A proprotor blade for a ducted aircraft including a duct includes a main body having a distal end and a sacrificial blade tip coupled to the distal end of the main body. The sacrificial blade tip includes a deformable core material and a shell layer at least partially covering the deformable core material. The sacrificial blade tip deforms upon contact with the duct, thereby reducing damage to the ducted aircraft.

A tip gap control system for a ducted aircraft includes a flight control computer including an inner duct surface control module configured to generate an inner duct surface actuator command and a proprotor system in data communication with the flight control computer. The proprotor system includes a duct having active inner duct surfaces movable into various positions including a retracted position and an extended position. The proprotor system also includes proprotor blades surrounded by the duct and one or more actuators coupled to the active inner duct surfaces. The one or more actuators move the active inner duct surfaces between the various positions based on the inner duct surface actuator command, thereby controlling a tip gap between the proprotor blades and the duct.

A tip gap control system for a ducted aircraft includes a flight control computer including an inner duct surface control module configured to generate an inner duct surface actuator command and a proprotor system in data communication with the flight control computer. The proprotor system includes a duct having active inner duct surfaces movable into various positions including a retracted position and an extended position. The proprotor system also includes proprotor blades surrounded by the duct and one or more actuators coupled to the active inner duct surfaces. The one or more actuators move the active inner duct surfaces between the various positions based on the inner duct surface actuator command, thereby controlling a tip gap between the proprotor blades and the duct.

A fan-in-wing aerial vehicle according to an embodiment may comprise: a fuselage; main wings expending from both sides of the fuselage in the span direction; rotors rotatably mounted inside the main wings, respectively; and opening/closing portions installed on the main wings such that the same can be opened/closed and thereby expose the rotors to the outside or conceal the rotors from the outside, respectively.

A fan-in-wing aerial vehicle according to an embodiment may comprise: a fuselage; main wings expending from both sides of the fuselage in the span direction; rotors rotatably mounted inside the main wings, respectively; and opening/closing portions installed on the main wings such that the same can be opened/closed and thereby expose the rotors to the outside or conceal the rotors from the outside, respectively.

The ideal design for a redundant orbitally driven electric ducted fan that can replace a family of current propeller and motor combinations in electric ducted fan designs by meeting air flow and pressure requirements while drawing less electric current to rotate and thus produce the required flow not only would reduce cost of operation over the life of the fan but opens new possibilities for electric powered vertical takeoff and landing vehicles with redundant drives improving safety of operation. The entry of flying machines using propellers and lifting fans such as hover bikes and quadcopters, manned or unmanned is driving a need to re-examine the application of force applied to rotate these fans to achieve a reduction in aircraft weight and increase flying time for a given battery charge or load of fuel.

The ideal design for a redundant orbitally driven electric ducted fan that can replace a family of current propeller and motor combinations in electric ducted fan designs by meeting air flow and pressure requirements while drawing less electric current to rotate and thus produce the required flow not only would reduce cost of operation over the life of the fan but opens new possibilities for electric powered vertical takeoff and landing vehicles with redundant drives improving safety of operation. The entry of flying machines using propellers and lifting fans such as hover bikes and quadcopters, manned or unmanned is driving a need to re-examine the application of force applied to rotate these fans to achieve a reduction in aircraft weight and increase flying time for a given battery charge or load of fuel.

A propulsion system for an aerial vehicle or toy aerial vehicle includes a bladeless fan drive and a peripheral ground-engagement part. The bladeless fan drive operates in a plane (x′-y′) and is configured for producing thrust. The peripheral ground-engagement part comprises a hubless wheel and a rotatable tire component. The bladeless fan drive is secured within the hubless wheel by two pivot points on opposing sides of the bladeless fan drive, such that the plane of the bladeless fan drive is pivotable about a pivot axis (x′) spanning between the two pivot points, the pivot axis (x′) being orthogonal to a hubless wheel axis (z) of the peripheral ground-engagement part.

A method of operating a multicopter comprising a body and n thrusters, each thruster independently actuated to vector thrust angularly relative to the body about at least a first axis, the method comprising modelling dynamics of the multicoptor with a mathematical model comprising coupled, non-linear combinations of thruster variables, decoupling the mathematical model into linear combinations of thruster control variables, sensing at least one characteristic of multicopter dynamics, comparing the sensed data with corresponding target characteristic(s), computing adjustments in thruster control variables for reducing the difference between the sensed data and the target characteristic(s) according to a control algorithm, and actuating each thruster according to the computed thruster control variables to converge the multicopter towards the target characteristic(s), wherein the control algorithm is based on the decoupled mathematical model such that each thruster control variable can be adjusted independently.

A method of operating a multicopter comprising a body and n thrusters, each thruster independently actuated to vector thrust angularly relative to the body about at least a first axis, the method comprising modelling dynamics of the multicoptor with a mathematical model comprising coupled, non-linear combinations of thruster variables, decoupling the mathematical model into linear combinations of thruster control variables, sensing at least one characteristic of multicopter dynamics, comparing the sensed data with corresponding target characteristic(s), computing adjustments in thruster control variables for reducing the difference between the sensed data and the target characteristic(s) according to a control algorithm, and actuating each thruster according to the computed thruster control variables to converge the multicopter towards the target characteristic(s), wherein the control algorithm is based on the decoupled mathematical model such that each thruster control variable can be adjusted independently.