An aircraft employs articulated, variable-position electric rotors having different operating configurations and transitions therebetween, as well as variable-pitch airfoils or blades, for generating vectored thrust in the different configurations. Control circuitry generates rotor position signals and blade pitch signals to independently control rotor thrust, rotor orientation and rotor blade pitch of the variable-position rotors in a manner providing (i) the transitions among the operating configurations for corresponding flight modes of the aircraft, which may include both vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) mode as well as a forward-flight mode, and (ii) commanded thrust-vectoring maneuvering of the aircraft in the different configurations, including tailoring blade pitch to optimize aspects of aircraft performance.

A design method of a high energy efficiency unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) green data acquisition system belongs to the technical field of data acquisition and optimization for UAV uplink communication. Firstly, a system optimization objective is constructed; and in a uplink communication network of a single UAV and ground sensors, the UAV receives data periodically. Secondly, according to a constructed optimization problem, the optimization objective is maximization of EE({W},{t},{S}). Finally, an original problem is decomposed into two approximate concave-convex fractional sub-problem based on a block coordinate descent method and a successive convex approximation technique to obtain a suboptimal solution; an overall iterative algorithm is proposed: in each iteration, by solving the sub-problems, wake-up scheduling S, time slot t and UAV trajectory W are alternately optimized. The solution obtained in each iteration is used as the input of next iteration. The present invention can jointly optimize the UAV flight trajectory, the sensor wake-up scheduling and the flight time slot to ensure that the transmission information amount and energy consumption of the sensors satisfy system requirements, while maximizing the energy efficiency of the system.

According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a method for operating a multicopter experiencing a failure during flight, the multicopter comprising a body, and at least four effectors attached to the body, each operable to produce both a torque and a thrust force which can cause the multicopter to fly when not experiencing said failure. The method may comprise the step of identifying a failure wherein the failure affects the torque and/or thrust force produced by an effector, and in response to identifying a failure carrying out the following steps, (1) computing an estimate of the orientation of a primary axis of said body with respect to a predefined reference frame, wherein said primary axis is an axis about which said multicopter rotates when flying, (2) computing an estimate of the angular velocity of said multicopter, (3) controlling one or more of said at least four effectors based on said estimate of the orientation of the primary axis of said body with respect to said predefined reference frame and said estimate of the angular velocity of the multicopter. The step of controlling one or more of said at least four effectors may be performed such that (a) said one or more effectors collectively produce a torque along said primary axis and a torque perpendicular to said primary axis, wherein (i) the torque along said primary axis causes said multicopter to rotate about said primary axis, and (ii) the torque perpendicular to said primary axis causes said multicopter to move such that the orientation of said primary axis converges to a target orientation with respect to said predefined reference frame, and (b) such that said one or more effectors individually produce a thrust force along said primary axis.

A hybrid unmanned aerial vehicle (10) is provided which comprises a multicopter frame (14) having a plurality of operable multicopter propulsion units (22) thereon, and an airframe body (16) which is connected to the multicopter frame (14). There is also a pair of wings (34) positioned on opposite sides of the airframe body (16) and a wing control means for manipulating the pair of wings (34) with respect to the airframe body (16) to alter an angle-of-attack of the pair of wings (34). In a first wing condition, the angle-of-attack of the pair of wings (34) is alterable with respect to a relative airflow so as to produce zero lift, and, in a second wing condition, the angle-of-attack of the pair of wings (34) is alterable with respect to the relative airflow so as to produce an optimum or near optimum lift. A method of improving the manoeuvrability of the hybrid unmanned aerial vehicle (10) is also provided, as is a method of improving the operational range of unmanned aerial vehicles.

A driving control device for a remote controlled helicopter includes an rpm detection unit that detects an rpm of a main rotor, a gyro sensor that detects angular velocities of control axes including roll, pitch and yaw axes, and a control unit that generates a control signal of a control actuator for controlling movements of the control axes based on the angular velocities detected by the gyro sensor and a steering signal sent from a transmitter. The control unit has information on the gyro sensitivities of the control axes and information on a set rpm of the main rotor which are preset for each of the flight states of the remote controlled helicopter, and corrects the gyro sensitivities based on a difference between the set rpm corresponding to a selected flight state among the flight states and an rpm of the main rotor detected by the rpm detection unit.

The present invention discloses an unmanned aerial vehicle, including: a fuselage; a battery accommodation cavity, disposed on the fuselage; a battery pack, including at least two battery blocks and mounted inside the battery accommodation cavity; a battery circuit board, electrically connected to the battery blocks in the battery pack; and a functional module, electrically connected to the battery circuit board, the battery blocks in the battery pack supplying power to the functional module via the battery circuit board at the same time. By using the solution of the present invention, endurance of the unmanned aerial vehicle is increased.

Systems, methods, and devices are provided for controlling an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) associated with flight response measures. The flight response measure may be generated by assessing one or more flight-restriction strips, assessing at least one of a location or a movement characteristic of the UAV relative to the one or more flight-restriction strips, and directing, with aid of one or more processors, the UAV to take one or more flight response measures based on at least one of the location or movement characteristic of the UAV relative to the one or more flight-restriction strips.

Embodiments are directed to a rotor system for an aircraft comprising a gearbox configured to receive torque from a drive train, a mast having a first end and a second end, wherein the first end is attached to the gearbox and the mast configured to rotate in response to the torque from the drive train, a rotor hub attached to the second end of the mast, a first light transceiver mounted adjacent to the first end of the mast, wherein the first light transceiver is does not rotate relative to the mast, and a second light transceiver mounted adjacent to the second end of the mast, wherein the second light transceiver rotates with the mast.

An aircraft has a supporting structure and a shell that can be filled with a gas and which is tensioned by the supporting structure. The supporting structure includes a plurality of rod or tube-shaped sections which define a circular, oval or polygonal main clamping plane for the shell.

A shovel includes a lower traveling body, an upper turning body mounted on the lower traveling body; and a receiver, a direction detecting device, a controller, and a display device mounted on the upper turning body, wherein the receiver is configured to receive an image captured by a camera-mounted autonomous aerial vehicle, the direction detecting device is configured to detect a direction of the shovel, the controller is configured to generate information related to a target rotation angle of the camera-mounted autonomous aerial vehicle based on the direction of the shovel, and the display device is configured to display the captured image in a same direction as a direction of an image that is captured when the camera-mounted autonomous aerial vehicle rotates by the target rotation angle.