Systems, devices, and methods for a vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aerial vehicle having a first GPS antenna and a second GPS antenna, where the second GPS antenna is disposed distal from the first GPS antenna; and an aerial vehicle flight controller, where the flight controller is configured to: utilize a GPS antenna signal via the GPS antenna switch from the first GPS antenna or the second GPS antenna; receive a pitch level of the aerial vehicle from the one or more aerial vehicle sensors in vertical flight or horizontal flight; determine if the received pitch level is at a set rotation from vertical or horizontal; and utilize the GPS signal not being utilized via the GPS antenna switch if the determined pitch level is at or above the set rotation.

An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) landing method includes detecting, via one or more visual sensors, a gesture or movement of an operator of a UAV; and controlling to decelerate, with aid of one or more processors and in response to the detected gesture or movement, one or more rotor blades of the UAV to cause the UAV to land autonomously.

The present disclosure relates to a reconfigurable battery system and method of operating the same. The reconfigurable battery system comprising a plurality of switchable battery modules, a battery supervisory circuit, and a battery pack controller, where the plurality of switchable battery modules electrically arranged in series to define a battery string defining an output voltage. The battery pack controller operably coupled to the battery supervisory circuit to selectively switch, for each of the plurality of switchable battery modules, the battery switch between the first position and the second position based at least in part on the one or more parameters of the battery and in accordance with a predetermined switching routine.

Disclosed is an aerial vehicle. The aerial vehicle may include a removable battery. Various embodiments of removable battery assemblies include a pull-bar battery assembly, a latch battery assembly, and a lever battery assembly. The aerial vehicle may also include a propeller locking mechanism to which propellers may be removably coupled. The propeller locking mechanism may obviate the need for tools for coupling or decoupling propellers to the aerial vehicle. Vents in the arm of the aerial vehicle may provide an air pathway, providing convective cooling for the electronics aerial vehicle.

An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is provided including a fuselage, a pair of wings extending outwardly from the fuselage, and a deployable surface moveable from a first undeployed position during normal flight to a second deployed position when there is a system failure during flight. A method of adjusting a center of pressure of a UAV is also provided including the steps of providing a UAV with a fuselage, a pair of wings extending outwardly from the fuselage, and a deployable surface moveable from a first undeployed position during normal flight to a second deployed position when there is a system failure during flight, sensing when there is a system failure, and moving the deployable surface from the first undeployed position to the second deployed position.

An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) landing method includes detecting, via one or more sensors on-board the UAV, a positional change of the UAV while the UAV is airborne; and generating, with aid of one or more processors on-board the UAV and in response to the detected positional change, one or more command signals to decelerate one or more rotor blades of the UAV, thereby causing the UAV to land autonomously.

An authentication method includes sending, by a device of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), a device identification (ID) of the device and a randomly generated random number to an authentication apparatus of the UAV; receiving, by the device from the authentication apparatus, an encrypted session key and an encrypted random number that are obtained by the authentication apparatus based on the device identification; decrypting, by the device according to a device key of the device, the encrypted session key and the encrypted random number to obtain decrypted session key and decrypted random number, respectively; and determining, by the device, whether an authentication of the authentication apparatus is passed based on the randomly generated random number and the decrypted random number.

An innovative passive cooling solution with sealed UAV enclosure system allows heat from a semiconductor chip to be dissipated to the ambient environment through evaporation/condensation phase-change cooling and air cooling a heat sink such as a fin without any additional power consumption to operate cooling solution. One example of such a solution may include a pipe with a fin and a fluid. The pipe may include a wick structure along an inner surface of the pipe configured to allow the fluid to travel within the wick structure and to allow a vapor form of the fluid to exit the wick structure towards a center of the pipe.

An unmanned aerial vehicle includes a processor and a memory storing instructions executable by the processor. The instructions include receiving diagnostic information from a vehicle, processing the diagnostic information to diagnose a vehicle failure, and outputting repair instructions for addressing the vehicle failure. A corresponding method is also disclosed.

Various embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to systems and methods for drone-based systems and methods for capturing a multi-media representation of an entity. In some embodiments, the multi-media representation is digital, or multi-view, or interactive, and/or the combinations thereof. According to particular embodiments, a drone having a camera is controlled or operated to obtain a plurality of images having location information. The plurality of images, including at least a portion of overlapping subject matter, are fused to form multi-view interactive digital media representations.