A drone apparatus or arrangement is provided. The drone apparatus or arrangement includes a plurality of drone devices, each drone device including an unmanned vehicle configured to be controlled to hover in air at a desired height and move to a desired location, and a surface apparatus connected to the plurality of drone devices such that the plurality of drone devices are collectively controllable to reposition the surface apparatus to a desired location.

The invention pertains to a remote-controlled miniature aircraft with at least one lift surface (17), with at least one pair of propeller drives (12, 13) and with a weight element (20), the position of which can be varied in the longitudinal direction of the miniature aircraft (10) in order to change the center of gravity of the miniature aircraft (10). In order to realize a more compact and more robust construction with improved flying characteristics, the lift surface (17) of the miniature aircraft (10) is arranged above a plane defined by the rotational axes of the propeller drives (12, 13) in order to generate a lifting force for taking off and/or landing from a standstill.

An apparatus for controlling a still position in the air, allowing a miniature unmanned aerial vehicle equipped with a plurality of rotors to move swiftly to a given position in the air and make its airframe hover stably in that position, the apparatus including a miniature unmanned aerial vehicle equipped with a plurality of rotors, a stationary plane from which and on which the miniature unmanned aerial vehicle takes off and lands, and a plurality of string-like members which link the miniature unmanned aerial vehicle with the stationary plane, wherein the plurality of string-like members are stretched to a length for all the members to become tense when the miniature unmanned aerial vehicle has come to a specified position which is a given position in the air. Also, it is preferable that the plurality of string-like members include at least three string-like members.

Delivery area guidance may be provided to an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) via one or more delivery area guidance vehicles. For example, a UAV may be programmed to fly to a delivery area (e.g., a neighborhood, a block, a large residential or commercial property, and/or another area associated with landing and/or a delivery). Approaching the delivery area, the UAV may deploy one or more delivery area guidance vehicles. A guidance vehicle may be configured to maneuver a distance from the UAV, and to assist in guiding the UAV into the delivery area to the UAV.

A mobile, powered monitoring system includes an array of solar panels, a battery bank of at least one battery electrically connected to the array of solar panels, a landing and connection platform electrically connected to the battery bank, a cable electrically connected to the landing and connection platform, a drone electrically and mechanically connected to the cable, the drone having at least one camera, and a transmitter to allow images captured by the camera to be sent to a base station.

The target marking device comprises a small-size flying unit, said flying unit being configured to fly at low height and to be guided with the aid of guidance commands, said flying unit being furnished with at least one sensor able to measure at least one parameter of the environment, a data transmission unit configured to emit at least data relating to measurements carried out by the sensor from the flying unit and to receive guidance orders at the flying unit, and at least one emitter able to emit position information.

The present technology is directed to a remotely controlled aircraft that can be transported without the risk of damaging certain components, such as the arms and/or propellers. In one non-limiting example, the remotely controlled aircraft technology described herein provides a housing that allows the arms of the remotely controlled aircraft to extend and/or retract through openings in the housing. When retracted, the arms and propellers are protected within an area of the structure of the housing, and when extended, the arms and propellers are operable to make the remotely controlled aircraft fly.

Grasping devices and mechanisms are provided capable of grasping onto flat or curved surfaces repeatably and releasably using synthetic dry adhesives. Applications of these devices can be found in a large variety of robotic applications.

The present application discloses an unmanned aerial vehicle. The unmanned aerial vehicle includes a support having a plurality of receiving slots; a plurality of arms attached to the support; and a plurality of propellers respectively attached to the plurality of arms. Each of the plurality of receiving slots is configured to receive one of the plurality of arms and one of the plurality of propellers attached to the one of the plurality of arms.

An aspect of the embodiments includes a system comprising an unmanned self-propelled (USP) vehicle comprising a tool having a dispensed tool output and a mobile base station. The mobile base station comprises a power supply, a fluid medium source, and one or more processors operable to generate control signals to control the USP vehicle and to affect the dispensed tool output from the tool. The mobile base station includes an umbilical cabling and tethering (UCAT) apparatus to interconnect the USP vehicle and the mobile base station, the UCAT apparatus providing the USP vehicle with one or more of power from the power supply, a fluid medium from the fluid medium source and the control signals. The embodiments include a mobile base station and method for conducting a task.