An autonomous cargo container retrieval and delivery system locates a select cargo container and maneuvers an unmanned aerial vehicle proximate to the container for retrieval. The vehicle positions itself to engage the cargo container using a grasping mechanism, and, responsive to engaging the cargo container, retracts the cargo container toward the vehicle. As the cargo container is retracted toward the vehicle, weight sensors within the retrieval mechanism sense the weight and the weight distribution of the cargo container, and, can modify the cargo container's location on the vehicle to optimize vehicle flight operations or replace the container on the ground and alert the operator that the cargo container is too heavy or has an improper weight distribution. Upon mating the cargo container with the vehicle, a coupling mechanism latches or secures the cargo container to the vehicle for further flight and/or ground operations.

A propulsion unit with a propeller includes a nacelle; a propeller rotatably mounted in the nacelle by means of a hub. The propeller has blades mounted in a blade cuff that is pivotable about a pitch axis relative to the hub. Each blade is pivotable relative to the cuff about a folding axis. A folding device includes an actuator for folding the blades. The folding device includes a control member rotationally affixed to the blade cuff and driven by the actuator. A connecting rod is pivotably mounted, on the one hand, on a root of the associated blade and, on the other hand, on the movable control member.

An airfoil of an aircraft with an ice protection system, the airfoil having a leading edge, the ice protection system comprising a first applying mechanism for applying an ice protection fluid along at least a portion of the leading edge of the airfoil, and an ice protection fluid recovering mechanism for recovering the ice protection fluid applied by the first applying mechanism, the ice protection fluid recovering mechanism being arranged downstream of the leading edge of the airfoil. The ice protection system further comprises a second applying mechanism for applying the ice protection fluid recovered by the ice protection fluid recovering mechanism on at least one area of the airfoil arranged downstream of the leading edge of the airfoil. An aircraft may comprise at least one airfoil provided with the ice protection system. A method may be used to protect the airfoil of an aircraft from ice accumulation.

A system for creating thrust for flying machines with Vertical Take Off and Landing (VTOL) including a first propulsion unit, a second propulsion unit, a top winget, a bottom winget, two or more tracks running over said first and second propulsion units, and wherein the two or more tracks are configured to mount said top and bottom wingets.

In an aspect, a system comprising a computing device. The computing device is configured to determine a drag minimization axis of a rotor connected to an aircraft. The rotor includes a first end and a second end. The rotor is configured to rotate about an axis. The computing device is further configured to determine a halting point of the rotor, wherein the halting point includes a drag minimization axis of the rotor. The computing device is configured to send a halting command to at least a magnetic element to halt the rotor, wherein the halting process is configured to stop a movement of the rotor and position the rotor in the halting point. The position of the rotor in the halting point includes the first end pointing in one direction of the drag minimization axis and the second end pointing in an opposite direction of the first end.

An aerial vehicle adapted for vertical takeoff and landing using a set of wing mounted thrust producing elements and a set of tail mounted rotors for takeoff and landing. An aerial vehicle which is adapted to vertical takeoff with the rotors in a rotated, take-off attitude then transitions to a horizontal flight path, with the rotors rotated to a typical horizontal configuration. The aerial vehicle uses different configurations of its wing mounted rotors and propellers to reduce drag in all flight modes.

An electric motor nacelle for a vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft includes a fairing wherein an electric motor is housed equipped with at least one propeller extending outwards from a top face of the fairing, and a cooling device designed to cool the electric motor when the aircraft is in take-off, cruise and landing phases and including a reversible coolant fluid supply and exhaust manifold, designed, alternately: in the cruise phase, to receive a stream of cold fluid generated by the movement of the aircraft and to convey this stream of fluid, through the motor, towards an outlet situated opposite the propeller, and in take-off or landing phase, to receive a stream of hot fluid transmitted by the propeller and having passed through the motor.

Example embodiments are directed to generating an optimized network of flight paths and an operations volume around each of these flight paths. A network system creates a source network of paths, whereby the source network comprises a set of possible paths between two locations. The network system assigns a cost for traversing each edge of each path of the source network and aggregates the cost for traversing each edge of each path to obtain a cost for each path of the source network. Based on the cost for each path, the network system identifies a path having the lowest cost, whereby the path having the lowest cost is the optimized route between the two locations. The network system then generates an operations volume for the optimized route. The operations volume represents airspace surrounding the optimized route. The operations volume is transmitted to a further system for use.

A monitoring system for charging multiple battery packs in an electric aircraft, the system comprising a plurality of battery packs included in an electric aircraft, wherein each battery pack comprises a battery management component comprising at least a sensor configured to detect a health metric, a power bus element, wherein the power bus element is electrically connected to each battery pack of the plurality of battery packs, and a charger electrically connected to the power bus element comprising a computing device communicatively connected to each battery pack, wherein the computing device is configured to receive the plurality of health metrics from the plurality of at least a sensor, determine a charging status of each of the plurality of battery packs as a function of the plurality of health metrics, wherein a charge capacity value of each of the plurality of health metrics is compared to a charge threshold value, and wherein the charger is configured to charge each of the plurality of battery packs using the power bus element as a function of the determined charging status for each battery pack of the plurality of battery packs, wherein the battery packs are charged by the power bus element when the charge capacity value does not surpass the charge threshold value.

A system for battery management for electric aircraft batteries includes an energy storage system configured to provide energy to the electric aircraft via a power supply connection, the energy storage system including: a battery pack, a sensor configured to detect a condition parameter of the battery pack and generate a battery datum based on the condition parameter, a pack monitoring unit (PMU) configured to receive the battery datum, and a high voltage disconnect configured to terminate the power supply connection between the battery pack and the electric aircraft; a high voltage bus electrically connected to the high voltage disconnect; a primary functional display configured to display information based on battery datum; and a first controller area network (CAN) bus and a second CAN bus communicatively connected to the PMU, the high voltage bus, and the primary functional display.