480results about "Portable landing pads" patented technology

Systems and methods are provided for swapping the battery on an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The UAV may be able to identify and land on an energy provision station autonomously. The UAV may take off and / or land on the energy provision station. The UAV may communicate with the energy provision station. The energy provision station may store and charge batteries for use on a UAV.

Systems and methods are provided for swapping the battery on an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The UAV may be able to identify and land on an energy provision station autonomously. The UAV may take off and / or land on the energy provision station. The UAV may communicate with the energy provision station. The energy provision station may store and charge batteries for use on a UAV.

An apparatus and method of charging and housing of an unmanned vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft is disclosed. The apparatus includes an accommodator to accommodate an aircraft, a landing platform on which the aircraft lands, a housing portion to monitor state data by housing or charging the aircraft, and a sensor to assist in landing of the aircraft by allowing the aircraft to communicate with the apparatus. The apparatus enhances operational efficiency by reducing a travel time of the aircraft.

Systems and methods are provided for swapping the battery on an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) while providing continuous power to at least one system on the UAV. The UAV may be able to identify and land on an energy provision station autonomously. The UAV may take off and / or land on the energy provision station. The UAV may communicate with the energy provision station. The energy provision station may store and charge batteries for use on a UAV. The UAV and / or the energy provision station may have a backup energy source to provide continuous power to the UAV.

An apparatus comprises a base vehicle, a takeoff and landing system, a rack system, a refueling system associated with the base vehicle, and a controller. The rack system comprises a group of racks with slots in which the slots receive unmanned aerial vehicles, provide refueling connections that facilitate refueling of the unmanned aerial vehicles located in the slots, and provide data connections that facilitate data transmission with the unmanned aerial vehicles located in the slots. The refueling system refuels an unmanned aerial vehicle located in a slot using a refueling connection in the refueling connections. The controller communicates with the unmanned aerial vehicle using a data connection and control the refueling of the unmanned aerial vehicles by the refueling system while the unmanned aerial vehicle is in the slot, enabling exchanging data with the unmanned aerial vehicle and the refueling of the unmanned aerial vehicle simultaneously.

An Aerodrome providing safe storage for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) that includes an enclosure to protect UAVs from the elements (weather). The Aerodrome includes an enclosure, a foldable flight deck, a service interface, and a telescoping video and audio feed unit. The aerodrome can be remotely operated, and can be mounted on a roof of a structure or vehicle, allowing a completely automated service of the UAV without the need of a person being physically present in the vicinity of the UAV.

An Automatic Service Station Facility (ASSF) for replenishing various motivational energy sources onboard different types of AUV, Drones, and Remotely Controlled (RC) or robotic vehicles is disclosed herein. In one embodiment, the automatic service station facility includes a rack, replaceable fuel tanks, a service module, and an electronic computer control system. The replaceable fuel tanks are stocked on the rack and substantially filled with various fluids which are utile as motivational energy sources within fuel-operated vehicles. The service module is mounted on the rack, and the electronic computer control system is connected in electrical communication with the service module. In this configuration, the service module is controllably operable to receive a depleted replaceable fuel tank from a fuel-operated vehicle and also selectively deliver one of the filled replaceable fuel tanks onboard the vehicle. In another embodiment, the service station facility may also stock replaceable batteries for selective delivery onboard battery-operated vehicles. In another embodiment, the ASSF is self-propelled, remotely controlled, and solar powered, being able to move long distances to remote locations which may be hazardous to humans, such as disaster zones or battle fields, where the ASSF can service AUV, Drones, and Remotely Controlled (RC) or robotic vehicles needed for the particular applications. Alternatively, the solar powered ASSF can be made to move continuously and service vehicles continuously for long duration operations like herding cattle for example.

A drone receiving system having a tray configured to function as a landing pad for the drone delivering a package as well as a nest for the package, wherein the tray is associated with at least a mounting arm for mounting the drone receiving system to an outside of a structure, wherein the at least a mounting arm is expandable to move the tray away from the structure, so that the drone can deliver the package without being obstructed by the structure, and wherein the at least a mounting arm is retractable to move the tray after package delivery toward the structure, so that the package can be unloaded from the tray from inside the structure.

