The present disclosure pertains to self-piloted, electric vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft that are safe, low-noise, and cost-effective to operate for cargo-carrying and passenger-carrying applications over relatively long ranges. A VTOL aircraft has at least one wing that is rotatable relative to a fuselage of the VTOL aircraft for transitioning the VTOL aircraft between a hover configuration and a forward-flight configuration. Rotation of the wing may be passively controlled using aerodynamic forces, thereby obviating the need of using an actuator for actively controlling the rotation.

A device for controlling the orientation and magnitude of cyclorotor thrust and for providing mechanical power to that cyclorotor including a system of linear actuators to position a cam or eccentric around a geared shaft. The invention includes a frame which supports the main cyclorotor shaft, provides mounting for the linear actuators, and contains the mechanical gearing system.

A ducted fan drone has a plurality of bent tube propulsors that enshroud rotating fan blades in a manner the eliminates contact with the blades during operation, thereby allowing drone operation in confined areas without risk of injury to people, animals, objects, or the drone itself by incidental contact with the rotating fan blades. The bent tube propulsors have an air passage, an air inlet into the air passage, and an air exit out of the air passage. The air passage has an upwardly bent portion relative to a longitudinal axis of the ducted fan drone, a downwardly bent portion relative to the longitudinal axis, and horizontal section extending between the upwardly and downwardly bent portions. A fan propulsor is disposed within the air passage of each bent tube propulsor at a position along the horizontal section.

An aircraft includes a fuselage and first and second pairs of aerofoils, the aerofoils of each pair extend from opposing sides of the fuselage. Each aerofoil includes a first lift body and a second lift body which is arranged behind the first lift body in a direction of flow of the aerofoil. The second lift body is pivotable relative to the first lift body between a cruising flight position in which both lift bodies together define an elongate and substantially continuous cross section of the aerofoil in the direction of flow, and a take-off/landing position in which the second lift body is angled downwards relative to the first lift body in order to increase a lift of the aerofoil. At least one engine is arranged on the second lift body of at least one of the first and second pairs of aerofoils.

Provided is a drone having a reconfigurable shape, more specifically, a drone having a reconfigurable shape that is capable of being horizontally flown without a rotation motion of the drone by configuring unit module drones having a rectangular parallelepiped shape that may apply thrusts in six directions and is capable of being flown singly or flown in various shapes by forming an assembly drone by coupling between the unit module drones.

Payload engagement systems and related methods. A payload engagement system includes a vehicle with at least one engagement latch and a payload with at least one engagement receptor. Each engagement latch is configured to be selectively transitioned between an engaged configuration and a disengaged configuration. The payload engagement system includes an alignment guide configured to guide the payload to a predetermined coupling position prior to each engagement latch transitioning to the engaged configuration. A method of utilizing a payload engagement system includes positioning a vehicle on a first side of a docking platform, guiding a payload toward the vehicle, and coupling the payload to the vehicle via engagement between at least one engagement latch and at least one engagement receptor. Specifically, the coupling the payload to the vehicle includes transitioning each engagement latch from a disengaged configuration to an engaged configuration.

An aerial vehicle, such as an unmanned aerial vehicle, includes a fuselage having a forward end, an aft end, and a duct extending between said forward end and said aft end, said duct being oriented along a longitudinal axis of said fuselage; a primary propulsion unit mounted within said duct and generating lift for upward and downward motion while said fuselage is in a substantially vertical orientation and thrust for forward motion while said fuselage is in a substantially horizontal orientation; a plurality of airfoils each having a proximal end attached at opposite sides of the fuselage, said airfoils providing lift during forward motion of said fuselage; and a plurality of secondary propulsion units generating thrust to tilt the fuselage between said substantially vertical orientation and said substantially horizontal orientation.

A technique for controlling vertical propulsion units of an aerial vehicle includes determining whether an initial thrust command output vector results in a thrust command clipping of one of the vertical propulsion units. The vertical propulsion units are physically organized into propulsion rings including an inner ring and an outer ring. Torque associated with the initial thrust command output vector is transferred from each the vertical propulsion units in the outer ring to the vertical propulsion units in the inner ring when the thrust command clipping of one of the vertical propulsion units in the outer ring occurs. A revised thrust command output vector is determined after transferring the torque. The vertical propulsion units are driven according to the revised thrust command output vector.

An aircraft including: a pair of wings rotatably coupled to opposing lateral sides of the fuselage and being rotatable relative to each other; a pair of servo motors, each connected to a corresponding wing and configured to rotate the corresponding wing in two rotational directions; a pair of thrust motors, each of which mounted on a corresponding wing; and a flight controller connected to the servo motors and to the thrust motors, and configured to control each servo motor and each thrust motor, such that the aircraft can be selectively operated in a cruising mode, such that the pair of wings are in a non-permanent-rotation-state about a yawing axis which extends at least substantially through the center of gravity, and a monocopter mode, in which the pair of thrust motors provide thrust in opposite directions so that the pair of wings are in a permanent-rotation-state about the yawing axis.

An air transport vehicle that capitalizes on the strengths and complexities of a fixed and rotary winged aircraft. The air transport vehicle comprises a body aerodynamically designed to avoid substantial drag. The vehicle has a plurality of rotors configured to generate vertical thrust with a rear rotor configured to generate forward thrust. Additionally, each of the rotors are connected to the fixed wing elements and the fixed wing is positioned about the center of mass of the fuselage. Furthermore, each of the rotors are positioned at a fixed tilt angle such that the stability of the vehicle is maintained in a number of different flight configurations.