1569 results about "Payload" patented technology

An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is disclosed that includes a retractable payload delivery system. The payload delivery system can lower a payload to the ground using a delivery device that secures the payload during descent and releases the payload upon reaching the ground. The location of the delivery device can be determined as it is lowered to the ground using image tracking. The UAV can include an imaging system that captures image data of the suspended delivery device and identifies image coordinates of the delivery device, and the image coordinates can then be mapped to a location. The UAV may also be configured to account for any deviations from a planned path of descent in real time to effect accurate delivery locations of released payloads.

Embodiments of the present disclosure may include a method for optimizing flight of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) including a payload, the method including receiving one or more human-initiated flight instructions. Embodiments may also include determining a UAV context based at least in part on Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) data from the UAV. Embodiments may also include receiving payload identification data. Embodiments may also include accessing a laden flight profile based at least in part on the payload identification data. Embodiments may also include determining one or more laden flight parameters. In some embodiments, the one or more laden flight parameters may be based at least in part on the one or more human-initiated flight instructions, the UAV context, and the laden flight profile.

The invention relates to the technical field of unmanned aerial vehicles, and discloses a gas-electric hybrid composite wing unmanned aerial vehicle system, which comprises an intelligent energy management module, a gas-electric hybrid composite wing unmanned aerial vehicle control module and a gas-electric hybrid composite wing unmanned aerial vehicle control module, the self-adaptive flight control module is used for optimizing the flight attitude, dynamically adjusting the flight route and improving the flight safety; the task adaptive scheduling module is used for adaptively adjusting a task execution strategy according to the task category, the load condition and the environmental parameters; the data monitoring and remote control module is used for collecting the operation state of the unmanned aerial vehicle in real time and storing and analyzing flight data; the intelligent safety management module is used for improving the autonomous safety of the unmanned aerial vehicle; and the environment perception optimization module is used for perceiving external environment factors in real time. According to the invention, the intelligent energy management module realizes intelligent scheduling of fuel and electricity power, and dynamically optimizes the power distribution of the battery and fuel oil, so that the flight time of the unmanned aerial vehicle is greatly prolonged.

Intelligent optimization of mission planning and execution for spacecraft through intelligent analysis of mission objectives and payload operation is disclosed. Values for mission objectives, payload operation, and / or vehicle conditions may be defined during given time periods, including variable values for repeat operations or other factors. These values may then be used through a vehicle / mission simulation agent to optimize the mission plan through maximizing the mission score according to the values. The simulation agent may identify possible mission plans based on vehicle capability, and then score the mission plan based on the total objective score.

A craft is provided comprising: a propulsion system; a fuselage coupled with the propulsion system, wherein the fuselage is configured to carry a payload and fuel for the propulsion system; and a pre-assembled wing coupled with the fuselage; wherein the craft is designed to take-off without using a runway and does not have landing gear to land.

A system includes: a lower sail module; an upper sail module; and a bridle assembly. The lower sail module defines a first edge and a second edge and includes: a first control surface extending between the first edge and the second edge; a set of payload instruments; and a motorized spool arranged proximal the second edge of the lower sail module. The upper sail module: is arranged above the lower sail module; defines a third edge and a fourth edge and includes; and includes a second control surface extending between the third edge and the fourth edge. The bridle assembly includes: a set of fixed sail cables coupling the upper sail module to the first control surface proximal the first edge; and a sail control cable wound about the motorized spool and coupling the upper sail module to the first control surface proximal the second edge.

