the articles "a," "an," and "the" are intended to mean that there are one or more of the elements/components/etc. The terms "comprising," "including," and "having" are intended to be inclusive and mean that there may be additional elements/components/etc. other than the listed elements/components/etc. Furthermore, the terms "first" and "second" and the like in the claims and the description are used merely as labels, and are not numerical limitations of their objects.

While the present invention has been described in terms of various specific embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that the invention can be practiced with modification within the spirit and scope of the claims.