A technique for operating unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in a terminal area from which the UAVs are staged includes charging a plurality of the UAVs on charging pads disposed in a staging array at the terminal area. Merchant facilities for preparing packages for delivery by the UAVs are disposed about a periphery of the staging array. The UAVs are relocated under their own propulsion from interior charging pads to peripheral loading pads of the staging array as the peripheral loading pads become available and the UAVs are deemed sufficiently charged and ready for delivery missions.

In order to achieve the above objects, according to the present invention, an information processing system includes a wind-condition estimation unit that estimates wind-condition information in a predetermined space region, and an evaluation unit that evaluates flight difficulty or economic efficiency of an aircraft based on the estimated wind-condition information. According to the present invention, an information processing method includes estimating wind-condition information in a predetermined space region, and evaluating flight difficulty or economic efficiency of an aircraft based on the estimated wind-condition information.

An aircraft includes a fuselage, a main wing, and a flight controller. The main wing is attached to the fuselage and configured to generate lift that acts on the aircraft. The flight controller includes an electric field direction estimator, an attitude calculator, and an attitude controller. The electric field direction estimator is configured to estimate a direction of an electric field around the aircraft. The attitude calculator is configured to calculate a target airframe attitude that reduces a possibility of occurrence of lightning strike on the aircraft, on the basis of the direction of the electric field estimated by the electric field direction estimator. The attitude controller is configured to control an attitude of an airframe of the aircraft to cause the attitude of the airframe to be the target airframe attitude calculated by the attitude calculator.

In a conventional vessel anti-rolling apparatus, because a large memory capacity and a high-speed high-function computing processing unit are required, the cost of the vessel anti-rolling apparatus is caused to rise. A vessel anti-rolling control apparatus and an anti-rolling control method according to the present disclosure includes an azimuth controller that outputs a first steering-angle command value for making the vessel turn to an azimuth to which the vessel should travel, based on an azimuth command signal and a yaw-angle signal, an anti-rolling controller that outputs a second steering-angle command value for reducing rolling of the vessel, based on a rolling-angle signal, a rolling-angular-velocity signal, and a vessel-speed signal, and a steering-angle controller that controls a steering angle, based on the first steering-angle command value and the second steering-angle command value.

In a conventional vessel anti-rolling apparatus, because a large memory capacity and a high-speed high-function computing processing unit are required, the cost of the vessel anti-rolling apparatus is caused to rise. A vessel anti-rolling control apparatus and an anti-rolling control method according to the present disclosure includes an azimuth controller that outputs a first steering-angle command value for making the vessel turn to an azimuth to which the vessel should travel, based on an azimuth command signal and a yaw-angle signal, an anti-rolling controller that outputs a second steering-angle command value for reducing rolling of the vessel, based on a rolling-angle signal, a rolling-angular-velocity signal, and a vessel-speed signal, and a steering-angle controller that controls a steering angle, based on the first steering-angle command value and the second steering-angle command value.

Disclosed are methods, systems, and computer-readable medium to perform operations including: registering one or more aerial vehicles and one or more land-based vehicles with a last mile delivery system, where the one or more aerial vehicles and the one or more land-based vehicles are associated with aerial vehicle information and land-based vehicle information, respectively; determining to generate a land-based vehicle transportation request for a first aerial vehicle that is performing a delivery; matching, based on the land-based vehicle transportation request and the land-based vehicle information, the first aerial vehicle with a first land-based vehicle; and generating and sending transportation instructions to the first aerial vehicle and the first land-based vehicle, where the transportation instructions include: (i) a starting location where the first aerial vehicle docks to the first land-based vehicle, and (ii) a destination to which the first land-based vehicle transports the first aerial vehicle.

Disclosed are methods, systems, and computer-readable medium to perform operations including: registering one or more aerial vehicles and one or more land-based vehicles with a last mile delivery system, where the one or more aerial vehicles and the one or more land-based vehicles are associated with aerial vehicle information and land-based vehicle information, respectively; determining to generate a land-based vehicle transportation request for a first aerial vehicle that is performing a delivery; matching, based on the land-based vehicle transportation request and the land-based vehicle information, the first aerial vehicle with a first land-based vehicle; and generating and sending transportation instructions to the first aerial vehicle and the first land-based vehicle, where the transportation instructions include: (i) a starting location where the first aerial vehicle docks to the first land-based vehicle, and (ii) a destination to which the first land-based vehicle transports the first aerial vehicle.

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 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.

The aircraft threat envelope protection system employs a threat envelope data structure in a computer-readable medium that stores at least one trigger condition for each of a plurality of different types of threats associated with the aircraft, and modeled using a common schema. A processor computes plural different projected trajectories representing different possible aircraft paths through spacetime. The processor associates at least some of the plurality of the threats to specific trigger points in spacetime along each of the projected trajectories. The processor will deprecate ones of the projected trajectories when they are deemed not viable to recover from a threat. The processor initiates an aircraft protective response when all projected trajectories but one have been deprecated and the aircraft is within a predetermined proximity to the closest trigger point in spacetime along the non-deprecated trajectory.