A system and method for participating in a multi-USV performance in three-dimensional space. The USV can include: a location identification system operable to provide location coordinates, a guidance system operable to guide the USV toward target waypoints, a propulsion system operable to propel the USV, a power supply operable to provide power to components of the USV, and an exoskeleton surrounding the location identification system, the guidance system, the propulsion system, and the power supply, the exoskeleton including a set of sensory devices, and at least one latching mechanism operable to facilitate a docking operation with a proximate USV.

Embodiments of the present invention provide an aircraft for vertical take-off and landing. In various embodiments, an aircraft assembly includes at least one first wing portion providing a lift force during a horizontal flight, at least one wing opening disposed on a vertical axis of the at least one first wing portion and at least one thruster positioned inside the at least one wing opening to provide vertical thrust during a vertical flight. The aircraft assembly can further include air vents positioned inside at least one of the wing openings. The air vents can further include louvres positioned over or under the air vents to open and close the wing openings. The thruster can further be used to provide flight control for the aircraft.

An aircraft defining an upright orientation and an inverted orientation, a ground station; and a control system for remotely controlling the flight of the aircraft. The ground station has an auto-land function that causes the aircraft to invert, stall, and controllably land in the inverted orientation to protect a payload and a rudder extending down from the aircraft. In the upright orientation, the ground station depicts the view from a first aircraft camera. When switching to the inverted orientation: (1) the ground station depicts the view from a second aircraft camera, (2) the aircraft switches the colors of red and green wing lights, extends the ailerons to act as inverted flaps, and (3) the control system adapts a ground station controller for the inverted orientation. The aircraft landing gear is an expanded polypropylene pad located above the wing when the aircraft is in the upright orientation.

A system and method for providing landing guidance to an aircraft may include an aviation headset having one or more sensors and one or more antennas, a position module configured to determine a position of the headset, and an encoder module for encoding the position information as an audible subchannel. The encoded audible subchannel may be included with voice transmissions via the aircraft radio. A guidance portion may receive the transmission and analyze the encoded audible subchannel to determine the position of the aircraft. Landing guidance may be communicated based on a comparison of the position with a desired glide path.

A display system for an aircraft includes a sensor configured to capture data associated with a landing platform on a movable carrier. The data includes current energy parameters of the movable carrier. The display system further includes a processing unit configured to receive the data representative of the landing platform. The processing unit is further configured to generate display commands associated with the landing platform. The display system further includes a display device coupled the processing unit for receiving the display commands and operable to render first symbology representing the landing platform.

Systems and methods of precision landing in adverse conditions are provided. In one embodiment, a precision landing system comprises a vehicle including: a receiver configured to receive position information for structures and a landing zone of a landing site and a processor coupled to a memory, the memory includes three-dimensional geometric structural information for a landing site. The processor configured to: receive the position information from the receiver; assign geographical coordinates to the three-dimensional geometric structural information using the position information for the structures and the landing zone of the landing site; send the three-dimensional geometric structural information and graphical rendering information to a display device. The vehicle further includes a display device, wherein the display device is configured to render and display a three-dimensional representation of the landing site in real-time based on the three-dimension geometric structural information and the graphical rendering information from the processor.

Visual landing aids including a series of contrasting circles and polygons for unmanned aerial vehicles that are capable of being accurately detected over a wide range of angles and distances by an unmanned aerial vehicle equipped with a camera and shape detection capabilities. The visual landing said may be implemented using contrasting colors for the pattern which reflect visible and/or UV or infrared light, or by light emitting elements. In some examples, the landing aids includes a secondary smaller version of the landing aid shape pattern that is embedded within the larger pattern, to enable greater detection range while facilitating close-in precision guidance. In still further examples, light emitting elements may be pulsed at a rate that is synchronized with the camera shutter on the unmanned aerial vehicle to further enhance accurate detection.

A method for providing alerts or indications to an aircrew of an aircraft that is in-flight and approaching a destination airport includes receiving an aircrew runway selection from the aircrew of the aircraft, automatically generating a probable runway selection by the aircraft, and determining a position of the in-flight aircraft with reference to a threshold point. If the aircraft is prior to the threshold point, the method includes generating alerts and indications to the aircrew based solely on the received runway selection into the FMS from the aircrew of the aircraft and not on the automatically-generated probable runway selection from the aircraft. Alternatively, if the aircraft is past the threshold point, the method includes generating alerts and indications to the aircrew based solely on the automatically-generated probable runway selection from the aircraft and not on the received runway selection into the FMS from the aircrew of the aircraft.

Example aircraft intent processors are described herein that can be used both for the prediction of an aircraft's trajectory from aircraft intent, and the execution of aircraft intent for controlling the aircraft. An example aircraft intent processor includes an aircraft intent input to receive aircraft intent data representative of aircraft intent instructions, an aircraft state input to receive state data representative of a state of the aircraft, and a residual output. The aircraft intent processor is to calculate residual data representative of an error between a state of the aircraft commanded by the received aircraft intent data and the state of the aircraft expressed by received state data, and output the residual data via the residual output.

The invention described herein provides a flight crew with an easier, more intuitive, system and method to create a flight plan. A flight planning system is presented for navigation of an aircraft utilizing a touch screen display device mounted in an aircraft cockpit spanning the width and height of the instrument panel. The system provides navigational views, an interactive map, charts, a radio frequency component, a weather component, and a virtual flight plan. A flight planning method is presented that uses an interactive map on a touch screen device in an aircraft cockpit. The method accepts user inputs and displays a desired flight plan on the map. A method for providing a chart on a touch screen device is presented that includes presenting a list of menu options on a touch screen mounted in an aircraft cockpit. The method provides the flight crew with heads-up operation, providing greater situational awareness.