An exemplary unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) mountable to a conductor of an aerial power transmission line system includes a body having a rotor system, a motivation system attached to the body to motivate the UAV along the conductor, a battery carried by the body and electrically connected to at least one of the rotor system and the motivation system, a monitoring tool mounted with the body and an inductive coil carried by the body and in electric connection with the battery, wherein the inductive coil is configured to harvest electricity from the aerial power transmission line system and charge the battery.

An exemplary unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) mountable to a conductor of an aerial power transmission line system includes a body having a rotor system, a motivation system attached to the body to motivate the UAV along the conductor, a battery carried by the body and electrically connected to at least one of the rotor system and the motivation system, a monitoring tool mounted with the body and an inductive coil carried by the body and in electric connection with the battery, wherein the inductive coil is configured to harvest electricity from the aerial power transmission line system and charge the battery.

An integral hybrid electric aircraft system including a fuselage including an electrical energy source, wherein the electrical energy source includes a plurality of batteries and a fuel tank, and wherein the fuel tank contains fuel. The fuselage also including a generator in fluid communication with the fuel tank. The generator generates electricity using the fuel from the fuel tank. The system including a set of propulsors, wherein each propulsor of the set of propulsors is electrically connected to the electrical energy source and the generator and wherein the set of propulsors is configured to be powered by the generator during fixed-wing flight. The set of propulsors including at least a pusher propulsor configured to provide forward thrust and at least a lift propulsor configured to provide lift.

The present invention relates to an unmanned aerial vehicle system having a multi-rotor type rotary wing. The unmanned aerial vehicle system having a multi-rotor type rotary wing includes a first unmanned aerial vehicle, at least one second unmanned aerial vehicle, and a bridge that connects the first unmanned aerial vehicle and the at least one second unmanned aerial vehicle to be separable from each other, wherein the at least one second unmanned aerial vehicle is moveable by the first unmanned aerial vehicle in a state where the at least one second unmanned aerial vehicle is coupled to the first unmanned aerial vehicle by the bridge without being driven, and the at least one second unmanned aerial vehicle is separable from the first unmanned aerial vehicle which is in flight.

A refueling system has a vehicle having a fuel tank connected to a deployable fuel hose, an end effector having controlled flight, the fuel hose connected at an end away from the first vehicle, through the end effector to a fuel connector under the end effector, a second vehicle having a fuel tank coupled through a pumping apparatus to a fueling port on an acquisition apparatus adapted to acquire the end effector and connect the fueling port and the fuel connector of the end effector, and control circuitry enabling controlled flight of the end effector, wherein the end effector is controlled to be acquired by the acquisition apparatus to couple the fuel connector with the fueling port and fuel is provided from the fuel tank of one of the vehicles to the fuel tank of the other of the vehicles through the pumping apparatus.

The present disclosure provides a versatile drone and nest launching system. A hybrid UAV drone having fixed wings in addition to vertical take-off and landing capabilities is used to enable the launching nest to remain compact and of simple design with few moving parts, while also housing a drone capable of travelling long distances. The entire system is configured function autonomously, utilising a solar-powered charging pad installed on the nest to repeatedly recharge and relaunch depleted drones. Novel mounting systems for situating the nest in a variety of terrains are also disclosed.

A container device of a UAV is provided. The container device is configured to receive a cargo and be connected to a UAV. The container device includes an outer housing, an inner housing, and a power supply. The outer housing is connected to the UAV. The inner housing is detachably connected to the outer housing, and configured to receive the cargo. The power supply is disposed in the inner housing. When the outer housing is connected to the UAV and the inner housing is connected to the outer housing, the power supply is electrically connected to a battery of the UAV. A transport system of a UAV is also provided.

A robot includes an image sensor that captures the environment of a storage site. The robot visually recognizes regularly shaped structures to navigate through the storage site using various object detection and image segmentation techniques. In response to receiving a target location in the storage site, the robot moves to the target location along a path. The robot receives the images as the robot moves along the path. The robot analyzes the images captured by the image sensor to determine the current location of the robot in the path by tracking a number of regularly shaped structures in the storage site passed by the robot. The regularly shaped structures may be racks, horizontal bars of the racks, and vertical bars of the racks. The robot can identify the target location by counting the number of rows and columns that the robot has passed.

A robot includes an image sensor that captures the environment of a storage site. The robot visually recognizes regularly shaped structures to navigate through the storage site using various object detection and image segmentation techniques. In response to receiving a target location in the storage site, the robot moves to the target location along a path. The robot receives the images as the robot moves along the path. The robot analyzes the images captured by the image sensor to determine the current location of the robot in the path by tracking a number of regularly shaped structures in the storage site passed by the robot. The regularly shaped structures may be racks, horizontal bars of the racks, and vertical bars of the racks. The robot can identify the target location by counting the number of rows and columns that the robot has passed.

A device includes a propulsion unit configured to move the device and a steering unit configured to control the direction of the device. The device also includes a power unit configured to provide power to the propulsion unit and a charging unit configured to use an electric field to provide electrical power to the power unit. The device further includes a first magnetic sensor configured to determine a vector of one or more magnetic fields and a processor communicatively coupled to the propulsion unit, the steering unit, the power unit, and the magnetic sensor. The processor is configured to receive, from the magnetic sensor, a time-varying signal indicative of a magnetic field and determine, based on the time-varying signal, that the magnetic field is associated with an electrical power transmission line. The processor is further configured to cause the steering unit to direct the device toward the electrical power transmission line.