A multirotor aircraft that includes a chassis, three or more vertical rotors, one or more free wings and one or more fixed horizontal rotor. The free wing is attached to the chassis by an axial connection so that the angle of the free wing is changed relative to the chassis according the flow of air over the free wing. The fixed horizontal rotor enables the multirotor aircraft to lower and climb while flying forward at a stable horizontal pitch of the chassis.

An autonomous flying device achieving a large payload and a long continuous flight time and also accurately adjust position and orientation while flying. The device includes: a main rotor and the like that provide main thrust; a sub rotor and the like that controls the orientation; an engine that generates energy for rotating the main rotor and the like and the sub rotor and the like; and an arithmetic control device that controls rotation of the sub rotor and the like. Also, the main rotor and the like are rotated by being drivingly connected to the engine, whereas the sub rotor and the like are rotated by motors driven by electric power generated from generator and the like operated by the engine. Further, when orientation control to tilt the fuselage is performed, the arithmetic control device increases the output distribution ratio of the sub rotor to above the output distribution ratio of the sub rotor when hovering is performed.

Methods, apparatus, systems and a vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) vehicle are provided. The VTOL vehicle includes: a fuselage having longitudinally a front section, a central section and a rear section; a first lifting surface comprising two wings respectively secured to opposite sides of the rear section of the fuselage; a second lifting surface comprising two wings respectively secured to opposite sides of the front section of the fuselage; where each wing comprises at least one engine module, each of the engine modules being pivotally coupled to the wing and each engine module being independently controlled for transitioning between a vertical mode of flight and a horizontal mode of flight.

Disclosed here are systems for detachable airframe components including detachable nose cones, propeller assemblies and motors. In some example embodiments, the assemblies include a nose cone with a connection receiver, a motor assembly with a rotatable section, where the rotatable section includes torque arms configured to secure with the nose cone connection receiver, and a propeller assembly, configured to connect to the nose cone.

The disclosure provides a method of controlling the yaw of a fixed-wing UAV, with two traction propellers arranged parallel to each other and providing thrust for the UAV; A plurality of motors configured to drive the two traction propellers, wherein the thrust ratio provided by the two traction propellers is changed to generate asymmetric thrust which controls the active yaw of the UAV. The fixed-wing UAV provided by the disclosure improves the reliability of the thrust system and active yaw.

Embodiments herein describe UAVs that utilize tail boom assemblies from pre-existing aircraft designs as lift generating elements. In one embodiment, a UAV includes a fuselage having a first end and a second end opposite the first end, a first tail boom coupler disposed at the first end, and a second tail boom coupler disposed at the second end. Each of the first tail boom coupler and the second tail boom coupler are configured to mechanically couple with a plurality of tail boom assemblies procured from a pre-existing aircraft design.

A propulsion assembly for an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) includes a motor configured to rotate in a first direction, a propeller seat configured to be driven by the motor to rotate in the first direction and to receive a propeller, and a sensor configured to collect sensing data useful for determining whether the propeller is locked to the propeller seat, without requiring operation of the motor.

The disclosure is directed to parallel hybrid drive assemblies for lightweight unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Specifically, the disclosure is directed to hybrid drive assemblies and control systems for UAVs, utilizing continuous belt tension modulation to couple and decouple an electric motor and an internal combustion engine. In some embodiments, this is achieved through the use of a tensioner module that is configured to couple and decouple the electric motor and the internal combustion engine by continuously and selectably modulating belt tension on drive elements of each of the electric motor and the internal combustion engine.

A multi-rotor Aerial Vehicle with least rotors/propellers and having single arm failure redundancy is disclosed. The AV comprises at least five arms with at least one arm having a co-axial pair of contra rotating rotors/propellers. To maintain yaw stability under normal conditions, half of rotors/propellers are rotated in one direction and other half in opposite direction. In the event of failure of any one of the rotors/propellers located adjacent to the pair of contra rotating rotors/propellers, the one propeller/rotor out of the contra rotating rotor/propeller that is rotating opposite to the failed rotor/propeller is shut off. In the event of failure of a rotor/propeller belonging to contra rotating rotors/propellers, other rotor/propeller of the pair is shut off. In the event of failure of any one of rotors/propellers not adjacent to contra rotating rotors/propellers, the RPMs of other rotors/propellers is adjusted to maintain stability and navigate the Aerial Vehicle.

A package delivery system uses unmanned aircraft operable to transition between thrust-borne lift in a VTOL configuration and wing-borne lift in a forward flight configuration. Each of the aircraft includes an airframe having at least one wing with a distributed thrust array coupled to the airframe. The distributed thrust array includes a plurality of propulsion assemblies configured to provide vertical thrust in the VTOL configuration and a plurality of propulsion assemblies configured to provide forward thrust in the forward flight configuration. A package delivery module is coupled to the airframe. A control system is operably associated with the distributed thrust array and the package delivery module. The control system is configured to individually control each of the propulsion assemblies and control package release operations of the package delivery module. The system includes a ground station configured to remotely communicate with the control systems of the aircraft during package delivery missions.