In order to solve the problem in which a flight vehicle flies only in locations having poor communication quality and retained data cannot necessarily reach the ground, this device communicates with a flight vehicle, wherein the device is provided with: a storage means that associates and stores first position information and a first communication rate at which it is possible to communicate at the position of the first position information; an extraction means that, upon receiving information that corresponds to a prescribed second communication rate at which the flight vehicle transmits data, extracts the first position information corresponding to the first communication rate equal to or greater than the second communication rate from the storage means; and an output means that outputs the first position information extracted by the extraction means to the flight vehicle, or outputs the inputted first position information to an instrument that notifies the flight vehicle.

A split control system for UAV incorporating auto pilot is disclosed. Control system comprises a real-time low-level main processor, and a non-real-time high-level co-processor. The co-processor computes desired body rate values and feeds them to the main processor which may be with latency. Main processor computes one or more motor control signals based on the desired body rate values. The main processor also executes a rate damping loop algorithm based on instantaneous body rate values to generate one or more motor control signals to maintain stability of the UAV even in events of latency in desired body rate values from the co-processor. Instantaneous body rate values are either obtained directly from sensors without any latency or obtained by main processor indirectly with negligible latency. Main processor acts as an intermediate between sensors and co-processor by collecting raw sensor data and feeding the data to co-processor.

Devices and methods of a pod that deploys from an aircraft or vehicle and descends to safely land. The pod is configured to be attached to an aircraft or vehicle. The pod includes walls that extend around and form a contained interior space that houses one or more travelers or cargo containers. During flight of the aircraft or vehicle, the pod deploys from the aircraft or vehicle while at an elevation above ground. A landing location is determined for the pod. While the pod is descending, the pod is steered towards and lands at the landing location.

Disclosed is a configuration of an autonomous vehicle for autonomously following a moving subject based on a radius of a virtual sphere surrounding the autonomous vehicle. The autonomous vehicle may be an unmanned ground vehicle or an unmanned aerial vehicle, which autonomously follows the subject (e.g., a device, a live entity, or any object) based on the virtual sphere. The radius of the virtual sphere may be dynamically configured according to a velocity of the autonomous vehicle or configurations of a camera coupled to the autonomous vehicle. Accordingly, the autonomous vehicle can follow the subject along a smooth trajectory, and capture images of abrupt movements of the subject in a cinematically pleasing manner.

Methods and associated systems and apparatus for generating a three-dimensional (3D) flight path for a moveable platform such as an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) are disclosed herein. The method includes receiving a set of 3D information associated with a virtual reality environment and receiving a plurality of virtual locations in the virtual reality environment. For individual virtual locations, the system receives a corresponding action item. The system then generates a 3D path based on at least one of the set of 3D information, the plurality of virtual locations, and the plurality of action items. The system then generates a set of images associated with the 3D path and then visually presents the same to an operator via a virtual reality device. The system enables the operator to adjust the 3D path via the virtual reality device.

A UAV location management method for use with a flight management system is provided, where the method comprises providing a location for at least one unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for at least one of: landing, taking-off and loading, providing at least a first weight-sensitive UAV pad at the UAV location, assigning a gross weight limit to each UAV scheduled to take-off from the first weight-sensitive UAV pad, the gross weight limit being based on a safety factor and at least one of: (i) a characteristic of the UAV; (ii) a characteristic of a power source of the UAV; (iii) a scheduled flight path for the UAV; and (iv) a weather condition, monitoring a weight exerted on the first weight-sensitive UAV pad when the UAV is positioned on the UAV pad, and transmitting a halt-flight signal to the flight management system for the UAV where the weight exceeds the gross weight limit.

A control method for controlling a yaw angle ?.sub.z and a roll angle ?.sub.x of a vertical take-off aircraft comprising at least two drive groups arranged in opposite side regions of the aircraft so as to be spaced apart from a fuselage of the aircraft is presented. Each drive group comprises at least one first drive unit. The first drive unit is arranged so as to be spaced apart from the fuselage to pivot about a pivot angle ? into a horizontal flight position and a vertical flight position.

A method of supporting robot(s) landing within a ground region is provided. The method includes accessing a map in which the ground region is tessellated into cells covering respective areas of the ground region. Each cell is classified as feasible to indicate a respective area is feasible for landing, or infeasible to indicate the respective area is infeasible for landing. The map is searched for clusters of adjoining cells that are classified as feasible, covering clusters of adjoining areas that define sub-regions within the ground region that are feasible for landing. The sub-regions are ranked according to a cost metric, and one of the sub-regions is selected according to the ranking. A geographic position of the selected sub-region is then output for use in at least one of guidance, navigation or control of the robot(s) to land at the selected sub-region within the ground region.

A load device control method includes an adapter apparatus receiving a control command sent by an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for controlling a load device connected to the UAV via the adapter apparatus, converting a first communication protocol between the UAV and the adapter apparatus into a second communication protocol between the adapter apparatus and the load device, and sending the control command to the load device using the second communication protocol.

A load device control method includes an adapter apparatus receiving a control command sent by an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for controlling a load device connected to the UAV via the adapter apparatus, converting a first communication protocol between the UAV and the adapter apparatus into a second communication protocol between the adapter apparatus and the load device, and sending the control command to the load device using the second communication protocol.