A device (4200) for an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, UAV (100), said device (4200) comprising a first pivot point (4212) and a second pivot point (4214) being spaced apart from each other, said first pivot point (4212) is connectable a UAV (100) and said second pivot point (4214) is connectable the UAV (100), said device (4200) is configured to be tilted / rotated around said first pivot point (4212) by adjusting a length of a second cord (4204) and / or tilted / rotated around said second pivot point (4214) by adjusting a length of a first cord (4202), wherein said device (4200) has a first winch motor (4292) and a second winch motor (4294), said first and second winch motors (4292, 4294) are configured for adjusting the length of said first and second cords (4202, 4204) respectively. Also provided is a harvesting tool (105, 110) comprising a base structure (650), said base structure having attached to it at least one cutting means for delimbing a tree (114a, 114b), at least one means for communicating with a UAV and / or a remote base station, at least one cutting means for cutting a tree trunk (116), at least one attaching means to be attachable to the UAV (660), at least one holding means for holding a tree trunk (105,107a, 107b, 114a, 114b). Also provided is a method for controlling the relative rotation between a UAV and a device, where the device is attached to said UAV via at least two cords, said method comprising the steps of: a. determining a reference rotational position of said device relative to said UAV, b. detecting an angular rotation R in a horizontal plane of said device relative to said reference position, c. compensating said angular rotation in said horizontal plane of said device by rotating said UAV in said horizontal plane in the same direction and by the same angular rotation R as said device for prohibiting twisting of said cords.

The invention provides a new class of transportation with a partially aerostatically supported ram air cushion ship (PASRACS) that can provide safe, fast, efficient global transport services with extraordinary comfort, luxury and amenities. The PASRACS employs inventive synergistic combinations of lift from aerostatic, aerodynamic, hydrostatic and hydrodynamic forces for different modes of operation ranging from a stationary floating configuration on a water surface, to flight in ground effect at high speed. A propulsion system can utilize hydrogen as an energy source driving fluid-dynamic thrusters, to enable zero carbon emissions operations. A transition method is provided for a PASRACS to transition from a floating mode to a takeoff mode to a flight in ground-effect mode in an inventive optimized manner. A transport method for multimodally transporting payload is provided with PASRACS vehicles and systems, with quick turn time operations enabled by the use of payload transfer transport modules and transfer vehicles.

The invention(s) include embodiments and applications of: a system for package handling, the system including: an aerial vehicle and a conveying subsystem configured to interface with the aerial vehicle. The system can execute operation modes, associated with loading and unloading of multiple packages, and delivering one or more packages to receiving sites.

An autonomous flying device achieving a large payload and a long continuous flight time and also accurately adjust position and orientation while flying. The device includes: a main rotor and the like that provide main thrust; a sub rotor and the like that controls the orientation; an engine that generates energy for rotating the main rotor and the like and the sub rotor and the like; and an arithmetic control device that controls rotation of the sub rotor and the like. Also, the main rotor and the like are rotated by being drivingly connected to the engine, whereas the sub rotor and the like are rotated by motors driven by electric power generated from generator and the like operated by the engine. Further, when orientation control to tilt the fuselage is performed, the arithmetic control device increases the output distribution ratio of the sub rotor to above the output distribution ratio of the sub rotor when hovering is performed.

A UAV for transporting a payload comprising a vehicle body; a retractable rail exposed on an underside of the vehicle body; a retraction mechanism coupling the rail to the vehicle body for causing the rail to raise and lower relative to the vehicle body; and a barrier located on the vehicle body so as to confront the rail when the rail is in its raised position to block the removal from the rail of a payload slidably engaged with the rail. A mechanism for advancing a payload onto and along the rail and pushing it off.

The invention discloses an active thermal protection system for a high-speed aircraft and a using method of the active thermal protection system. The system comprises a liquid storage tank, an active thermal protection plate, a gas high-pressure storage tank and a thrust engine. The liquid storage tank, the active thermal protection plate and the gas high-pressure storage tank are connected in sequence to form a loop; a first electromagnetic valve and a fourth electromagnetic valve are respectively arranged on a connecting pipeline between the liquid storage tank and the active thermal protection plate and a connecting pipeline between the gas high-pressure storage tank and the liquid storage tank; the gas high-pressure storage tank is further provided with two gas paths, one gas path is connected with the thrust engine through a third electromagnetic valve, and the other gas path is communicated with the outside through a second electromagnetic valve. The liquid storage tank is used for storing a liquid heat-absorbing working medium; and the active thermal protection plate is filled with a catalyst. The active thermal protection system is high in heat absorption capacity, high-temperature and high-pressure gas can be generated through aerodynamic heat to do work, waste heat utilization is achieved, the thickness of a thermal insulation layer of the aircraft is reduced, the effective load of the system is increased, and the maneuverability of the aircraft is effectively improved.

