A landing zone designation system is provided that includes a master and a slave landing strobes. A detector on an aircraft can detect master and slave optical signals, and a processor can be coupled to the detector to compute placement of the aircraft relative to the master and slave landing strobes. A method is provided for designating a landing zone for an aircraft. The method includes emitting first and second optical signals, where a determination is made whether the aircraft is to land at a first landing zone or a second landing zone depending on a difference between the first optical signal and the second optical signal. A distance to landing within the determined first landing zone or the second landing zone can also be determined.

An example method for determining a mobile device position and orientation is provided. The method may include capturing a two-dimensional image of a surface including at least four markers, and determining a unit direction vector for each of the at least four markers based on an association between a pixel location of each of the at least four markers in the two-dimensional image. The method may further include determining apex angles between each pair of the unit direction vectors, and determining marker distances from the imaging sensor to each of the at least four markers via a first iterative process based on the apex angles. Additionally, the method may include determining the mobile device position with respect to the coordinate frame via a second iterative process based on the marker distances, the apex angles, and the coordinates of each of the at least four markers.

Methods, systems, and apparatus for drone collision avoidance and acoustic sensing are disclosed. An example apparatus to detect acoustic data from a drone includes a controller to set a target revolutions per minute (RPM) for a motor of the drone. The controller is to modify the target RPM based on a modulation pattern to cause the motor to rotate a propeller of the drone at a modulated RPM. The modulated RPM creates self-generated noise. The example apparatus also includes a sensor to gather acoustic data and an analyzer to remove the self-generated noise from the acoustic data to create external acoustic data for processing.

A control terminal includes a memory storing program instructions, a communication interface configured to communicate with an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), receive position information outputted by a positioning device of the UAV and sent by the UAV, and receive flight state information of a plurality of aircrafts detected by an aircraft detection device of the UAV and sent by the UAV, and a processor configured to execute the program instructions to detect an operation state of the positioning device based on the position information and the flight state information.

Apparatuses, methods, and computer program products disclosed herein provide improved unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) detection. A method may include receiving data including wireless signal strength collected by one or more devices, monitoring the data including the wireless signal strength to determine if the wireless signal strength of a wireless signal source increases over time in a manner to satisfy a predefined threshold in order to be indicative of a UAV, determining a trajectory of the UAV based upon the data including the wireless signal strength, and generating an alert based on, at least, the trajectory of the UAV as indicated by the data including the wireless signal strength.

An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) control system includes a first UAV, a second UAV that flies near the first UAV during a flight of the first UAV and is configured to obtain wind information about wind, and flight control means for controlling the flight of the first UAV based on the wind information obtained by the second UAV.

An improved aviation transponder is discussed herein. The improved aviation transponder demonstrates improved cohabitation and survivability characteristics, allowing the transponder to be placed near other antennas without causing or receiving interference, and reducing potential damage caused by high-energy electromagnetic fields, such as those experienced near an air traffic control (ATC) or military radar installation. Additionally, a small form factor of the transponder results in a smaller, more compact aircraft that consumes less energy, reduces heat dissipation, and maximizes battery life and/or flight time. The transponder may comply with modular interface standards, and may include a radio configured for transmitting 200-watt signals. Based at least in part on the improved performance, the transponder can be implemented in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), for example.

A device, system, and method for tracking luggage in which the transmission of wireless signals by the device is turned off and on in response to sensor data, including the detection by a barometer of a decrease in atmospheric pressure of at least 13.8 kPa; lack of reception by a GPS receiver of a GPS signal and detection by an accelerometer and magnetometer of low frequency, low amplitude vibrations; and/or reception by a Bluetooth module of GPS coordinates transmitted by another luggage tracking device.

A method for determining geo-position of a target by an aircraft includes: receiving navigation data related to the aircraft including aircraft attitude information; receiving multilateration information related to the target including an angle to the target; calculating an axis for a cone fixed to the aircraft, based on the received aircraft attitude information; calculating a central angle for the cone from the received angle to the target; generating two vectors orthogonal to the cone axis; calculating a cone model from the axis, the central angle and the two vectors; and intersecting the cone model with an earth model to obtain a LEP curve, wherein the LEP curve is used to determine the geo position of the target.

A data recovery device configured to store data onboard a hypersonic vehicle travelling at hypersonic speeds. The data recovery device is released from the hypersonic vehicle upon a release command or an anomalous event. Upon release, the data recovery device is configured to receive Global Positioning System (GPS) position data and configured to broadcast the GPS position data in short bursts during decent to a surface of the Earth and upon impact with the surface of the Earth to aid in recovery of the data recovery device.