Many different types of systems are utilized or tasks are performed in a marine environment. The present invention provides various configurations of unmanned vehicles, or drones, that can be operated and / or controlled for such systems or tasks. One or more unmanned vehicles can be integrated with a dedicated marine electronic device of a marine vessel for autonomous control and operation. Additionally or alternatively, the unmanned vehicle can be manually remote operated during use in the marine environment. Such unmanned vehicles can be utilized in many different marine environment systems or tasks, including, for example, navigation, sonar, radar, search and rescue, video streaming, alert functionality, among many others. However, as contemplated by the present invention, the marine environment provides many unique challenges that may be accounted for with operation and control of an unmanned vehicle.

Systems and methods are provided for swapping the battery on an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) while providing continuous power to at least one system on the UAV. The UAV may be able to identify and land on an energy provision station autonomously. The UAV may take off and / or land on the energy provision station. The UAV may communicate with the energy provision station. The energy provision station may store and charge batteries for use on a UAV. The UAV and / or the energy provision station may have a backup energy source to provide continuous power to the UAV.

A docking station for an aircraft includes a base portion and an alignment system disposed on the base portion configured to orient the aircraft relative to the base portion. The alignment system can include a plurality of protrusions extending away from the base portion in a vertical direction. The plurality of protrusions can extend away from the base portion in both the vertical direction and a horizontal direction such that the protrusions can extend from the base portion at an angle.

Unmanned aerial vehicle docking systems and methods are presented herein. A UAV may hover in a hovering position above a docking pad of the UAV docking system based on positioning measurements. An on-board camera may image a machine-readable code present on the docking pad. The hovering position of the UAV above the docking pad may be adjusted based on imaging of the machine-readable code and ranging measurements to the docking pad. A tether can be extended from the UAV towards the docking pad. The hovering position of the UAV and extension of the tether can be adjusted such that a mating device present on a distal end of the tether engages with a coupling device of the UAV docking pad. The tether may be reeled in to the UAV to assist in lowering the UAV from the hovering position to a landing position on the docking pad.

A reconfigurable system capable of autonomously exchanging material from unmanned vehicles of various types and sizes. The system comprises an environmental enclosure, a landing area, a universal mechanical system to load and unload material from the unmanned vehicle, and a central processor that manages the aforementioned tasks. The landing area may comprise a one or more visible or non-visible markers / emitters capable of generating composite images to assist in landing the unmanned vehicle upon the reconfigurable, autonomous system.

An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) delivery system, for delivering articles between UAV zones has a computing system having a non-transient memory with executable instructions, the executable instructions including a flight management system to receive at a portal a delivery request to deliver an article from one zone to another. The Instructions are operable: to assign a UAV to the delivery request; if a UAV is not at a first zone, to dispatch a UAV to the first zone; to provide a flight path to the UAV,I at least part of the flight path being predetermined; to communicate the UAV flight path to the UAV; and to monitor the flight of the UAV from the first zone to the second zone and the delivery of the article. A method of planning a route for an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is also provided.

The invention discloses an unmanned aerial vehicle parking garage and belongs to the technical field of unmanned aerial vehicle landing assistance. The unmanned aerial vehicle parking garage comprisesa controller, a parking apron and an automatic charging device controlled by the controller. The automatic charging device comprises a pair of clamping pressing components. Each clamping pressing component comprises multiple clamping claws for clamping and pressing transverse rods or supporting feet of an unmanned aerial vehicle undercarriage, a walking mechanism driving the clamping claws to move, an actuator driving the walking mechanism to move so as to move the clamping claws between clamping pressing charging positions and releasing positions and charging electrodes fixedly arranged on the clamping claws. By the adoption of the provided unmanned aerial vehicle parking garage, landing assistance is provided for an unmanned aerial vehicle, and meanwhile, the unmanned aerial vehicle canbe safely and automatically charged at a high speed in a wired mode.