The invention comprises an apparatus, method for using the apparatus and system for balloon altitude control by in-situ characterization and active energy management. The invention presented enables transportation, autonomous operation and use of a balloon beyond the limits of conventional high-altitude ballooning to the edge of the atmosphere, or about 100 km above the surface of the Earth. The apparatus comprises at least: an envelope containing lift-gas; an envelope and lift-gas characterizer; an altitude control system operated using active energy addition and lift-gas transfer or ambient air introduction into the system; and an external payload component. The invention is capable of operating in ascent, descent, or stationary mode; the altitudinal movement of the balloon is caused by measuring in-situ envelope and lift-gas characteristics, identifying the change in the lift-gas energy needed, and facilitating the required energy change for altitude control.

An aircraft has a boom, a propulsion assembly coupled to a first end of the boom, and a first wing coupled to a second end of the boom. The first wing can be coupled to the boom by a (first) articulated joint. The propulsion assembly can be coupled to the boom by a (second) articulated joint. The articulated joints can provide various adjustments between the wing(s) and the boom (e.g., stowed, deployed, anhedral, dihedral, sweep, angle of attack, collective pitch control, the cyclic pitch control, etc.) and between the propulsion system and the boom (e.g., to move between vertical flight and horizontal flight). A payload can be connected to the boom with one of the articulated joints whereby the articulated joint adjusts a position of the payload during flight to maintain desired flight characteristics and stabilize the payload.

The present invention relates to semi-submersible vehicle useful in bad weather operation comprising: 1- Two buoyant tubes (2) with equipment for balancing ballast water and moving the vessel, including electronic equipment; 2 - Two solid ballast tubes (3), which are the heavy keel of the vehicle attached to each one of the hull (2), 3 - Horizontal and vertical interconnecting struts (5); 4 - Two payload capsules (1) which are detachable; 5 - Upper deck (6) including (A) navigation lights, (B) sensors, (C) floaters, (D) tanks vent heads and (E) engine intake and exhaust ports; and 6 - Small water plane area upper structure (4), linking the deck (6), buoyant tubes (2), transfer intake, exhaust (4A), and vent lines, as well as power and data lines.

The invention relates to a coaxial multi-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle control method based on a Koopman operator, and the method comprises the steps: constructing a deep neural network based on the Koopman operator, and mapping a state variable to a high-dimensional observable space through an encoder; in a high-dimensional observable space, state variables are predicted through a linear connection layer based on dimension rising state variables and rotor rotating speeds; the decoder restores the prediction result to an original state space; training a deep neural network by using historical flight data to obtain codec parameters and a weight of a linear connection layer, and constructing a linear dynamic model of the observation function and the unmanned aerial vehicle; and the prediction controller predicts state variables of future multiple steps of the unmanned aerial vehicle by using a linear dynamics model, and enables the unmanned aerial vehicle to track a given trajectory by minimizing a cost function to obtain optimal control input. Compared with the prior art, the method has the advantages that complete data-driven modeling is realized, and the method can adapt to unmanned aerial vehicles with different sizes, loads and flight conditions.

The invention belongs to the technical field of boundary layer detection, and particularly relates to an unmanned aerial vehicle atmospheric boundary layer environment autonomous detection system and method.The unmanned aerial vehicle atmospheric boundary layer environment autonomous detection system comprises an unmanned aerial vehicle platform, a detection load subsystem, a flight control subsystem, a data processing subsystem and a ground station subsystem, and the unmanned aerial vehicle platform comprises an unmanned aerial vehicle, a flight control module and a communication module; the unmanned aerial vehicle is made of light-weight composite materials and has good structural strength and weather resistance, an equipment cabin, a battery cabin and a load cabin are arranged in a vehicle body, modular design is adopted, maintenance and upgrading are convenient, in addition, the unmanned aerial vehicle is further provided with an energy module and a power module, and energy and power are provided for the unmanned aerial vehicle; the flight control module comprises a flight control computer, an inertial measurement unit I MU and a GPS / Beidou dual-mode receiver. The unmanned aerial vehicle can effectively avoid movable obstacles such as birds in an atmospheric boundary layer and a strong turbulence area when carrying out environment detection, and the flight safety of the unmanned aerial vehicle during detection is guaranteed.

A unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) includes a fuselage including a top, a bottom, a cavity that forms a cargo bay between the top and the bottom, and a lower access opening in the bottom for lowering a payload from the cargo bay. A movable stage is coupled to the fuselage and adjustable between an upper position in which the stage is above the cargo bay and a lower position in which the stage is at the bottom of the fuselage, the stage including an opening extending through the stage. The UAV also includes a winch disposed in the fuselage and a tether coupled to the winch. The winch is configured to be secured to the payload and is movable through the opening in the stage so as to raise or lower the payload.

The disclosure is directed in part to variant capsid polypeptides that can be used to deliver payloads.

The disclosure is directed in part to variant capsid polypeptides that can be used to deliver payloads.

A payload delivery device configured to deliver an aircraft deployed payload along a flight path to a predetermined landing destination includes a support member configured to be removably attached to the payload, a flight control and navigation system module configured to control orientation of the plurality of control surfaces while the payload is travelling along the flight path to the predetermined landing destination, a control surface assembly module including a plurality of control surfaces, a rotor assembly including a plurality of rotor blades having a central axis of rotation, and a collective control assembly module including at least one collective servomotor configured to control a plurality of control linkages connected to the plurality of rotor blades.

An embodiment herein provides a re-configurable unmanned aerial vehicle that re-configures its shape based on the shape, size, weight of a payload, and efficiently performs payload delivery in real-time. The re-configurable unmanned aerial vehicle includes one or more rotor units placed at corners and is connected by one or more scissor units. The re-configurable unmanned aerial vehicle approaches the payload in a first location, and analyses the position and dimension of the payload with a camera, that enables the one or more scissor units to adjust its length by at least one elongation or compression following size and shape of the payload and fit the payload within the re-configurable unmanned aerial vehicle. The re-configurable unmanned aerial vehicle takes off carrying the payload from the first location and lands at a second location.

A modular unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) system comprises a body module, a rotor module, and a wing module. The body module includes a flight controller and a power distribution device. The body module is releasably attachable to the rotor module or the wing module, and the body module is releasably attachable to the rotor module. The rotor module includes one or more motors and electronic speed controllers (ESCs), while the wing module includes a wing having a flap, elevator, aileron, or rudder. Various UAV configurations can be formed from the body module, the rotor module, and the wing module. Each configuration includes different advantages for flight time, distance, battery life, and payload capacity. A UAV can be configured to a particular configuration to optimize parcel delivery.

Disclosed here are unmanned aerial vehicle embodiments including some embodiments having a fuselage, tail, and wings including example embodiments with an adaptable payload section, alternatively or additionally, modular flight surfaces including tail, wings and motor, alternatively or additionally the vehicle configured for short landings with reversible thrust, alternatively or additionally, the unmanned aerial vehicle configured with direct connection to moveable flight control surfaces.

Systems, devices and methods related to unmanned aerial vehicles and landing systems are described herein. One example disclosed unmanned aerial vehicle comprises a vehicle body comprising an airfoil shape, a plurality of rotors, a payload void within the airfoil shape profile, and a rotatable payload bay disposed within the payload void. A payload delivery system is also described. The payload delivery system comprises a payload void, a payload bay, at least one actuator operative to rotate the payload bay with respect to the payload void, and a payload controller operative to eject a payload from the payload bay. Several landing systems and devices for unmanned vehicles are also described. One example landing device comprises a frame comprising a rear surface operative to attach the frame to a vertical glass surface and an aircraft support element operative to receive and support an unmanned aerial vehicle.

