The disclosure relates to a biomimetic insect. The biomimetic insect includes a trunk and at least two wings connected to the trunk. The wing includes a carbon nanotube layer and a vanadium dioxide layer (VO.sub.2) layer stacked with each other. Because the drastic, reversible phase transition of vanadium dioxide, the wing has giant deformation amplitude and fast response.

A flapping-wing aircraft includes a support frame, a motor coupled to the support frame, a pair of wings coupled to the support frame, and a linkage assembly coupled to the support frame and configured to translate an output torque of the motor into flapping motion of the wings, wherein the linkage assembly includes a first link coupled to a rotational output of the motor, a second link pivotably coupled to the first link at a first pivot joint, a third link pivotably coupled to the second link at a second pivot joint, and a fourth link pivotably coupled to the support frame and slidably coupled to the third link, and wherein the fourth link is coupled to a first wing of the pair of wings.

Example embodiment provides an aircraft with improved agility. The aircraft includes a main body, at least two wing assemblies, at least two motors, and a controller. The wing assemblies are attached to the main body. Each motor tilts one wing assembly with a tilting angle. The controller is connected with the motors for controlling the tilting angle of the wing assembly. Each wing assembly further includes a wing, a power plant, and a propeller that is driven by the power plant for providing propulsion. Each wing assembly tilts with an individual tilting angle, so that the aircraft can fly with improved agility. The power plants and propellers on the wings can each be controlled independently in synchronism with the tilting wings.

The present invention discloses a method of automatic agricultural pollination based on a micro air vehicle, with detailed steps as follows: in a current pollination working area j, a central control system CCS assigning a work task to a micro air vehicle pollinator MAVi; capturing a data of flower via a camera and a data acquisition device; processing an original data collected from a specific data source, and then screening, filtering and preprocessing the original data; according to a data flow, performing an operation of recognizing flower; assessing whether a designated flower is successfully recognized or not; the micro air vehicle pollinator MAVi pollinating the designated flower; assessing a pollination result and an effectiveness of the micro air vehicle pollinator MAVi, and determining whether to end a work of the current working area j and to enter into the next working area j+1 or not. The present invention is more efficient in an automatic process, reducing an operating cost at the same time, being advantageous for propelling intellectualization, and the present invention can provide a higher efficiency and a better pollination quality and improve an agricultural productivity.

A vehicle, such as a micro-aerial vehicle or underwater vehicle, includes at least one lift structure, such as a low-aspect-ratio wing or a fin, respectively. The at least one lift structure comprises one or more alulas. A leading surface of each alula is (a) flush with a leading surface of the lift structure or (b) offset from the leading edge of the lift surface by up to approximately 10% of the chord length of the lift structure. The length of each alula is no more than approximately 20% of a lift structure length corresponding to the lift structure. In various embodiments, the alula is deflected or canted with respect to a plane defined by the lift structure. In an example embodiment, the alulas may be slid or translated along at least a portion of the span of the lift structure.

A circulation control system for an aerial vehicle. The system comprises an air supply unit attached to the aerial vehicle configured to generate a specified amount of mass air flow; an air delivery system, the air supply unit and the air delivery system being connected via at least one tube that turns at least one right angle; a circulation control wing through which air from the air supply unit is delivered through the air delivery system, the circulation control wing comprising at least one plenum configured to blow the air out of a slot in a trailing edge of the wing, and at least one dual radius flap positioned behind the slot.

The subject matter described herein includes a modular and extensible approach to integrate noisy measurements from multiple heterogeneous sensors that yield either absolute or relative observations at different and varying time intervals, and to provide smooth and globally consistent estimates of position in real time for autonomous flight. We describe the development of the algorithms and software architecture for a new 1.9 kg MAV platform equipped with an IMU, laser scanner, stereo cameras, pressure altimeter, magnetometer, and a GPS receiver, in which the state estimation and control are performed onboard on an Intel NUC 3.sup.rd generation i3 processor. We illustrate the robustness of our framework in large-scale, indoor-outdoor autonomous aerial navigation experiments involving traversals of over 440 meters at average speeds of 1.5 m/s with winds around 10 mph while entering and exiting buildings.

Embodiments include apparatus and methods for dispatching package delivery by aerial vehicles. The embodiments include a route module, a wind model, and a dispatcher. The route module is configured to generate a route for package delivery. The wind model configured to store wind factors associated with geographic areas and provide one or more wind factors associated with the route for package delivery. The dispatcher is configured to identify one or more aerial vehicles for assistance of package delivery in response to the one or more wind factors associated with the route and send a message to the one or more aerial vehicles.

A method, apparatus, and system provide for three-dimensional (3D) image reconstructing. Two or more cameras are mounted to one or more vehicles. The cameras are capable of moving with respect to each other. A baseline distance between each of the cameras is determined. A two-dimensional (2D) image is simultaneously acquired from each of the cameras. The acquiring is time synchronized and the vehicles are moving during the acquiring. The 2D images from the two or more cameras are matched. A delta pose between the cameras is reconstructed based on the matching and baseline distance. Based on the delta pose, a 3D image is instantaneously constructed.

The present disclosure provides an operation method of a movable device. The operation method includes sensing, by the movable device, whether the movable device is thrown out by a thrower; in response to a sensing of being thrown out, controlling the movable device to hover in air; and after controlling to hover, performing, by the movable device, an aerial operation of the movable device. The disclosed operation method incorporates a throw operation such that a flat ground, or even a ground with any surface condition, is not required for the movable device to take off. Therefore, energy may be saved. Moreover, after the movable device is self-controlled to hover in the air, the movable device may be able to perform subsequent aerial operations such as capturing images.