A system for aerial neutralization of a detected target aerial vehicle comprises a plurality of counter-attack unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and an aerial vehicle capture countermeasure coupling together the plurality of counter-attack UAVs, to intercept and capture a detected target aerial vehicle in a coordinated manner. The system comprises an aerial vehicle detection system comprising at least one detection sensor operable to detect the target aerial vehicle, and operable to provide command data to at least one counter-attack UAV for tracking and neutralizing the target aerial vehicle. The counter-attack UAVs and a net can be deployed from a movable base station, and the net can be carried in a low-drag configuration until the counter-attack UAVs operate to deploy or open the net. The counter-attack UAVs and systems may be autonomously operated. Associated systems and methods are provided.

An apparatus comprising a contactless battery synchronous power and a battery management system (BSP-BMS) is disclosed. This system includes a battery monitoring unit for monitoring the state of the batteries and a synchronous power unit for controlling the intensity and direction of current during both, charging and discharging processes, including one or several opto-inductive discs for the wireless energy transfer and fast and a lightweight communication scheme. The full system disclosed in this invention is very small in size, lightweight, cost effective and reliable due to its scalable structure, easy parallelization of current control elements and paths, and local and reliable opto-inductive coupling. The invention is aimed at universal, fast and automated charge processes and internal stored energy management for unmanned autonomous vehicles (UAVs) but it can be an effective solution for manned electric vehicles like electric bikes, electric motorcycles or other electric powered vehicles.

A helipad motion compensation system for a vessel includes at least one controllable length actuator operatively coupled between the helipad and the vessel. The system also includes an attitude sensor disposed on at least one of the helipad and the vessel. The sensor produces signals corresponding to change in attitude of the helipad. A controller is in operative communication with the sensor and is arranged to operate the at least one actuator. The actuator is operable to substantially maintain an attitude of the helipad to compensate for motion of the vessel.

A landing pad receives and stores packages delivered from an aerial vehicle and awaiting pickup from an aerial vehicle. The landing pad can be placed outside of a window and can contain a transmitter for sending out an identification signal via radio frequency to aid aerial vehicles in finding the landing pad. The landing pad contains a landing platform with a trapdoor that leads to a storage compartment. The trapdoor can be configured to only open when it receives a signal from an authorized aerial vehicle. The storage compartment can be accessed via a storage compartment door which can contain a locking mechanism. The storage compartment can be climate controlled. The landing pad can also have a transmitter that emits sounds to discourage animals from nesting on or near the landing pad. The landing pad can also include a solar power generator as a source of electrical energy.

Some embodiments relate to a system and method of automatically transporting cargo from a loading station to an unloading station using a vehicle. Loading and unloading of cargo may be accomplished automatically without the need for human operators of either the loading station, the unloading station, or the vehicle. The unloading and loading station each comprise guide rails and a plurality of directional signal sources used by the vehicle to control its current position so that it may retrieve and deliver a target load. The vehicle comprises at least one sensor for detecting modulated directional signals and a controller to control the current position of the vehicle based on the received signals.

A method and system provide the ability to autonomously operate an unmanned aerial system (UAS) over long durations of time. The UAS vehicle autonomously takes off from a take-off landing-charging station and autonomously executes a mission. The mission includes data acquisition instructions in a defined observation area. Upon mission completion, the UAS autonomously travels to a target landing-charging station and performs an autonomous precision landing on the target landing-charging station. The UAS autonomously re-charges via the target landing-charging station. Once re-charged, the UAS is ready to execute a next sortie. When landed, the UAS autonomously transmits mission data to the landing-charging station for in situ or cloud-based data processing.

The invention relates to an unmanned aerial vehicle hangar, and belongs to the technical field of landing assistance of unmanned aerial vehicle. The unmanned aerial vehicle hangar comprises a controller, a parking apron and an automatic charging device, wherein the automatic charging device is controlled by the controller. The controller comprises a memory and a processor; the automatic charging device comprises a pair of clamping and pressing assemblies; each clamping and pressing assembly comprises a clamping claw, an actuator and a charging electrode, wherein the clamping claw is used for clamping and pressing a landing gear transverse rod of the unmanned aerial vehicle; the clamping claw is driven by the actuator to move in the position between clamping and pressing charging position and releasing position, and the charging electrode is fixedly arranged on the charging claw. By arranging the clamping claw and fixedly arranging the charging electrode on the clamping claw, the unmanned aerial vehicle under the charging state is fixed to the parking apron, so that continuity and stability of the charging process are guaranteed.

