A registration authority (RA) server registers unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and their owners/operators (O/O). A UAV is maintained in a flight lock state until a flight plan request from the O/O is approved by the RA, which sends an key-signed approval to unlock the UAV's flight lock. The RA server evaluates a UAV's proposed flight plan based on the attributes of the O/O and UAV, the location and time of the requested flight plan, and a set of flight rules and exclusion zones that are developed in view of privacy assurance, security assurance, flight safety assurance, and ground safety assurance. The flight plan key-signed approval supplied to the UAV by the RA server specifies an inclusion zone that corresponds to a flight plan trajectory to be followed. Once in flight, the UAV maintains real-time knowledge of its position and time to ensure its flight remains within the approved inclusion zone.

Disclosed are methods, systems, and non-transitory computer-readable medium for landing a vehicle. For instance, the method may include: before a descent transition point, receiving from a service a landing zone confirmation including landing zone location information and an indication that a landing zone is clear; determining a landing flight path based on the landing zone location information; and upon the vehicle starting a descent to the landing zone using the landing flight path: receiving landing zone data from at least one of a radar system, a camera system, an altitude and heading reference system (AHRS), and a GPS system; performing an analysis based on the landing zone data to determine whether an unsafe condition exists; and based on the analysis, computing flight controls for the vehicle to continue the descent or modify the descent.

A device that controls the flight altitude of an unmanned aerial vehicle having mounted thereon an imaging device that captures an image of the ground, the device being provided with: one or more memories; and circuitry which, in operation, recognizes, as a plurality of markers, a plurality of objects located on the ground from the image captured by the imaging device, calculates the area of a polygon formed by the plurality of markers, and controls the flight altitude of the unmanned aerial vehicle in such a way that the area of the polygon is maximized.

The invention relates to a method for securing the operation of a synthetic viewing system of an aircraft. This method comprises the steps of determining at least one control object in the field of view of the synthetic vision system and determining at least one control point belonging to each control object and verifying the consistency of the display of the synthetic vision system. The verification step comprises the sub-steps of recovering a first position corresponding to the displayed position of each control point on the corresponding outline on the display of the synthetic vision system, determining a second position of each control point on the display of the synthetic vision system and comparing the first and second positions.

Autonomous craft capable of extended duration operations as lighter-than-air craft, having the ability to alight on the surface of a body of water and generate hydrogen gas for lift via electrolysis using power derived from a photovoltaic system, as well as methods of launching an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) having a deployable envelope from a surface of a body of water.

An unmanned aerial vehicle (“UAV”) is configured with a redundant power generation system on-board the UAV. A redundant power system on-board the UAV can selectively utilize an auxiliary power source during operation and/or flight of the UAV. The power system on-board the UAV may include a battery and at least one auxiliary power source comprising a combustion engine. The combustion engine on-board the UAV may be selectively operated to charge the battery when a charge level of the battery is below a full charge level, and/or to power one or more propeller motors of the UAV.

An inspection system for a storage facility comprising an automatic guided vehicle with a bidimensional positioning system and an unmanned aerial vehicle with a measurement sensor to acquire measurement data. The inspection system further comprises a position control system to maintain the unmanned aerial vehicle above the automatic guided vehicle in the vertical direction, an altitude sensor to acquire a relative vertical distance between the unmanned aerial vehicle and the automatic guided vehicle, and a communication system to transmit the measurement data to a remote server. The inspection system transmits to the remote server a set of tridimensional coordinates associated with the measurement data comprising horizontal coordinates function of the bidimensional location of the automatic guided vehicle on the floor of the storage facility and a vertical coordinate function of the relative vertical distance of the unmanned aerial vehicle with respect to the automatic guided vehicle.

A water sampling method includes acquiring, by an unmanned aerial vehicle, a sampling depth at which a water sample is to be taken. The sampling depth is sent by a portable electronic device or is a preset default depth. The method further includes calculating a descending distance based on the sampling depth and a distance between the unmanned aerial vehicle and a water surface, controlling the water sampler to descend for the descending distance, sampling, by the water sampler, a water sample, and sending a sampling result to a ground station or the portable electronic device.

A method for controlling an aircraft includes storing data aboard the aircraft. The data include the relative positions of radar targets disposed within a region adjacent to the runway. The region is scanned with a radar aboard the aircraft to obtain data corresponding to the relative positions of radar reflections from the region, including reflections from the radar targets. The data corresponding to the radar targets is distinguished from the data corresponding to the radar reflections from the region using correlation techniques. The position and attitude of the aircraft relative to the runway is then assessed using the stored data and the data corresponding to the radar targets. The position and attitude of the aircraft relative to the runway is also evaluated using an independent navigation system. The difference between the assessed position and attitude and the evaluated position and attitude is then used to control the aircraft.

An improved system and method to interlink a plurality of independently owned non-centralized registered autonomous aircraft identified by ESN, SN, MID, Remote ID or FAA registration number within a dedicated network for remote route deployment. System is comprised of a web-based application, aircraft identification protocol, aircraft selection protocol, aircraft flight path prioritization protocol and route avoidance protocol that establishes a communication protocol with a qualified aircraft for the purpose of routing to multiple destinations. Methodology includes recognizing a unique identifier to qualify the make, model, flight time, range and maximum payload for an automated aircraft.