An electrical circuit breaker assembly, and a method for its operation, including a conductive element of an electrical circuit and a cut-off device configured to be activated by a pyrotechnic element and that is configured to sever the conductive element in a cut-off zone delimited by a downstream point. The electrical circuit breaker assembly further includes a contactor element configured to be activated by a pyrotechnic element, the contactor element being configured to connect the downstream point of the cut-off zone to an earth conductor of the electrical circuit prior to a severing of the conductive element or simultaneously with the severing of the conductive element.

An electrical circuit breaker assembly, and a method for its operation, including a conductive element of an electrical circuit and a cut-off device configured to be activated by a pyrotechnic element and that is configured to sever the conductive element in a cut-off zone delimited by a downstream point. The electrical circuit breaker assembly further includes a contactor element configured to be activated by a pyrotechnic element, the contactor element being configured to connect the downstream point of the cut-off zone to an earth conductor of the electrical circuit prior to a severing of the conductive element or simultaneously with the severing of the conductive element.

Presently disclosed subject matter integrates a method of using thousands of semi-autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles, herein called drones, to deliver vastly superior amounts of fire retardant over substantially larger and variably-shaped drop patterns. Each drone is able to swap its own batteries with freshly charged batteries and each drone is able to refill its container with water or fire retardant. Once launched, a swarm of drones can perform repeated trips from the water/retardant source to the fire without human involvement other than the high-level tasking of where to drop the retardant. Once a general drop destination and drop pattern shape is designated, the swarm can transport retardant to that location, form itself into the desired drop shape, and deploy retardant. The drone body is designed to be modular so different components can be attached with ease and no special training or knowledge required.

Presently disclosed subject matter integrates a method of using thousands of semi-autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles, herein called drones, to deliver vastly superior amounts of fire retardant over substantially larger and variably-shaped drop patterns. Each drone is able to swap its own batteries with freshly charged batteries and each drone is able to refill its container with water or fire retardant. Once launched, a swarm of drones can perform repeated trips from the water/retardant source to the fire without human involvement other than the high-level tasking of where to drop the retardant. Once a general drop destination and drop pattern shape is designated, the swarm can transport retardant to that location, form itself into the desired drop shape, and deploy retardant. The drone body is designed to be modular so different components can be attached with ease and no special training or knowledge required.

Provided is a posture changing device for changing a posture of an aerosol container mounted on an unmanned aerial vehicle, the posture changing device including: a posture selecting unit for selecting a posture of the aerosol container from a plurality of candidate postures; and a posture changing unit for changing a posture of the aerosol container to the posture selected from the plurality of candidate postures. Also provided is a posture changing method for changing a posture of an aerosol container mounted on an unmanned aerial vehicle, the posture changing method including: selecting a posture of the aerosol container from a plurality of candidate postures; and changing a posture of the aerosol container to the posture selected from the plurality of candidate postures.

Provided is a posture changing device for changing a posture of an aerosol container mounted on an unmanned aerial vehicle, the posture changing device including: a posture selecting unit for selecting a posture of the aerosol container from a plurality of candidate postures; and a posture changing unit for changing a posture of the aerosol container to the posture selected from the plurality of candidate postures. Also provided is a posture changing method for changing a posture of an aerosol container mounted on an unmanned aerial vehicle, the posture changing method including: selecting a posture of the aerosol container from a plurality of candidate postures; and changing a posture of the aerosol container to the posture selected from the plurality of candidate postures.

A simulation testing architecture can be applied to an aircraft monitoring system for an aircraft that includes complex algorithms (such as machine learning algorithms) for sensing objects around the aircraft and controlling the aircraft to avoid such objects. A reference scenario is selected from a plurality of stored scenarios based on a desired set of aircraft safety standards. A stochastic process is applied to generate a large number of conditional variations within a simulated environment, varying weather, objects in the airspace, points of failure, and the like to provide a representative sample of possible aircraft missions and encounters within the selected reference scenario. Synthetic environmental inputs are fed into the aircraft monitoring system software, and the resultant actions of the software are logged. These logs can be used to generate metrics on an encounter-level basis, a scenario-level basis, or across a population of scenarios.

A proximity sensor comprises a reference inductor, a first set of sensor inductors, a first set of comparators, each comparator of the first set of comparators corresponding to one of the sensor inductors of the first set of sensor inductors, and an alternating current voltage source to output a sinusoidal voltage to the reference inductor and each of the sensor inductors. Each comparator of the first set of comparators receives a voltage across the reference inductor as a reference voltage and each comparator of the first set of comparators receives a voltage across a corresponding sensor inductor as an input voltage.

A proximity sensor comprises a reference inductor, a first set of sensor inductors, a first set of comparators, each comparator of the first set of comparators corresponding to one of the sensor inductors of the first set of sensor inductors, and an alternating current voltage source to output a sinusoidal voltage to the reference inductor and each of the sensor inductors. Each comparator of the first set of comparators receives a voltage across the reference inductor as a reference voltage and each comparator of the first set of comparators receives a voltage across a corresponding sensor inductor as an input voltage.

A support bracket for holding interior components of a vehicle includes a base plate and an add-on module, which are engageable with each other to facilitate replacement and maintenance.