An aeronautical vehicle that rights itself from an inverted state to an upright state has a self-righting frame assembly has a protrusion extending upwardly from a central vertical axis. The protrusion provides an initial instability to begin a self-righting process when the aeronautical vehicle is inverted on a surface. A propulsion system, such as rotor driven by a motor can be mounted in a central void of the self-righting frame assembly and oriented to provide a lifting force. A power supply is mounted in the central void of the self-righting frame assembly and operationally connected to the at least one rotor for rotatably powering the rotor. An electronics assembly is also mounted in the central void of the self-righting frame for receiving remote control commands and is communicatively interconnected to the power supply for remotely controlling the aeronautical vehicle to take off, to fly, and to land on a surface.

A multi horizontal rotor drone having a propulsion unit coupled to a payload housing by a multi-axial gimbal assembly. The centers of mass of each of these three components resides at a common point that also coincides with the pitch and roll axes (and optionally the yaw axis) of the gimbal assembly's rotational orientations. The propulsion unit has the minimal operational mass necessary while the majority of the drone's mass is located onto the payload housing. With this arrangement, the payload housing can be stabilized on its center of gravity independent of the roll, pitch and yaw changes undergoing by the propulsion unit, during the drone's flight.

An apparatus includes a carrier, one or more first sensors, one or more second sensors, and one or more processors. The carrier includes a first frame and a second frame. A payload is affixed to the first frame. The second frame is rotatably coupled to a movable object. The one or more first sensors are disposed on the payload and configured to measure one or more motion characteristics of the payload. The one or more second sensors are disposed on the carrier and configured to measure one or more motion characteristics of the carrier. The one or more processors are configured to determine an input torque based on the one or more motion characteristics of the payload, determine an estimated disturbance torque based on the one or more motion characteristics of the carrier, and calculate an output torque based on the input torque and the estimated disturbance torque.

An apparatus includes a carrier, one or more first sensors, one or more second sensors, and one or more processors. The carrier includes a first frame and a second frame. A payload is affixed to the first frame. The second frame is rotatably coupled to a movable object. The one or more first sensors are disposed on the payload and configured to measure one or more motion characteristics of the payload. The one or more second sensors are disposed on the carrier and configured to measure one or more motion characteristics of the carrier. The one or more processors are configured to determine an input torque based on the one or more motion characteristics of the payload, determine an estimated disturbance torque based on the one or more motion characteristics of the carrier, and calculate an output torque based on the input torque and the estimated disturbance torque.

An aircraft is disclosed having a structure at least part of which is capable of generating aerodynamic lift. A body having a mass is movably mounted to a portion of the structure by an active support. The active support includes an actuator to move the body relative to the portion of the structure, and a controller for controlling movement of the actuator in response to a dynamic input. The active support provides a range of movement for the body in at least one degree of freedom. The actuator moves the body across the entire range of movement in that one degree of freedom in a time period of less than 3 seconds. The actuator moves the body sufficiently rapidly to generate an inertial force that is equal to or greater than any aerodynamic force generated by the body during that movement of the body. The active support may be used to reduce loads on the aircraft structure.

An input attitude associated with an input device of an aircraft is received. A supplemental attitude is generated, including by selecting a position-based supplemental attitude to be the supplemental attitude in the event the input device is in a disengaged state and selecting a velocity-based supplemental attitude to be the supplemental attitude in the event the input device is in an engaged state. The input attitude and the supplemental attitude are combined in order to obtain a combined attitude. The aircraft is controlled using the combined attitude.

An input attitude associated with an input device of an aircraft is received. A supplemental attitude is generated, including by selecting a position-based supplemental attitude to be the supplemental attitude in the event the input device is in a disengaged state and selecting a velocity-based supplemental attitude to be the supplemental attitude in the event the input device is in an engaged state. The input attitude and the supplemental attitude are combined in order to obtain a combined attitude. The aircraft is controlled using the combined attitude.

Methods of damping vibrations in a host structure are described. In one embodiment, the vibrations can be damped using a tuned mass damper. The tuned mass damper can include a suspended mass with magnets which is configured to move in response to current being applied to a voice coil. The tuned mass damper can damp vibrations resulting from an external load applied to the host structure, such as an external aerodynamic load. In one embodiment, the tuned mass damper can be mounted within a wind tunnel model undergoing transonic testing. The tuned mass damper can be operated to limit potentially destructive vibrations which can occur during testing.

Methods of damping vibrations in a host structure are described. In one embodiment, the vibrations can be damped using a tuned mass damper. The tuned mass damper can include a suspended mass with magnets which is configured to move in response to current being applied to a voice coil. The tuned mass damper can damp vibrations resulting from an external load applied to the host structure, such as an external aerodynamic load. In one embodiment, the tuned mass damper can be mounted within a wind tunnel model undergoing transonic testing. The tuned mass damper can be operated to limit potentially destructive vibrations which can occur during testing.

Embodiments are directed to obtaining data from at least one sensor, the data pertaining to rotor loads and motion, processing, by a device comprising a processor, the data to obtain an estimate of at least one of gross weight (GW) and center of gravity (CG) for a rotorcraft, and outputting the estimate.