Arrangements described herein relate to apparatuses, systems, and methods for a housing of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), the housing includes but is not limited to a metallic porous material having a shape of an enclosure of the UAV, and a phase change material (PCM) provided in at least a portion of the metallic porous material. The metallic porous material and the PCM are configured to passively cool the UAV.

Techniques are disclosed for cooling an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). In some examples, a heat sink is coupled to a portion of the UAV that is to be cooled. One or more heat pipes are coupled to the shim, and extend to one or more propulsion engines of the UAV. Liquid in a heat pipe is heated to gaseous form at the heat sink, and the vapor travels to a portion of the heat pipe near the propulsion engine, where the vapor is cooled by air moved by the propulsion engine, upon which the vapor returns to liquid form and travels back to the heat sink.

The present disclosure provides an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) having a housing containing electronic components required of the UAV and a heat transfer device for cooling heat generated by said electronic components; at least one boom for connecting said housing to at least one propeller. The boom includes one or more inlet located on a first surface of the boom and within an airflow of said at least one propeller; at least one outlet on a second surface of the boom; a hallow channel extending in interior of the boom from said at least one inlet to said at least one outlet, wherein said airflow generated by said at least one propeller passes into said at least one inlet through the hollow channel to said at least one outlet providing cooling for said heat transfer device.

The present disclosure provides an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) having a housing containing electronic components required of the UAV and a heat transfer device for cooling heat generated by said electronic components; at least one boom for connecting said housing to at least one propeller. The boom includes one or more inlet located on a first surface of the boom and within an airflow of said at least one propeller; at least one outlet on a second surface of the boom; a hallow channel extending in interior of the boom from said at least one inlet to said at least one outlet, wherein said airflow generated by said at least one propeller passes into said at least one inlet through the hollow channel to said at least one outlet providing cooling for said heat transfer device.

A quadrotor UAV including ruggedized, integral-battery, load-bearing body, two arms on the load-bearing body, each arm having two rotors, a control module mounted on the load-bearing body, a payload module mounted on the control module, and skids configured as landing gear. The two arms are replaceable with arms having wheels for ground vehicle use, with arms having floats and props for water-surface use, and with arms having pitch-controlled props for underwater use. The control module is configured to operate as an unmanned aerial vehicle, an unmanned ground vehicle, an unmanned (water) surface vehicle, and an unmanned underwater vehicle, depending on the type of arms that are attached.

In one embodiment, a controller instructs an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) docked to a landing perch to perform a pre-flight test operation of a pre-flight test routine. The controller receives sensor data associated with the pre-flight test operation from one or more force sensors of the landing perch, in response to the UAV performing the pre-flight test operation. The controller determines whether the sensor data associated with the pre-flight test operation is within an acceptable range. The controller causes the UAV to launch from the landing perch based in part on a determination that UAV has passed the pre-flight test routine.

The present disclosure provides various embodiments of an aircraft retrieval system including winch-equipped retrieval assembly that is removably attachable to a rotorcraft to facilitate retrieval of a fixed-wing aircraft from wing-borne flight.

A quadrotor UAV including ruggedized, integral-battery, load-bearing body, two arms on the load-bearing body, each arm having two rotors, a control module mounted on the load-bearing body, a payload module mounted on the control module, and skids configured as landing gear. The two arms are replaceable with arms having wheels for ground vehicle use, with arms having floats and props for water-surface use, and with arms having pitch-controlled props for underwater use. The control module is configured to operate as an unmanned aerial vehicle, an unmanned ground vehicle, an unmanned (water) surface vehicle, and an unmanned underwater vehicle, depending on the type of arms that are attached.

An unmanned aerial vehicle includes a plurality of arm units, each having a rotary wing, a motor, and an arm main body and detachably coupled to a main body; the main body having a plurality of receptacles for coupling to the arm units; and a battery unit detachably coupled to the main body to be exposed to outside, in which at least a part of the battery unit is exposed to outside when the battery unit is coupled to the main body.

An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) includes a fuselage, electronics disposed with the fuselage, a heat sink, and a solar shield. The heat sink is thermally connected to the electronics and includes a cooling plate disposed on or extends through an exterior surface of the fuselage. The cooling plate is exposed to an external environment of the UAV to conduct heat from the electronics to the external environment via convection. The solar shield extends over the cooling plate and defines an air scoop within which the cooling plate is disposed. The air scoop directs airflow from the external environment across the cooling plate. The solar shield shades the cooling plate from solar radiation to prevent or reduce solar heating of the cooling plate.