An automated aerial formation (AAF) system includes an imaging device mounted on an imaging first aircraft that receives reflected energy from an imaged second aircraft. A controller is communicatively coupled to the imaging device and a flight control system of one of the first and the second aircraft. The controller generates a three-dimensional (3D) point cloud based on the reflected energy and identifies a target 3D model in the 3D point cloud. The controller rotates and scales one of a pre-defined 3D model and the target 3D model to find a 3D point registration between the target 3D model and the pre-defined 3D model. The controller steers the flight control system of the one of first and the second aircraft into formation based on the distance and the relative pose determined from the rotating and scaling.

A technique is described for implementing drones as a service. As an example, a drone may receive instructions from one or more network elements, coordinate operations with the one or more network elements, and perform at least one task associated with the instructions. The drone may deliver a container to a first location and perform object recognition to validate an object of a subscriber being delivered to a second location. The drone may measure the weight and dimensions of the object to confirm the object is within operating guidelines. After verifying the object is within operating guidelines, the drone may transport the container containing the object to the second location.

A method, apparatus, and system for supplying power during the takeoff and landing of an Urban Air Mobility (UAM) aircraft is disclosed herein. A power supplying method is performed by a power supply system comprising a drone and a hub. The power supplying method includes: determining whether power is required for an Urban Air Mobility (UAM) aircraft to land on the hub using battery information of the UAM aircraft when the UAM aircraft is determined to be in a landing mode; moving the drone from the hub to the UAM aircraft using location information of the UAM aircraft when it is determined that power is additionally required for the UAM aircraft to land on the hub; docking the drone to the UAM aircraft to couple with; and supplying power required for the UAM aircraft to land on the hub to the UAM aircraft by the drone.

An unmanned delivery robot capable of being wirelessly charged during delivery, the unmanned delivery robot includes a wireless power reception module, a processor, and a storage medium recording one or more programs configured to be executable by the processor. The processor includes instructions for controlling a communication module to receive a delivery instruction including a delivery route to a destination, controlling a driving module to autonomously travel to the destination according to the delivery route included in the delivery instruction, and controlling the communication module to transmit battery information and location information in real time. The wireless power reception module charges the battery module by wirelessly receiving power from an unmanned charging drone autonomously flying to a current location of the unmanned delivery robot according to a charge instruction including the location information.