The present invention discloses a flapping-wing aircraft capable of catapult takeoff and having a sweep-torsion mechanism, belonging to the field of aircraft technology. The aircraft comprises: a fuselage frame, left and right flapping wings, a passive torsion mechanism, a sweep mechanism, a catapult takeoff mechanism, a transmission flapping mechanism, and a tail rudder, wherein: a passive torsion mechanism and a sweep mechanism are provided at the roots of the left and right flapping wings, the catapult takeoff mechanism is provided in the middle of the fuselage, and a hip joint, thigh, ankle joint, calf, foot, and toe joint are provided from top to bottom, the inner and outer sides of the hip joint are controlled by a servo motor for relative rotation, the ankle joint and toe joint are provided with elastic energy storage torsion springs, a synchronous pulley and its drive mechanism are provided between the outer side of the hip joint and the outer side of the ankle joint to control the relative rotation between the thigh and the calf, and perform energy storage for catapult takeoff. In summary, the aircraft can perform catapult takeoff flight, and can perform passive torsion and sweeping motions during the flapping of the wings, which helps to increase the flapping wing lift and the overall payload of the aircraft.

The invention discloses a benefit evaluation method for an aviation hybrid electric propulsion system. The benefit evaluation method comprises the following steps: S1, obtaining input of benefit evaluation from an aircraft manufacturer; s2, establishing component coefficient tables of hybrid power, pure power and traditional propulsion systems; s3, calculating the equal weight of the gas turbine engine according to the input of benefit evaluation and the component coefficient table; s4, obtaining a cruise stage distance iterative calculation formula suitable for different propulsion systems, and determining a cruise stage distance through iterative calculation; s5, calculating related parameters such as the comprehensive total cost per kilometer of unit commercial load and the maximum power capability index under the sea level high temperature condition; and S6, calculating the relative proportion of the corresponding indexes of the propulsion system by taking the related parameters of the traditional propulsion system as the reference and combining the related parameters of the to-be-evaluated propulsion system, configuring a weight coefficient, and calculating to obtain the comprehensive income coefficient of the to-be-evaluated propulsion system. The precision of the evaluation result is improved, and a reliable basis is provided for scheme design and power type selection of the flight platform.

A method of assembling a delivery payload assembly configured to be deployed from an aircraft and travel along a flight path to a predetermined landing destination includes attaching a tail-kit assembly to a first end of a payload, the tail-kit assembly including a rotor blade assembly including a plurality of rotor blades having a central axis of rotation, and a flight control and navigation system configured to control a collective pitch angle of each of the plurality of rotor blades of the rotor blade assembly, configured to control an axial thrust force of the rotor blade assembly, the axial thrust force being at an angle with respect to the central axis of rotation of the rotor blade assembly, and configured to navigate the delivery payload assembly along the flight path to the predetermined landing destination. The method further includes removing the tail-kit assembly from the payload after the payload is delivered to the predetermined landing destination.

A payload including a housing provided with one or more toothed guides or with one or more docking mechanisms, each of which is configured to detachably toothedly interact with an unmanned aircraft apparatus being docked so as to enable the movement of said docked unmanned aircraft apparatus with respect to the housing of the payload, wherein the housing of the payload is further configured to detachably toothedly interact with yet another (other) unmanned aircraft apparatus so as to enable the action of said yet another unmanned aircraft apparatus onto said docked unmanned aircraft apparatus for withdrawal of the latter from interaction with the housing of the payload. Furthermore, embodiments of an air transport system include two or more unmanned aircraft apparatuses and one of the payload.

An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) including a fuselage body having a cavity that forms a cargo bay for transporting a payload, and a lower access opening for lowering the payload from the cargo bay, the lower access opening including a cargo bay door; a winch system positioned in the cargo bay configured to suspend a payload within the cargo bay; and a cargo bay door monitor which is configured to detect when the payload is applying a weight to the cargo bay door.