A tiltrotor aircraft has a fuselage and a wing having upper and lower surfaces with a plurality of channels extending therebetween, each with a cycloidal rotor mounted therein. At least two pylon assemblies are rotatably coupled to the wing to selectively operate the tiltrotor aircraft between helicopter and airplane flight modes. Each pylon assembly includes a mast and a proprotor assembly operable to rotate with the mast to generate thrust. At least one engine provides torque and rotational energy to the proprotor assemblies and the propulsion assemblies. Each of the cycloidal rotors has a plurality of blades that travels in a generally circular path and has a plurality of pitch angle configurations such that each cycloidal rotor is operable to generate a variable thrust and a variable thrust vector, thereby providing vertical lift augmentation, roll control, yaw control and/or pitch control in the helicopter flight mode.

An aerial vehicle includes a fuselage, a wing, and a wing shift device. The wing shift device is configured to be coupled to the fuselage. The wing shift device comprises a plurality of apertures for coupling the wing to the aerial vehicle. The plurality of apertures are configured to permit the wing to be shifted in a forward or aft direction along the fuselage based on a center of gravity of the aerial vehicle.

A hybrid VTOL/high speed aircraft may comprise systems and functions for in flight configuration changes from high lift helicopter or VTOL mode to fixed or swing-wing high speed aircraft mode to accommodate a variety of functions or missions.

An aerial vehicle is includes a wing, first and second rotors, and a movement sensor. The first and second multicopter rotors are rotatably coupled to the wing, the first multicopter rotor is rotatable relative to the wing about a first lateral axis, and the second multicopter rotor is rotatable relative to the wing about a second lateral axis. Each multicopter rotor is coupled to each other multicopter rotor, wherein the multicopter rotors are restricted to collective synchronous rotation relative to the wing between a multicopter configuration and a fixed-wing configuration. The movement sensor is coupled to the multicopter rotors, wherein the movement sensor is positioned to rotate relative to the wing when the multicopter rotors rotate relative to the wing between the multicopter and fixed-wing configurations.

A modular Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) includes an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) parent module and UAV child modules. A main wing extends from a respective fuselage of the modules. The UAS includes docking mechanisms coupled to wingtips of the main wings. The child modules dock with the wingtips of the parent or an adjacent child module. Docking forms a linked-flight configuration, with undocking and separation from the parent or adjacent child module achieving an independent-flight configuration. The modules have booms arranged transverse to the main wings and parallel to the longitudinal axis, as well as front and rear rotors/propellers. The front and rear propellers have axes of rotation that are normal to a plane of the longitudinal axis in a vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) configuration, with the axis of rotation of the rear propellers parallel to the longitudinal axis in a forward-flight configuration.

An aerial vehicle is includes a wing, first and second rotors, and a movement sensor. The first and second multicopter rotors are rotatably coupled to the wing, the first multicopter rotor is rotatable relative to the wing about a first lateral axis, and the second multicopter rotor is rotatable relative to the wing about a second lateral axis. Each multicopter rotor is coupled to each other multicopter rotor, wherein the multicopter rotors are restricted to collective synchronous rotation relative to the wing between a multicopter configuration and a fixed-wing configuration. The movement sensor is coupled to the multicopter rotors, wherein the movement sensor is positioned to rotate relative to the wing when the multicopter rotors rotate relative to the wing between the multicopter and fixed-wing configurations.

An apparatus includes: a mechanical interface configured to couple an object to a frame of an aircraft; one or more processors; and a computer readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the apparatus to perform functions that include: detecting a control input provided to an actuator of the aircraft and/or an output of a sensor that indicates a state of the actuator; determining, based on the control input provided to the actuator and/or the output of the sensor, a procedure for moving the object relative to the frame; and using the mechanical interface to perform the procedure.

A vehicle control system (110) for use with at least one fluidic control effector (102) for a vehicle, the vehicle control system (110) comprising a controller (110), wherein the controller is configured to: receive a vehicle control input indicating a demanded vehicle manoeuvre, wherein the input is further configured to receive condition data; determine a fluid mass-flow for the at least one fluid control effector based on the received vehicle control input and the condition data, wherein the relationship between the fluid mass-flow and the vehicle control input is substantially non-linear; and output data relating to the determined fluid mass-flow to effect the demanded vehicle manoeuvre, wherein the fluid mass-flow is determined to provide a substantially linear relationship between the vehicle control input and the effected demanded vehicle manoeuvre.

A vehicle control system (110) for use with at least one fluidic control effector (102) for a vehicle, the vehicle control system (110) comprising a controller (110), wherein the controller is configured to: receive a vehicle control input indicating a demanded vehicle manoeuvre, wherein the input is further configured to receive condition data; determine a fluid mass-flow for the at least one fluid control effector based on the received vehicle control input and the condition data, wherein the relationship between the fluid mass-flow and the vehicle control input is substantially non-linear; and output data relating to the determined fluid mass-flow to effect the demanded vehicle manoeuvre, wherein the fluid mass-flow is determined to provide a substantially linear relationship between the vehicle control input and the effected demanded vehicle manoeuvre.

The present invention relates to a high-altitude wind farm aircraft system. The aircraft has a plurality of wind turbines for capturing wind energy and converting same into electric energy which is stored in an onboard battery system. The electric energy, before storage, is stepped down by a transformer and converted into DC by an AC-DC converter. For use of the stored energy, the aircraft is brought to the ground and the batteries are removed to connect to a microgrid or any other electric circuit. The batteries can be installed again in the aircraft system for recharging with the aircraft going to high altitude for recharging the batteries. In one embodiment, the aircraft has an altitude indicator for indicating an appropriate altitude level for maximum efficiency of the system.