An autonomous thrust vectoring ring wing pod is disclosed. A plurality of distributed propulsion element (thruster) layout within a self-articulating ring wing pod allows the pod to selectively control its thrust vector by controlling each propulsion element in the pod. This arrangement allows autonomous and independent control of the tilting of the ring wing relative to the aircraft. The ring wing pod acts as both a nacelle to house the propulsion elements as well as a lifting surface when in wing-borne flight. The autonomous thrust vectoring ring wing pod also provides superior aircraft attitude control in wing-borne flight, thus negating the need for conventional surface controls.

[Objective] To provide, as to an aerial vehicle equipped with a multicopter mechanism, an aerial vehicle having both a vertical take-off and landing function and a horizontal cruise function and having an excellent cruising performance.

[Solving Means] In order to accomplish the above-mentioned objective, an aerial vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a propulsion unit and a fuselage unit. The propulsion unit includes a rotary shaft extending in a first direction and thrust producing mechanisms provided at both ends of the rotary shaft and produces a propulsion force for flying in air. The fuselage unit is suspended from the propulsion unit below the rotary shaft, has a center of gravity at a position below the rotary shaft, is configured to be freely rotate around the rotary shaft, and is capable of storing an article.

An aerial scanning system creates a model of a structure using an aerial platform configured to follow a flight path of movement about the structure and an optical scanner. A control system executes processing software reading data corresponding to at least one surface of the structure and, data corresponding to movement of the aerial platform about the structure, and uses the data to construct a three dimensional model of the structure.

A vehicle, includes a main body. A fluid generator is coupled to the main body and produces a fluid stream. At least one fore conduit and at least one tail conduit are fluidly coupled to the generator. First and second fore ejectors are fluidly coupled to the fore conduit, coupled to the main body and respectively coupled to a starboard side and port side of the vehicle. The fore ejectors respectively comprise an outlet structure out of which fluid flows. At least one tail ejector is fluidly coupled to the tail conduit. The tail ejector comprises an outlet structure out of which fluid flows. A primary airfoil element is coupled to the tail portion. A surface of the primary airfoil element is located directly downstream of the first and second fore ejectors such that the fluid from the first and second fore ejectors flows over the such surface.

An aerial vehicle is includes a wing, first and second rotors, and a movement sensor. The first and second multicopter rotors are rotatably coupled to the wing, the first multicopter rotor is rotatable relative to the wing about a first lateral axis, and the second multicopter rotor is rotatable relative to the wing about a second lateral axis. Each multicopter rotor is coupled to each other multicopter rotor, wherein the multicopter rotors are restricted to collective synchronous rotation relative to the wing between a multicopter configuration and a fixed-wing configuration. The movement sensor is coupled to the multicopter rotors, wherein the movement sensor is positioned to rotate relative to the wing when the multicopter rotors rotate relative to the wing between the multicopter and fixed-wing configurations.

A control system configured to control a deceleration process of an air vehicle which comprises at least one tiltable propulsion unit, each of the at least one tiltable propulsion units is tiltable to provide a thrust whose direction is variable at least between a general vertical thrust vector direction and a general longitudinal thrust vector direction with respect to the air vehicle.

A ducted-fan unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) capable of low-energy high-rate maneuvers for both vertical roll control and horizontal pitch control. The UAV includes ducted fans which are with respective piezoelectric-actuated thrust vectoring flaps. Thrust vector control is achieved by controlling the angular positions of a plurality of thrust vector flaps pivotably coupled at respective outlets of a plurality of ducts having fan rotors at the inlets. Each thrust vectoring flap has only one degree of freedom in the frame of reference of the UAV, namely, rotation about a single axis that is perpendicular to the axis of the duct. The angular position of the flap is controlled by sending electrical signals to a piezoelectric actuator (e.g., a piezoelectric bimorph actuator) having a voltage sufficient to cause the piezoelectric actuator to bend.

Described is an aerial vehicle, such as an unmanned aerial vehicle (“UAV”) that includes a delivery shroud. The delivery shroud may be maintained in a retracted position while the aerial vehicle is in transit. The delivery shroud reduces the transmission of sound from the aerial vehicle to the delivery area. Likewise, the delivery shroud may also be used to facilitate delivery of a payload from the aerial vehicle to a delivery location within the delivery area.

A method and system for assessing a situation using an unmanned vehicle is disclosed. An unmanned vehicle receives a transmission indicating a situation at a designated location, and then navigates to the designated location. The unmanned vehicle may reach the designated location via air or ground travel, or a combination thereof. The unmanned vehicle receives signals from a first subset of sensors indicating information concerning an environment at the designated location and from a second subset of sensors indicating information concerning one or more objects associated with the situation. The unmanned vehicle then sends one or more transmissions based on the received signals, facilitating rapid determination of the situation.

An advanced acoustic awareness platform configured to classify environmental sounds. The advanced acoustic awareness platform comprises an audio signal acquisition sensor array and one or more processors programmed to augment the audio signal, extract features for the audio signal, visualize, and classify the signal using one or more labels. In at least one embodiment, the signal is classified based on transfer learning associated with a pretrained machine learning model.