An aircraft and an outer shell therefor. The aircraft includes an outer shell; and main body components, accommodated in the outer shell. The outer shell includes: an inner cavity, the inner cavity being provided with a space for at least accommodating the main body components of the aircraft; an outer surface, the outer surface enclosing the inner cavity.

A heavy payload, autonomous UAV able to deliver supply by way of airdrop with more precision and at a lower cost. The UAV is equipped with two movable wing systems that rotate from a stowed position to a deployed position upon jettison of the UAV from a mothership. The UAV can be controlled remotely or it can operate autonomously and the movable wings can include ailerons to effectuate flight control of the UAV. The UAV can be reusable or can be an expendable UAV.

Transformable unmanned vehicles and related methods are disclosed. An example vehicle includes a body having, a first cap, a second cap spaced from the first cap, and a plurality of segments radially spaced relative to a longitudinal axis of the body. The segments are movable relative to the first cap and the second cap. The vehicle includes a payload supported by the first cap. An actuation system moves the segments relative to the first cap and the second cap to transform the body between a first configuration and a second configuration different than the first configuration.

There is disclosed a multicopter vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft. The aircraft comprises am airframe with spatial design, a pilot seat, a cockpit, controls, engine units, engine compartment, control system, remote control system. The airframe consists of a central section and, at least, two peripheral sections, wherein peripheral sections can be folded up or down, or be retracted under the central section. The central section and peripheral sections of the airframe have spatial design. Each of the peripheral sections comprises at least three standard engine compartments which are connected to each other. Inside each engine compartment there is an engine unit which comprises at least one engine and at least one horizontally rotating propeller together with the control hardware. Each engine unit is an autonomous member of the distributed control system (DCS).

The present disclosure primarily relates to interceptor unmanned aerial systems and methods for countering Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), although the inventions disclosed herein are useful for capture of any aerial object. The system utilizes a rigid effector frame, an effector attached directly to the frame, and at least two propulsion elements connected to the effector frame, and is configured to intercept and disable threat UAS. The disclosed systems can be oriented to any virtually any angle to maximize the chances of intercept.

In an aspect, in general, a spooling apparatus includes a filament feeding mechanism for deploying and retracting filament from the spooling apparatus to an aerial vehicle, an exit geometry sensor for sensing an exit geometry of the filament from the spooling apparatus, and a controller for controlling the feeding mechanism to feed and retract the filament based on the exit geometry.

A shock resistant fuselage system includes first and second fuselage side walls, each of the first and second fuselage side walls having a plurality of guide posts, and a printed circuit board (PCB) rigidly attached to at least one of the first and second fuselage side walls, the PCB having a plurality of guide slots, each of the plurality of guide posts slideably seated in a respective one of the plurality of guide slots so that elastic deformation of the PCB is guided by the guide slots between the first and second fuselage side walls.

A rotor-based remote flying vehicle platform includes a vehicle body. The vehicle body includes a processing unit that receives positional sensor data and provides flight controls based upon the received positional sensor data. The vehicle body also includes a first frame connection interface that is configured to interface with a plurality of different arm types. The first frame connection interface comprises a physical connection and an electronic connection. Additionally, the rotor-based remote flying vehicle platform includes a first arm, of a rotor-based remote flying vehicle platform, that is selectively connectable to the vehicle body through the first frame connection interface. The first arm comprises a first arm connection interface that is selectively connectable to the first frame connection interface. Additionally, the first arm comprises a first motor mounted to the first arm.

The present disclosure discloses a trans-media unmanned aerial vehicle device and a control method thereof. The trans-media unmanned aerial vehicle device includes a housing, and a piston which is arranged in the housing and is capable of moving in a reciprocating manner in the housing; one end of the housing is provided with an opening; several flying wings are uniformly arranged in a circumferential direction of the piston; the flying wings are rotatably connected to a side of the piston facing the opening and are spread or retracted like an umbrella; and under the pushing of the piston, the flying wings can be spread to the outside of the housing and retracted back into the housing.

The present disclosure discloses a trans-media unmanned aerial vehicle device and a control method thereof. The trans-media unmanned aerial vehicle device includes a housing, and a piston which is arranged in the housing and is capable of moving in a reciprocating manner in the housing; one end of the housing is provided with an opening; several flying wings are uniformly arranged in a circumferential direction of the piston; the flying wings are rotatably connected to a side of the piston facing the opening and are spread or retracted like an umbrella; and under the pushing of the piston, the flying wings can be spread to the outside of the housing and retracted back into the housing.