Methods and systems are provided for guiding or otherwise assisting operation of an aircraft when diverting from a flight plan. One method involves determining a gliding trajectory for the aircraft based at least in part on a current altitude of the aircraft, providing a graphical representation of the gliding trajectory for the aircraft, identifying a plurality of landing locations within a range defined by the gliding trajectory from the aircraft, and for each landing location of the plurality of landing locations, providing a graphical representation of a respective landing location with respect to the gliding trajectory at a respective altitude associated with the respective landing location and at a respective distance with respect to a graphical representation of the aircraft corresponding to a respective geographic distance between a current location of the aircraft and the respective landing location.

An aerial vehicle and a method of taking a measurement using a sensor mounted on an aerial vehicle. The aerial vehicle has one or more propellers and one car more motors which are selectively operable to drive the one or more propellers to rotate to cause the vehicle to fly. A sensor is mounted on the aerial vehicle. The method includes operating the one or more motors to drive the one or more propellers to cause the vehicle to fly. At a first time instant, the one or more motors are slowed down or turned off. When the one or more motors are slowed down or turned off, a measurement is taken using the sensor; at a second time instant, which is after the measurement has been taken using sensor, operating the one or more motors again to drive the one or more propellers to cause the vehicle to fly.

Embodiments of the present invention are an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) severe low-power protection method and a UAV. The method includes: first acquiring ground environment information when the UAV is in a severe low-power protection state, and then obtaining landing safety judgment information according to the ground environment information, and further controlling a flight state of the UAV according to the landing safety judgment information to realize a safe landing of the UAV. The foregoing method reduces the probability of explosion of the UAV, avoids injury accidents, and improves flight safety when the UAV is in a severe low-power state.

Embodiments of the present invention are a returning method, a controller, an unmanned aerial vehicle and a storage medium. The returning method includes: first obtaining a flight mode of an unmanned aerial vehicle, and determining a returning mode of the unmanned aerial vehicle according to the flight mode; then controlling, according to the returning mode, the unmanned aerial vehicle to return from a current position to a landing point, and determining, in a returning process, whether to switch the returning mode of the unmanned aerial vehicle according to a flight speed of the unmanned aerial vehicle; returning according to a switched returning mode when it is determined to switch the returning mode of the unmanned aerial vehicle; and keeping the current returning mode and returning when it is determined not to switch the returning mode of the unmanned aerial vehicle.

An automatic trajectory generation system bringing a flying aircraft from a current position to a destination which: obtains polygons representing obstacles potentially encountered, each polygon associated with an altitude layer; defines two first tangential circles relative to a current direction of the aircraft flight, centered on the right and the left, relative to the aircraft current position; defining two second circles tangential relative to a direction to be followed to destination, centered on the right and the left, relative to the georeferenced destination position; defines a third circle around vertices of the polygons; and searches for a flyable lateral trajectory between the aircraft current position and the destination by bypassing the polygons by the vertices in searching for tangential trajectories between the circles, by observing a pre-established vertical trajectory profile, as well as the lateral margin and a vertical margin with the polygons.

An unmanned aerial vehicle capable of vertical takeoff and landing carries a remote sensing platform to a high altitude cruising altitude and flies over a target area, collecting remote sensing imagery before returning to earth. Instead of being piloted remotely, the vehicle employs an autonomous flight control system.

The present invention relates to the autonomous application of crop protection products by means of a drone. The present invention relates to a process and to an unmanned aerial vehicle for applying crop protection product taking into consideration drift phenomena. The present invention furthermore relates to a computer program product which can be employed for controlling the process according to the invention.

A control system of an air vehicle for urban air mobility (UAM) is provided. A human-machine interface (HMI) system enables people to more easily control the air vehicle for UAM with a familiar method. The control system includes a steeling wheel operated for steering of the air vehicle, an accelerator pedal operated for acceleration of the air vehicle, and a decelerator pedal operated for deceleration and braking of the air vehicle. An altitude designating device selects and designates a target altitude and a controller generates a control command for adjusting altitude, acceleration, deceleration and braking, and steering of the air vehicle, based on air vehicle driving information. A drive device is then operated according to the control command generated from the controller.

Concerning a partial area image that constitutes a wide area image, to control a flying body in accordance with a flight altitude at a past point of time of image capturing, an information processing apparatus includes a wide area image generator that extracts, from a flying body video obtained when a flying body captures a ground area spreading below while moving, a plurality of video frame images and combines the video frame images, thereby generating a captured image in a wide area, an image capturing altitude acquirer that acquires a flight altitude at a point of time of image capturing by the flying body for each of the plurality of video frame images, and an image capturing altitude output unit that outputs a difference of the flight altitude for each video frame image.

The invention relates to a method for controlling an inspection flight of an unmanned aerial vehicle for purposes of inspecting an object, and to an inspection unmanned aerial vehicle. The method comprises the following: recording of image data for an object by means of a camera device on an unmanned aerial vehicle during a first flight path in a flight coordinates system in the vicinity of the object; and recording of depth data by means of a depth sensor device on the unmanned aerial vehicle, wherein the depth data indicate distances between the unmanned aerial vehicle and the object during the first flight path. Flight trajectory coordinates for the unmanned aerial vehicle are determined for purposes of inspecting the object, which avoids collision with the object.