To provide a technique for accurately taking off and landing at the takeoff and landing port of an aircraft. The takeoff and landing system according to the present invention includes an aircraft having a takeoff and landing unit 5 with a takeoff and landing area and having a predetermined outer diameter in a side surface view, and a takeoff and landing port 10 wherein, when the takeoff and landing area of the takeoff and landing unit 5 of the aircraft 1 is included in and makes contact with the takeoff and landing surface of the takeoff and landing port 10, a predetermined outer diameter in a side surface view is larger than the length at the outer edge of the takeoff and landing surface.

An agricultural method includes providing a positive air pressure chamber to prevent outside contaminants from entering the chamber; growing crops in a plurality of cells in the chamber, each cell having multi-grow benches or levels, each cell further having connectors to vertical hoists for vertical movements in the chamber; maintaining pre-set temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide, watering and lighting levels to achieve predetermined plant growth; using motorized transport rails to deliver benches for operations including seeding, harvesting, grow media recovery, and bench wash; dispensing seeds in the cell with a mechanical seeder coupled to the transport rails; growing the crops with computer controlled nutrients, light and air level; and harvesting the crops and delivering the harvested crop at a selected outlet of the chamber.

A manned or unmanned aircraft has a main body with a circular shape and a circular outer periphery. One or more rotor blades extend substantially horizontally outward from the main body at or about the circular outer periphery. In addition, one or more counter-rotation blades extend substantially horizontally outward from said main body at or about the circular outer periphery, but vertically offset from the main rotor blades.

An unmanned aerial vehicle manages storage of data and transfer between other connected devices. The unmanned aerial vehicle captures sensor data from sensors on the unmanned aerial vehicle. The unmanned aerial vehicle transfers the captured sensor data from the unmanned aerial vehicle to a remote controller via a wireless interface. The captured data may be transferred via a TCP link, a UDP link, or a combination thereof. If a loss of link is detected, the captured sensor data is stored to a buffer and a battery level of the unmanned aerial vehicle and a flight status of the unmanned aerial vehicle is monitored. The stored sensor data is transferred from the buffer to a non-volatile storage responsive to the battery level dropping below a predefined threshold or detecting that the unmanned aerial vehicle is stationary and a shutdown may be imminent.

A vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft, including: a vehicle controller circuit programmed to operate the VTOL aircraft without an onboard human operator; a rotor system; an airframe; and an external cargo coupling to receive an external payload of at least approximately 300 pounds beneath the airframe.

Presented are passive-release, snap-fit coupling devices for attaching cargo to cargo suspension systems, methods for making/using such devices, and aircraft equipped with underbody suspension systems using passive-release, snap-fit coupling devices for securing payloads. An object mounting device is presented for securing an object, such as a cargo container, to a tether hook of a suspension system, such as an aircraft's payload suspension system. The object mounting device includes a base plate that affixes to the object, and a hook latch mounted onto the base plate. The hook latch includes a guide surface adjacent a catch cavity. The catch cavity releasably receives therein the tether hook. The guide surface is oriented at an oblique angle with respect to the base plate in order to slidably engage the tether hook, upon release from the catch cavity and under the force of gravity, to thereby eject the tether hook from the hook latch.

A posture control system for a hull, and a marine vessel including the posture control system, allows crew members to fish more comfortably and includes a posture control tab attached to a stern of the hull to control a posture of the hull, a driver to drive the posture control tab, and a controller to control the driver. When it is determined that the hull has changed to a fishing mode, the controller causes the driver to raise the posture control tab to a predetermined position.

Components of a device may transmit signals between one another using piezo electric transducers (PETs). In a basic system, a first PET may be coupled to and/or in contact with a first location on a member. A second PET may be coupled to and/or in contact with a second location on the member and separated from the first PET by a distance. The first PET may receive a signal (e.g., an electrical voltage) and convert the signal to a mechanical force/stress causing vibration of the member. The vibration may propagate through the member to other locations about the member. The second PET receive the vibration and may convert the vibration back to the signal, such as by converting mechanical force/stress to the electrical voltage (i.e., the signal). A similar process may be performed in reverse to enable the first and second PET to provide two-way communication.

An aircraft includes first units each including a first sensor, a rotary wing, a driver, and a first drive controller. The first drive controller is configured to generate a drive signal of the rotary wing on the basis of a flying route of the aircraft and a control law based on a flying state detected by the first sensor, and output the drive signal to the driver configured to drive the rotary wing. The control laws of the respective first drive controllers are equal to each other between the first units. The first drive controllers are each configured to generate the drive signals that correspond to all of the first units. The drivers are each configured to drive the corresponding rotary wing on the basis of corresponding one of the drive signals that correspond to all of the first units and that are generated by the first drive controllers.

An unmanned aerial vehicle comprises a housing, a plurality of first arms, a plurality of second arms, and a landing gear. The housing includes a gimbal attachment to couple a gimbal with a camera. Each of the plurality of first arms and the plurality of second arms rotatably couple with the housing at one end and has a motor coupled with a propeller on the other end. The landing gear includes a plurality of foldable legs and releasably couples with an underside of the housing. The aerial vehicle may be programmed with aerial flight path data that corresponds with a prior traced route.