The present invention relates to a system comprising a drone (1), a wire (2) and a docking station (3) allowing the autonomous landing of the drone (1) in degraded conditions. The docking station (3) comprises a landing platform (32). The landing procedure includes stopping the automatic position control of the drone (1), producing a motor thrust higher than the weight of the drone (1), the automatic control of the attitude of the drone (1), and pulling upon the wire (2) in order to bring the drone (1) back to the platform (32). This system makes emergency landings possible, or landings under violent winds, or when the docking station (3) is in movement on a vehicle, reducing material breakage.

A docking station for an aircraft includes a base portion and an alignment system disposed on the base portion configured to orient the aircraft relative to the base portion. The alignment system can include a plurality of outer protrusions extending away from the base portion in a vertical direction.

A first and a second aircraft are detachably coupled where the first aircraft is configured to perform a vertical landing using a first battery while the first aircraft is unoccupied and the unoccupied first aircraft includes the first battery. In response to detecting a second, removable battery being detachably coupled to the first aircraft, a power source for the first aircraft is switched from the first battery to the second, removable battery. After the switch, the first aircraft takes off vertically using the second, removable battery while occupied. The detachably coupled first aircraft and second aircraft are flown using the second aircraft (the power to keep the detachably coupled first aircraft and second aircraft airborne comes exclusively from the second aircraft and not the first aircraft).

A positioning mechanism includes a base including a landing area and a guide member movably arranged at the landing area and configured to guide a moving object. The landing area includes a positioning portion. The guide member is configured to be in a non-operating state or an operating state relative to the base. A form of the guide member in the non-operating state is different from the form of the guide member in the operating state.

This disclosure provides a monitoring system, a base station, and a control method of drones. The drone includes a battery that supplies electric power for the drone and that connects with a charging connector. The base station includes a charging device, and the charging device includes a power supply connector, a power supply, and a power controller. The power supply connector is used for connecting to the charging connector. The power supply provides electric power. The power controller is coupled to the power supply and the power supply connector. The power controller is used to determine the battery specification of the battery and charge the battery from the power supply according to the battery specification. Thereby, the charging efficiency can be improved and the charging abnormality can be avoided.

A vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) system including: a rearward facing tang extending from a rear fuselage portion of a VTOL UAV; one or more metallic contacts disposed on an exterior surface of the tang; a UAV pod including a landing surface; and an opening disposed in the landing surface to receive the tang.

An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) ground station, comprising: a landing surface having a perimeter and a center; a plurality of pushers held above the landing surface by a plurality of linear actuators; at least one electro-mechanical connector attached to one of the plurality of pushers, mechanically adapted to be electrically connected to a compatible electro-mechanical connector of a UAV; and a landing detection controller adapted to instruct the plurality of linear actuators to move the plurality of pushers simultaneously from the perimeter toward the center when a landing event related to the UAV is detected.

A method, apparatus, and system for supplying power during the takeoff and landing of an Urban Air Mobility (UAM) aircraft is disclosed herein. A power supplying method is performed by a power supply system comprising a drone and a hub. The power supplying method includes: determining whether power is required for an Urban Air Mobility (UAM) aircraft to land on the hub using battery information of the UAM aircraft when the UAM aircraft is determined to be in a landing mode; moving the drone from the hub to the UAM aircraft using location information of the UAM aircraft when it is determined that power is additionally required for the UAM aircraft to land on the hub; docking the drone to the UAM aircraft to couple with; and supplying power required for the UAM aircraft to land on the hub to the UAM aircraft by the drone

A method, apparatus, and system for supplying power during the takeoff and landing of an Urban Air Mobility (UAM) aircraft is disclosed herein. A power supplying method is performed by a power supply system comprising a drone and a hub. The power supplying method includes: determining whether power is required for an Urban Air Mobility (UAM) aircraft to land on the hub using battery information of the UAM aircraft when the UAM aircraft is determined to be in a landing mode; moving the drone from the hub to the UAM aircraft using location information of the UAM aircraft when it is determined that power is additionally required for the UAM aircraft to land on the hub; docking the drone to the UAM aircraft to couple with; and supplying power required for the UAM aircraft to land on the hub to the UAM aircraft by the drone

Methods, systems, and apparatus for drone landing ground station. A method includes determining that a drone is landing on a ground station, based on determining that the drone is landing on the ground station, determining a magnetic field to generate at a first magnetic component at a first position in the ground station and an opposing magnetic polar at a second magnetic component at a second position in the ground station, and generating the magnetic field at the first magnetic component and the opposing magnetic field at the second magnetic component.