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.

We describe an aircraft design, which is capable of vertical takeoff and landing and also high-speed cruise on a fixed wing. The aircraft comprises a fuselage with a probe-deployment mechanism, which deploys a sample-gathering probe, located at a front end of the fuselage. A main wing is coupled to a middle section of the fuselage, wherein a right motor and right propeller are coupled to a right side of the main wing, and a left motor and left propeller are coupled to a left side of the main wing. The right and left propellers are angled with respect to the fuselage enabling the aircraft to pitch up to a vertical-takeoff mode and pitch down a horizontal-cruising mode. A pitch motor and pitch propeller are located at the rear end of the fuselage, wherein the pitch propeller is angled to provide substantially vertical thrust to control a pitch of the fuselage.

An agricultural method includes providing a positive air pressure chamber to prevent outside contaminants from entering the chamber; growing crops in a plurality of cells in the chamber, each cell having multi-grow benches or levels, each cell further having connectors to vertical hoists for vertical movements in the chamber; maintaining pre-set temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide, watering and lighting levels to achieve predetermined plant growth; using motorized transport rails to deliver benches for operations including seeding, harvesting, grow media recovery, and bench wash; dispensing seeds in the cell with a mechanical seeder coupled to the transport rails; growing the crops with computer controlled nutrients, light and air level; and harvesting the crops and delivering the harvested crop at a selected outlet of the chamber.

An unmanned autonomous vehicle is provided and includes at least one propulsion device, at least one image capture device, at least one adjusting member to adjust an tilt angle of the image capture device and is configured to receive, from a control device, a capturing instruction to capture at least one image, acquire angle information indicating a tilt angle of the image capture device, and control, in a case where the capturing instruction is received, the propulsion device so that the image capture device captures at least one image at an altitude which is determined based on the acquired angle information.

Disclosed herein is a method for an image analysis server to detect a change to a structure by using a drone. The method for an image analysis server to detect a change to a structure by using a drone includes: receiving images of a specific inspection target structure taken at different time points by a drone; detecting the difference between an image taken at a first time point and an image taken at a second time point based on the received images; and detecting a change to the inspection target structure via the detected difference, and generating a risk signal and then transmitting it to an administrator terminal.

A system and method for detecting an anomaly of an optically transparent or translucent object are disclosed. The system and method include a light source configured to emit light, a light transmission element having a textured surface, and an optical couplant configured to be disposed between the light transmission element and the object. At least a portion of the light emitted by the light source is configured to pass into the light transmission element through the textured surface and pass into the object through the optical couplant. At least a portion of the light that passes into the object internally reflects within the object and impinges on the anomaly to provide an illumination that indicates the location of the anomaly.

Systems, methods, and apparatus for acquiring surface profile information (e.g., depths at multiple points) from limited-access structures and objects using an autonomous or remotely operated flying platform (such as an unmanned aerial vehicle). The systems proposed herein use a profilometer to measure the profile of an area on a surface where visual inspection has indicated that the surface has a potential anomaly. After the system has gathered data representing the surface profile in the area containing the potential anomaly, a determination may be made whether the collected image data indicates that the structure or object should be repaired or may be used as is.

Methods and systems for assessing property based on predictive analytics techniques that use external data are described herein. A server may identify a reference set of information for a reference property evaluated with a reference risk score in accordance with a risk score rule that meets a predetermined threshold. The server may obtain an external data file from an external data source, wherein the external data file includes an external set of information for a prospective property. The server may compare the reference set of information with the external set of information to identify a common feature, condition, or attribute, and if identified, may evaluate the prospective property by determining a predicted risk score based on the external set of information in accordance with the risk score rule. If the predicted risk score is determined to meet the threshold, the server may indicate the prospective property as pre-approved.

An autonomous unmanned aerial vehicle detecting system for monitoring a geographic area includes an unmanned blimp adapted to hover in air, at least one camera mounted on the blimp to scan at least a portion of the geographic area, a location sensor to determine a location of the blimp, and a controller arranged in communication with blimp, the at least one camera, and the location sensor. The controller is configured to position the blimp at a desired location in the air based on inputs received from the location sensor, and monitor the geographic area based on the images received from at least one camera. The controller is also configured to detect a presence of an unmanned aerial vehicle within the geographic area based on the received images, and determine whether the detected unmanned aerial vehicle is an unauthorized unmanned aerial vehicle based on the received images.

A movable object for responding to an object includes a first passive infrared sensor having a first detection range and a first field of view, and one or more second passive infrared sensors each having a second detection range and a second field of view. The second detection range is longer than the first detection range and the second field of view is smaller than the first field of view. The movable object further includes one or more processors configured to recognize the object based on one or more heat signals received from at least one of the first passive infrared sensor or the one or more second passive infrared sensors, and perform a flight response measure to control the movable object based on the recognized object.