An industrial activity drone comprising an aerial vehicle having at least one rotor, an activity system, and a fastener device for fastening the activity system to the aerial vehicle. The activity system includes a structure, a computer, a work camera that is stationary relative to the aerial vehicle and that provides a view of a work zone, a distribution device having a plurality of compartments, and a turning motor enabling the distribution device to turn relative to the aerial vehicle. The industrial activity drone performs hovering flight so that the work camera faces a work zone and the distribution device is turned so that the compartment that is to be used faces the work zone, thereby performing one or more tasks.

An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) includes a central body, a first arm and a second arm each attached to the central body and extending away from the central body, a first propulsion unit supported at a distal end of the first arm and a second propulsion unit supported at a distal end of the second arm, and one or more actuators configured to adjust an orientation of the first propulsion unit and an orientation of the second propulsion unit relative to the central body during flight of the UAV. The first arm and the second arm are configured to be reversibly folded against the central body. Each of the first propulsion unit and the second propulsion unit includes rotor blades configured to rotate to generate lift for the UAV, and a motor configured to drive the rotor blades.

An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) includes a central body having a lateral dimension substantially less than a vertical dimension, and one or more propulsion units supported by the central body. The one or more propulsion units include rotor blades configured to rotate to generate lift for the UAV.

An imaging control method includes receiving a starting instruction including a flight mode of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The imaging control method also includes controlling the UAV to fly autonomously based on the flight mode. The imaging control method also includes obtaining, in the flight mode, location information of a target object, and obtaining orientation information of the target object relative to the UAV based on the target object recognized from an image captured by an imaging device carried by a gimbal mounted on the UAV. The imaging control method further includes controlling a flight path of the UAV based on the location information and the flight mode, controlling an attitude of the gimbal to render the target object to appear in the image, and controlling the imaging device to record a video in the flight mode, and to transmit video data to a terminal.

The invention specifies key small Unmanned Aerial System (sUAS) features which include the tactical mounting of the sUAS to a firearm for rapid access in tactical situations. The invention claims both the fixturing of a sUAS to a firearm and technologies and methodologies to allow for deployment of the sUAS utilizing a single hand of the operator.

In one possible embodiment, a UAV payload module retraction mechanism is provided including a payload pivotally attached to a housing. A biasing member is mounted to bias the payload out of the housing and a winch is attached to the payload. An elongated flexible drawing member is coupled between the housing and the winch, the elongated drawing flexible member being capable of being drawn by the winch to retract the payload within the housing.

This invention relates to the use of a retracting hand launching and landing pole for drones having small or short landing legs that are difficult to grasp when hand launching and landing in windy conditions and on moving platforms or irregular ground, and will not interfere with normal flat surface landings.

A control method includes determining whether an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is being thrown off, determining whether the UAV is detached from a user in response to the UAV being thrown off, determining whether the UAV has a safe distance from the user in response to the UAV being detached from the user, and controlling the UAV to fly in response to the UAV having the safe distance from the user.

An introduced autonomous aerial vehicle can include multiple cameras for capturing images of a surrounding physical environment that are utilized for motion planning by an autonomous navigation system. In some embodiments, the cameras can be integrated into one or more rotor assemblies that house powered rotors to free up space within the body of the aerial vehicle. In an example embodiment, an aerial vehicle includes multiple upward-facing cameras and multiple downward-facing cameras with overlapping fields of view to enable stereoscopic computer vision in a plurality of directions around the aerial vehicle. Similar camera arrangements can also be implemented in fixed-wing aerial vehicles.

In one possible embodiment, a UAV payload module retraction mechanism is provided including a payload pivotally attached to a housing. A biasing member is mounted to bias the payload out of the housing and a winch is attached to the payload. An elongated flexible drawing member is coupled between the housing and the winch, the elongated drawing flexible member being capable of being drawn by the winch to retract the payload within the housing.