A system is disclosed for exploiting a transmitted signal from an aircraft to determine characteristics of any of the aircraft's motion or meteorological conditions in which the aircraft is moving. The system includes a plurality of platforms for detecting Doppler shift information of the transmitted signal at each of the plurality of platforms, and a processing system for determining characteristics of any of the aircraft's motion or meteorological conditions in which the aircraft is moving.

A method of determining soil condition for possible treatment. The method comprises taking a soil sample at a predetermined location with an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). Sensing at least one characteristic of the soil with a sensor. Storing a value representative of the at least one characteristic and the predetermined location in a database. Determining if the value is within an acceptable range, and taking a corrective action to adjust the valve within the acceptable range.

The present invention generally relates to deploying airborne agents to capture data related to a physical environment. An exemplary device comprises one or more processors; a memory; and one or more programs that includes instructions for: receiving a user request indicative of a geographical region and a data type; in response to receiving the user request, generating a flight path based on the region; causing the airborne agent to traverse at least a portion of the region based on the generated flight path; causing the airborne agent to gather data based on the data type in the user request; processing the gathered data to obtain a set of data of interest; and providing an output based on the set of data of interest.

A computer-implemented method includes receiving a first input associated with an incident location of an incident. A second input associated with a measurement zone surrounding the incident location is received. The method further includes producing, via a display monitor, a set of waypoints associated with a flight path of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) based on the first input and the second input. The set of waypoints is displayed on a satellite aerial map including the incident location.

Systems, devices, and methods including a processor having addressable memory, where the processor is configured to: determine one or more flight paths for an aerial vehicle, where the determined flight path creates a continuous surface about one or more potential gas sources of a survey site receive a trace gas data from one or more trace gas sensors of the aerial vehicle of the continuous surface as the aerial vehicle flies the determined one or more flight paths; and determine based on the received trace gas data whether a gas leak is present in the received survey site and a rate of the gas leak if present in the survey site.

A computer receives a hotspot and a corresponding incentive, where the hotspot is a geolocation for collecting the weather data. The computer presents the received hotspot and the corresponding incentive to a user. The computer receives the weather data from the drone, transmits the weather data to a server, and updates a scorecard with the incentive corresponding to the hotspot based on determining that the drone reached the hotspot.

An aircraft, system, and method for sensing and/or releasing chemical agents by an aircraft is disclosed. The aircraft, system, and method may employ a chemical sensor, a wind sensor, an imaging device for capturing environmental features, and/or a processor operably coupled therewith. The processor may be used for collecting data from the chemical sensor, the wind sensor, and the imaging device to identify a navigational waypoint and to provide commands to the chemical sensor or to the aircraft based at least in part on collected data.

For reducing a risk potential of an aircraft, a safety device for the aircraft is provided, said aircraft having a flight control device for flight control of the aircraft based on global position coordinates and/or flight altitude values of the aircraft detected by a sensor apparatus of the flight control device. The safety device comprises a flight altitude detection apparatus configured to detect a current flight altitude of the aircraft independently of the sensor apparatus, a determination apparatus configured to determine whether the current flight altitude of the aircraft detected by the flight altitude detection apparatus exceeds a predetermined maximum altitude, and a rescue apparatus configured to interrupt the flight control of the aircraft when the current flight altitude of the aircraft detected by the flight altitude detection apparatus exceeds the predetermined maximum altitude.

A system for deploying a payload from an aerial vehicle onto a target surface includes a delivery device that is detachably couplable to the aerial vehicle. The delivery device includes an elongated shaft comprising a proximal end and a distal end, a plurality of fins extending along the plurality of the shaft, and a payload holder coupled to the distal end of the elongated shaft. The delivery device may additionally include an attachment portion and a floatation device. The payload holder may be detachably coupled to the payload such that the delivery device detaches from payload upon impact at the target surface. The system may additionally include a release mechanism for detachably coupling the delivery device to the aerial vehicle. The release mechanism includes a receiver and a dropper device. The release mechanism may be remotely controlled by an operator to release the delivery device from the aerial vehicle.

A system comprising one or more autonomous vehicles equipped with sensors to perform continuous multi-domain gravity gradiometry measurements to better understand density variation of an object, surface and/or subsurface. The autonomous vehicles may be equipped with modular customizable sensor packages having a plurality of gravity gradiometry sensors with differing sensitivities. Each sensor may be tethered to the autonomous vehicle by a tether which can be lengthened or shortened to vary the distance between the sensor and the ground. The autonomous vehicles may include an onboard data processing and visualization system configured for generating a survey model of a scanned area and/or volume based on the data received sensors on one or more autonomous vehicles. The data system may be configured to implement data-driven processes in a feedback loop to optimize positioning of the autonomous vehicle system to record measurements with less noise to refine the survey model.