An apparatus, system, and/or method for carrying a power line device from an aircraft, such as an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), and for performing work on electrical power lines and/or splices on electrical power lines. The apparatus or system may include an attachment flange selectively and releasably coupled to the aircraft, a payload support frame selectively and releasably coupled to the attachment flange, an intermediary frame selectively and releasably coupled to the payload support frame, and a base frame selectively and releasably coupled to the power line device. The payload support frame may include at least three elongated rigid segments, each including a hollow elongated pole, at least three upper flexible segments, each at an upper end of a corresponding rigid segment, and at least three lower flexible segments, each at a lower end of a corresponding rigid segment.

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer storage media, for reserving airspace for UAV operations. In some implementations, a flight planning system can reserve and allocate airspace for unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) operations. For example, a UAV operator device can submit a flight plan to the flight planning system. The flight planning system can submit a flight authorization request to an airspace management system to reserve airspace necessary for the flight plan. The flight planning system can receive approval and/or a reservation of the airspace for the flight plan from the airspace management system, generate a flight data package, and send the flight data package to the operator's device.

Systems, devices, and methods including a processor having addressable memory, the processor configured to: receive an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) data packet, where the UAV data packet comprises methane concentration data and UAV information from a UAV flight path; receive at least one Meteorological data packet, where the Meteorological data packet comprises weather data; combine the UAV data packet with a nearest Meteorological data packet; and determine a methane emission rate of a methane source based on the combined UAV data packet and the nearest Meteorological data packet.

A system and associated method for thermal inspection of structures. The method includes providing an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), the UAV comprising a thermal camera for capturing thermal image data, a visible light camera for capturing visible light image data, and a positioning system for capturing positioning data, operating the UAV by flying the UAV along a predetermined flight path around an inspection structure, simultaneously capturing thermal image data of the inspection structure, visible light image data of the inspection structure, and positioning data at regular intervals, while the UAV flies along the flight path.

Aspects of the subject disclosure may include, for example, a method in which a processing system determines a location of a failure in a communication network and a cause of the failure. If the failure cannot be resolved using a recovery feature of the network, the processing system identifies a recovery procedure for resolving the failure, and dispatches an automated vehicle to the failure location; the vehicle is provided with instructions for performing the recovery procedure, which may include replacement of a hardware component of the network. The operations also include determining whether the recovery procedure is successful; if the recovery procedure is not successful, the processing system obtains information via the vehicle regarding the failure, to facilitate human intervention to resolve the failure. Other embodiments are disclosed.

A method performed by a mobile device for handling identification of equipment. The mobile device records an image, in a recording direction at a first location, of the equipment. Upon recording the image, the mobile device further obtains one or more radiation indications for determining a direction of radiation from the equipment; and provides the obtained one or more radiation indications associated with the recorded image, to an internal identifying process at the mobile device and/or a network node for identifying the equipment.

In one aspect, a drone is disclosed for inspecting a wellhead having a transceiver and adjusting an electronic choke. The drone includes a plurality of propellers and a plurality of electric motors where each of the plurality of electric motors is connected to one or more of the plurality of propellers. The drone further includes a camera that captures a survey of the wellhead, a processor coupled to a memory that controls the plurality of electric motors based on the survey to position the drone within a transmission range of the transceiver of the wellhead, and a transceiver of the drone coupled to the processor that receives wellhead data from the transceiver of the wellhead and stores the wellhead data in the memory. In other aspects, a method for operating a drone and a non-transitory computer readable medium (CRM) storing instructions for performing operation of a drone are also disclosed.

Systems and methods for performing insurance damage inspection by an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) are provided. A computing device may receive a request to inspect a vehicle, the request comprising a location of the vehicle. The computing device may identify a UAV from a plurality of UAVs that is located closest to the location of the vehicle from other UAVs in the plurality of UAVs. The computing device may instruct the UAV to travel to the location of the vehicle. The computing device may instruct the UAV to collect damage information on the vehicle using one or more onboard sensors of the UAV. The computing device may determine an amount of insurance payout to approve for repairs to the vehicle based on the damage information collected by the UAV.

An automated storage and retrieval system includes a storage grid provided by a framework structure arranged in a building under a ceiling. The framework structure includes a rail system arranged at an upper level of the framework structure. The rail system includes a first set of parallel rails arranged in a horizontal plane and extending in a first direction, and a second set of parallel rails arranged in the horizontal plane and extending in a second direction which is orthogonal to the first direction. The first and second sets of rails form a grid pattern in the horizontal plane including a plurality of adjacent access openings/grid cells. The storage grid defines a plurality of storage columns. Each storage column being arranged to store a respective stack of storage containers. The storage columns are located beneath the rail system. Each storage column is located vertically below a respective access opening/grid cell. Container handling vehicles operate on the rail system to collect and return storage containers to and from storage columns. A control system monitors and controls the automated grid storage and retrieval system. A method for monitoring the automated storage and retrieval system includes: launching a flying drone equipped with a camera to an altitude in an airspace located between an upper surface of framework structure and the ceiling or roof obstacle beneath the ceiling, navigating the drone to a suspected location of an anomaly in the system or other aspect of the system in need of inspection, using the drone to locate the anomaly or aspect of the system in need of inspection, and performing a visual inspection of the anomaly or aspect of the system in need of inspection using the camera of the flying drone. The control system includes an exception handler module responsible for identifying and attempting to correct anomalies in the operation of the storage system, and a flight control module responsible for controlling the flight of the drone. The flight control module directs the flight of the drone in response to instructions received from the exception handler module.

A vehicle control system includes at least one imaging device attached to a vehicle and that captures multiple images, and a control circuit that generates a composite image from the multiple images and displays the composite image on a display unit. The vehicle is operated according to a user operation on a portion of the display unit on which the composite image is being displayed.