Launch and/or recovery for unmanned aircraft and/or other payloads, including via parachute-assist, and associated systems and methods are disclosed. An example unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) system includes a lift device, a parachute, and a capture line. The lift device includes a canister. The parachute is stowed in and deployable from the canister. The capture line is attached to the parachute and to a line control device. The capture line is configured to be engaged by a capture device located at an end of a wing of a UAV.

An in-flight aircraft tracking system may include a power transmission line suspended in the air and a radio frequency identification (RFID) reader configured to identify an aircraft in proximity to the power transmission line. A traffic control system may be configured to coordinate movement of multiple aircrafts in proximity to the power transmission line. An in-flight aircraft tracking method may include transmitting a reader signal from a RFID reader to an aircraft while the aircraft is in proximity to a power transmission line and receiving an identification signal in response to the reader signal from an RFID transmitter coupled to the aircraft.

A system comprising a reel, a tether configured to be wound about the reel, and at least one unmanned aerial vehicle attached to the tether. When unmanned aerial vehicle is at rest, the unmanned aerial vehicle resides on the reel. Related methods of operating such a system can be used to extract crop from a field.

A tethered uni-rotor network of satellite vehicles, is made up of a central hub with multiple tethers radiating outward in a hub-and-spoke arrangement. Each tether attaches to a satellite vehicle; each having lifting airfoil surfaces, stabilizers, control surfaces, fuselages, and propulsion systems. The entire system operates in a persistent state of rotation, driven by the propulsion units on each satellite vehicle, so the airfoils generate lift which supports each satellite vehicle and a distributed portion of the weight of the central hub. As the system rotates, centrifugal forces pull each satellite vehicle outwards, which keeps each tether taught and applies tension across each of the lifting surfaces, thereby alleviating the bending moment common to fixed-wing aircraft. This approach reduces the weight within the structural members, utilizes higher aspect ratio wings to reduce induced drag, and employs thin-thickness high-camber airfoil profiles which achieve higher lift-to-drag ratios than standard practice.

An unmanned aerial vehicle system includes an unmanned aerial vehicle, a user input device, and ground station. The user input device is configured to generate a signal and control the unmanned aerial vehicle based on the generated signal. The ground station is coupled to the unmanned aerial vehicle via a tether assembly. The ground station includes a motorized spool and a controller. The motorized spool is coupled to the tether assembly and configured to electromechanically control spooling and unspooling of a tether of the tether assembly. The controller is configured to control operation of the motorized spool based on an anticipated movement of the unmanned aerial vehicle.

A computer apparatus includes a touchscreen display. The computer apparatus generates a graphical user interface on the touchscreen display and receive user inputs via the touchscreen display. The graphical user interface includes symbology representing multiple unmanned teamed assets, a primary command and control asset currently controlling the unmanned teamed assets, and one or more secondary command and control assets not currently controlling the unmanned teamed asset. By the touchscreen display, an operator selects one of the secondary command and control assets for transferring control. The computer apparatus may be coupled with either the primary or the secondary command and control asset. The computer apparatus may initiate the transfer request. Similarly, the computer apparatus may receive the transfer request and confirm transfer.

In an aspect, in general, a spooling apparatus includes a filament feeding mechanism for deploying and retracting filament from the spooling apparatus to an aerial vehicle, an exit geometry sensor for sensing an exit geometry of the filament from the spooling apparatus, and a controller for controlling the feeding mechanism to feed and retract the filament based on the exit geometry.

An unmanned aerial signal relay includes an unmanned aerial vehicle, including a communication relay unit and at least one antenna, communicatively connected to the communication relay unit; a tether comprising at least two wires and at least one fiber optic cable, the wires and cable communicatively connected to the unmanned aerial vehicle; and a surface support system comprising a spool physically connected to the tether and a ground-based receiver communicatively connected to the at least one fiber optic cable, wherein the unmanned aerial vehicle is powered by electrical energy provided by the at least two wires, and wherein the communication relay unit is configured to relay signals received from the at least one antenna via the fiber optic cable to the ground-based receiver. Various systems and methods related to an unmanned aerial signal relay are also described.

A wide-area motion imaging system provides 360° persistent surveillance with a camera array that is small, light-weight, and operates at low power. The camera array is mounted on a tethered drone, which can hover at heights of up to 400′, and includes small imagers fitted with lenses of different fixed focal lengths. The tether provides power, communication, and a data link from the camera array to a ground processing server that receives, processes and stores the imagery. The server also collects absolute and relative position data from a global positioning system (GPS) receiver and an inertial measurement unit (IMU) carried by the drone. The server uses this position data to correct the rolling shutter effect and to stabilize and georectify the final images, which can be stitched together and shown to a user live or in playback via a separate user interface.

A system for inspecting an aircraft includes a drone, a base station, and a controller. The drone includes one or more cameras. The base station has a storage compartment configured to store the autonomous drone therein. The controller has a processor and a memory. The memory has instructions stored thereon, which when executed by the processor, cause the base station to drive to a first predetermined location relative to the aircraft, and cause the drone to fly from the storage compartment of the base station to a first predetermined position relative to the aircraft so that the drone can record image data of at least portions of the aircraft with the one or more cameras.