The invention discloses a mobile vehicle-mounted intelligent taking-off and landing system of an unmanned aerial vehicle. The system comprises a taking-off and landing platform device and an unmannedaerial vehicle fixing and automatic charging device. Firstly, four universal balls are additionally arranged at the bottom of an undercarriage of the unmanned aerial vehicle so that the unmanned aerial vehicle can automatically slide into a groove of a landing platform through rotation of the universal balls when landing on the smooth landing platform; then, a conductive ring is additionally arranged in the fixed position of each vehicle foot of the undercarriage of the unmanned aerial vehicle, the conductive rings of the unmanned aerial vehicle and a charging guide rail in the groove are located on the same plane after the unmanned aerial vehicle lands, and every two adjacent vehicle feet form an electrode connected with a battery of the unmanned aerial vehicle; and finally, a visual processing module with an embedded chip is arranged on the unmanned aerial vehicle. The visual processing module is composed of two types of sensors of a GPS module and a visual camera module, and the unmanned aerial vehicle is precisely located through algorithm control. By the adoption of the system, the unmanned aerial vehicle can conveniently take off and be collected in the field environment andcan be autonomously charged.

Some embodiments relate to a system and method of automatically transporting cargo from a loading station to an unloading station using a vehicle. Loading and unloading of cargo may be accomplished automatically without the need for human operators of either the loading station, the unloading station, or the vehicle. The unloading and loading station each comprise guide rails and a plurality of directional signal sources used by the vehicle to control its current position so that it may retrieve and deliver a target load. The vehicle comprises at least one sensor for detecting modulated directional signals and a controller to control the current position of the vehicle based on the received signals.

An Automatic Service Station Facility (ASSF) for replenishing various motivational energy sources onboard different types of AUV, Drones, and Remotely Controlled (RC) or robotic vehicles is disclosed herein. In one embodiment, the automatic service station facility includes a rack, replaceable fuel tanks, a service module, and an electronic computer control system. The replaceable fuel tanks are stocked on the rack and substantially filled with various fluids which are utile as motivational energy sources within fuel-operated vehicles. The service module is mounted on the rack, and the electronic computer control system is connected in electrical communication with the service module. In this configuration, the service module is controllably operable to receive a depleted replaceable fuel tank from a fuel-operated vehicle and also selectively deliver one of the filled replaceable fuel tanks onboard the vehicle. In another embodiment, the service station facility may also stock replaceable batteries for selective delivery onboard battery-operated vehicles. In another embodiment, the ASSF is self-propelled, remotely controlled, and solar powered, being able to move long distances to remote locations which may be hazardous to humans, such as disaster zones or battle fields, where the ASSF can service AUV, Drones, and Remotely Controlled (RC) or robotic vehicles needed for the particular applications. Alternatively, the solar powered ASSF can be made to move continuously and service vehicles continuously for long duration operations like herding cattle for example.

A robust amphibious air vehicle incorporates a fuselage with buoyant stabilizers and wings extending from the fuselage. At least one lift fan is mounted in the fuselage. Movable propulsion units carried by the wings are rotatable through a range of angles adapted for vertical and horizontal flight operations.

An embodiment of the invention provides an unmanned aerial vehicle, an unmanned aerial vehicle takeoff control method and apparatus. The control method and the apparatus are used to control the unmanned aerial vehicle. The unmanned aerial vehicle takeoff control method is performed through the following steps: receiving takeoff preparatory signals that are generated by being triggered when the unmanned aerial vehicle is positioned to a preset takeoff height; controlling the rotor wings of the unmanned aerial vehicle to rotate at an idle speed according to the takeoff preparatory signals; and controlling the rotor wings to pick up to a rated rotation speed. With the control method and the apparatus, the rotor wings of an unmanned aerial vehicle can pick up speed to a rated speed at a preset position, thus achieving a hovering effect.