An apparatus providing continuous tilt and variable pitch for rotors on a fixed wing VTOL aircraft. An actuator on a housing rotates a first pivot point on a motor mount to tilt a motor to horizontal and vertical positions. Simultaneously, an actuator on the motor mount rotates a fork on a second pivot point on the motor mount to adjust the pitch of the rotors attached to a free end of the motor's drive shaft. A lower swash plate on the drive shaft is attached to the fork. An upper swash plate on the drive shaft is attached to the rotors. The swash plates are attached to each other with a shaft bushing attached to a shaft ball bearing. The shaft bushing allows both swash plates to move linearly along the shaft when the fork is rotated. The shaft ball bearing allows the upper swash plate to rotate with the drive shaft while the lower swash plate remains stationary.

An aerial vehicle is provided including rotor units connected to the aerial vehicle, and a control system configured to operate at least one of the rotor units. The rotor unit includes rotor blades, wherein each rotor blade includes a surface area, and wherein an asymmetric parameter is defined, at least in part, by the relationship between the surface areas of the rotor blades. The value of the asymmetric parameter is selected such that the operation of the rotor unit: (i) moves the rotor blades such that each rotor blade produces a respective vortex and (ii) the respective vortices cause the rotor unit to produce a sound output having an energy distribution defined, at least in part, by a set of frequencies, wherein the set of frequencies includes a fundamental frequency, one or more harmonic frequencies, and one or more non-harmonic frequencies having a respective strength greater than a threshold strength.

A propulsion assembly for an aircraft includes a nacelle having a rapid connection interface, at least one battery disposed within the nacelle, a speed controller coupled to the battery and a propulsion system coupled to the speed controller and the battery. The propulsion system includes an electric motor having an output drive and a rotor assembly having a plurality of rotor blades that are rotatable with the output drive of the electric motor in a rotational plane to generate thrust. The electric motor is operable to rotate responsive to power from the battery at a speed responsive to the speed controller. The rapid connection interface of the nacelle is couplable to a rapid connection interface of an airframe nacelle station to provide structural and electrical connections therebetween that are operable for rapid in-situ assembly.

According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a method for iterating a multicopter experiencing a failure during flight, the multicopter comprising a body, and at least four effectors attached lo 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 living, (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 ,u least four effectors may be performed such that (a) said one or mote electors 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 multimodal unmanned aerial system includes a fuselage forming a payload bay, a control wing forward of the fuselage including a first plurality of propulsion assemblies and a primary wing aft of the fuselage including a second plurality of propulsion assemblies. The primary wing has a greater wingspan than the control wing. The multimodal unmanned aerial system includes linkages rotatably coupling the fuselage to the control wing and the primary wing. The fuselage, the control wing and the primary wing are configured to synchronously rotate between a vertical takeoff and landing flight mode and a forward flight mode. The fuselage, the control wing and the primary wing are substantially vertical in the vertical takeoff and landing flight mode and substantially horizontal in the forward flight mode.

Certain examples of the present disclosure relate to systems and methods for controlling a vehicle. In particular, the present disclosure provides systems and methods for moving an aerial vehicle by decoupling the pitch- and roll-movement from thrust production. This decoupling can occur by shifting the center of gravity of the vehicle to create a moment about a desired axis. Some examples describe single-shaft rotary vehicles, while other examples describe coaxial rotary vehicles. The vehicles described herein may include a first mass moveable from a first position to a second position to create at least one of a rolling moment or a pitching moment to alter the direction of movement of the vehicle. A second mass may also be provided to alter the rolling moment or pitching moment. Methods for controlling the vehicles are also provided herein.

Systems, methods and devices for rotary and fixed wing convertible aircraft with monocopters. A monocopter flying device may include a main body and a wing pivotally coupled to the main body. A wing actuator operably coupled to the wing may be configured to pivot the wing about its longitudinal axis. The flying device may include a propulsion unit pivotally coupled to the main body that includes a motor and a propeller having a hub and radially extending blades. A propulsion unit actuator may be configured to pivot the propulsion unit about an axis non-parallel to the axis of rotation of the propellor. The flying device may include a control system including one or more processors configured to control operation of the devices. The flying devices may connect together to form a flying system having multiple flight modes with varying orientations. The flying system may disaggregate the flying devices in flight.

Systems, methods and devices for rotary and fixed wing convertible aircraft with monocopters. A monocopter flying device may include a main body and a wing pivotally coupled to the main body. A wing actuator operably coupled to the wing may be configured to pivot the wing about its longitudinal axis. The flying device may include a propulsion unit pivotally coupled to the main body that includes a motor and a propeller having a hub and radially extending blades. A propulsion unit actuator may be configured to pivot the propulsion unit about an axis non-parallel to the axis of rotation of the propellor. The flying device may include a control system including one or more processors configured to control operation of the devices. The flying devices may connect together to form a flying system having multiple flight modes with varying orientations. The flying system may disaggregate the flying devices in flight.

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 tour 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.

Method, apparatus, and computer program product are provided for assessing road surface condition. In some embodiments, candidate locations each forecast to have a dangerous road surface condition are determined, an optimized flight path is determined comprising a sequence of sites corresponding to the candidate locations, dispatch is made to a first site within the sequence, and a road surface condition at the first site is assessed using an onboard sensor (e.g., spectroradiometer). In some embodiments, a check for new information is performed before dispatch is made to a second site. In some embodiments, the candidate locations are determined using both a model forecast and data-mined locations considered hazardous. In some embodiments, the optimized flight path is determined using TSP optimization constrained by available flight time and prioritized by frequency of historical incident and severity of forecast road surface condition.