A system for controlling weight distribution of a remotely piloted aircraft is described. The system comprises a payload weighing platform, a control unit, and a counterweight gantry system. The payload weighing platform is configured to be positioned within the aircraft and receive the payload. The control unit is configured to: receive payload sensor data from the payload weighing platform; determine payload weight and payload center of mass; determine a target position for each of at least one counterweight, the target position determined to control a center of gravity of the aircraft by controlling the weight distribution of the aircraft; and provide a counterweight position signal to the counterweight gantry system. The counterweight gantry system is attached to the aircraft and is configured to move each of the at least one counterweight to corresponding target position in response to receiving the counterweight position signal.

A flight control arrangement for a hybrid aircraft includes a fixed-wing flight (F/W) control module and vertical takeoff/landing flight (VTOL) control module. The F/W control module is an integrated component having a respective network interface connected to an aircraft data network via which it provides fixed-wing control output to network-connected fixed-wing flight components including one or more horizontal-thrust components. The VTOL control module is also an integrated component having a respective network interface to the aircraft data network via which the VTOL control module (1) observes flight status as reflected in network messages originated by the fixed-wing flight control module, and (2) based on the observed flight status, generates VTOL control output to network-connected VTOL flight components including one or more vertical-thrust components, to control VTOL flight as well as transitions to and from fixed-wing flight.

A parallel manipulator with six degrees of freedom may include a base that attaches to a unmanned aerial vehicle and a movable gripper element that may be positioned below the UAV. The positioning of the gripper element my reduce impact of the center of gravity of the attached UAV. The gripper element may include a geometric shape that complements objects routinely used in high-throughput screening (HTS) laboratories, such as microplates. The parallel manipulator and gripper element may be used to quickly, safely, and securely move objects in HTS laboratories and/or the like.

Systems, methods, and apparatuses for an airframe of a volitant body are presented herein. An apparatus may include a body having a normal axis. The body comprising a central air passage communicating through the body along the normal axis of the body. The central air passage may have an inlet at a first end of the body and an outlet at a second end of the body, the second end being opposite the first end. The central air passage may form an interior surface of the body. The central air passage permitting a flow of air through the body via the central air passage. The inlet may be formed to produce a Venturi effect in the flow of air passing through the central air passage from the inlet to the outlet by choking the flow of air at the inlet.

Systems, methods, and apparatuses for an airframe of a volitant body are presented herein. An apparatus may include a body having a normal axis. The body comprising a central air passage communicating through the body along the normal axis of the body. The central air passage may have an inlet at a first end of the body and an outlet at a second end of the body, the second end being opposite the first end. The central air passage may form an interior surface of the body. The central air passage permitting a flow of air through the body via the central air passage. The inlet may be formed to produce a Venturi effect in the flow of air passing through the central air passage from the inlet to the outlet by choking the flow of air at the inlet.

The present disclosure describes autonomous flight safety systems (AFSSs) that incorporate an autonomous flight termination unit (AFTU) enabling AFSS monitoring for various termination conditions that are used to activate a flight termination system (e.g., in the event a termination condition is detected). Such termination conditions include boundary limit detection (e.g., whether a vehicle position is outside or projected outside a planned flight envelope), as well as body instability detection (e.g., whether a pitch rate and yaw rate exceed some threshold indicative of vehicle instability). For instance, an AFTU may incorporate a three-axis gyroscope sensor and may implement instability detection processing based on information obtained via the sensor. Instability detection processing may include, for example, a BID algorithm that may be implemented by an AFTU to monitor angular rates of the vehicle, to determine if the vehicle is no longer under stable control, and to issue termination commands when termination conditions are detected.

A vehicle control framework enables improved attitude tracking and mode switching of a vehicle by modeling the vehicle as a switched system, where the vehicle is operable for changing a geometric configuration during flight. The vehicle control framework implements a control law that accommodates modeling uncertainties and unknown external disturbances. The vehicle also enforces a switching time constrained by a minimum dwell time which can be adaptively updated based on attitude errors.

A vehicle control framework enables improved attitude tracking and mode switching of a vehicle by modeling the vehicle as a switched system, where the vehicle is operable for changing a geometric configuration during flight. The vehicle control framework implements a control law that accommodates modeling uncertainties and unknown external disturbances. The vehicle also enforces a switching time constrained by a minimum dwell time which can be adaptively updated based on attitude errors.

A computer system includes processing circuitry configured to: obtain data indicative of a target total lift force to be generated by a front hydrofoil arrangement of a marine vessel and by a rear hydrofoil arrangement of the marine vessel, wherein the target total lift force is associated with a constant heave of the vessel; determine a lift force discrepancy between a current lift force of the vessel and the target total lift force, based on a state of the rear hydrofoil arrangement; and adjust an angle of attack of the front hydrofoil arrangement to compensate for the lift force discrepancy.

A method and a system for rhythmic motion control of a robot based on a neural oscillator, including: acquiring a current state of the robot, and a phase and a frequency generated by the neural oscillator; and obtaining a control instruction according to the acquired current state, phase and frequency and a preset reinforcement learning network so as to control the robot. The preset reinforcement learning network includes an action space, a pattern formation network and the neural oscillator. A control structure designed by the present disclosure, which is composed of the neural oscillator and the pattern formation network, can ensure formation of an expected rhythmic motion behavior; and meanwhile, a designed action space for joint position increment can effectively accelerate the training process of rhythmic motion reinforcement learning, and solve a problem that design of the reward function is time-consuming and difficult in learning with existing model-free reinforcement learning.