An unmanned aerial vehicle for aerial transportation of delivery items. The unmanned aerial vehicle includes an attachment device to fasten and unfasten one or more delivery items to the unmanned aerial vehicle, a motor to aerially transport the one or more delivery items along a delivery route, a sensor mounted on the unmanned aerial vehicle to detect at least one environmental variable during the delivery route, and an alert system to generate a status associated with the unmanned aerial vehicle along the delivery route to an observer when the environmental variable exceeds a predetermined threshold.

A fuselage may include abase plate including one or more attachment points for securing the base plate to an unmanned aerial vehicle, a cover removably securable to the base plate, and a cargo compartment disposed in a space between the base plate and the cover at a balance point of the unmanned aerial vehicle. Accordingly, a container to transport cargo may be positioned within the cargo compartment at the balance point of the unmanned aerial vehicle, and the cargo compartment and/or the container may include one or more devices to regulate an environment within the container (e.g., with respect to temperature, vibrations, humidity, and/or the like).

Cargo-restraining devices and cargo handling systems. The cargo-restraining devices include a body comprising a protrusion and defining a slot extending at least partially through the body transverse to the protrusion. The slot is configured to slidingly receive an axle of an axle assembly that is configured to couple the cargo-restraining device to a guide rail. The cargo-restraining devices also include a torsional biasing mechanism engaged with the body and configured to engage the axle assembly to bias the body toward a default pivotal position, and a linear biasing mechanism engaged with the body and configured to engage the axle to bias the body toward a default deflection. The cargo handling systems include a first guide rail, a second guide rail, and a plurality of cargo-restraining devices, which include a first subset coupled to the first guide rail and a second subset coupled to the second guide rail.

A system for ensuring proper installation of components of a cargo management system within a cargo hold has cleats rigidly attached to a floor of the cargo hold, a first subset of the cleats having insets of a first shape, a second subset of cleats having insets of a second shape, keys and rotatable fasteners attached to the components of the cargo management system, a first subset of the keys having the first shape and a second subset of the keys having the second shape. The first subset of keys can only engage with the first subset of cleats and the second subset of keys can only engage with the second subset of cleats and the rotatable fasteners utilize a rotary movement to secure the components of the cargo management system to a respective cleat, against which the rotary fastener is engaged.

An autonomous cargo handling system having a sensor self-calibration system may comprise a sensing agent configured to monitor a sensing zone, and a system controller in electronic communication with the first sensing agent. The system controller may be configured to receive structural cargo deck data from the first sensing agent, generate a real-time cargo deck model, identify a cargo deck component in the real-time cargo deck model, and determine a position of the sensing agent relative to the cargo deck component.

A cargo restraint includes a housing. The cargo restraint further includes an inner pawl and an outer pawl coupled to the housing and configured to rotate between a retracted position and an erected position relative to the housing. The cargo restraint further includes a locking pawl rotatably coupled to at least one of the inner pawl or the outer pawl and configured to rotate between a locked position in which the inner pawl and the outer pawl are locked in the erected position and an unlocked position.

A restraint for use in restraining cargo includes a main body having an elongated shape with a contact end configured to contact and restrain the cargo and a second end opposite the contact end, the contact end defining a first face and a second face such that a first angle between the first face and the second face is at least one of less than or equal to 160 degrees. The restraint further includes a spring configured to allow the main body to rotate relative to a stationary object in response to contact with the cargo and to cause the main body to return to a neutral position in response to a lack of contact with the cargo.

A pallet hold-down system having a horizontal and vertical movement securement apparatuses and a method of using the system where a rotatable member is interconnected with a vertical and a horizontal movement securement apparatus such that rotation of the rotatable member simultaneously locks both the vertical and horizontal movement securement apparatuses to prevent horizontal and vertical pellet movements.

Systems and methods for loading a cargo aircraft are described. The system includes at least one rail disposed in an interior cargo bay of a cargo aircraft that extends at an angle relative to an interior bottom contact surface of a forward portion of the interior cargo bay, through a kinked portion and an aft portion of the interior cargo bay. Payload-receiving fixtures are described that can be used in conjunction with the rail system, allowing for large cargo, such as wind turbine blades, to be transported by aircraft. Methods of loading a cargo aircraft can include advancing the large payload into the interior cargo bay of the aircraft such that at least one of the payload-receiving fixtures rises relative to a plane defined by the interior bottom contact surface of the forward portion of the interior cargo bay. Various systems, methods, components, and related tooling are also provided.

A system is described and includes a first track assembly for connecting a top surface of a pallet supporting payload to an upper interior surface of a payload bay of an aircraft; a second track assembly for connecting a side surface of the pallet to a side interior surface of the payload bay; and a pallet actuator system for selectively moving the pallet along the first and second track assemblies between a first position in which the pallet is fully extended from the payload bay and a second position in which the pallet is fully retracted into the payload bay.