A transmit charging coil is driven to wirelessly transfer energy to a receiving charging coil. The wireless energy transfer can be adjusted in response to detecting the receive charging coil. Navigation of an un-manned vehicle may be adjusted in response to the wireless energy transfer.

The system, devices and methods disclosed herein enable autonomous and tele-operation of tele-operated robots for maintenance of a property around known and unknown obstacles. A method may include using an unmanned aerial vehicle for obtaining additional data relating to the property and obstacles within the property and plan a path around the obstacles using data from sensors on-board the tele-operated robot and the aerial image. A method may also provide optimization of total time needed for performing the property maintenance and the labor costs in situations where manual intervention is needed for navigating the tele-operated robot around obstacles on the property or for removing obstacles on the property.

An unmanned aerial vehicle includes a body, a propulsion system connected to the body. The propulsion system generates a lift force in a vertical direction opposite of a gravitational force when activated. In some cases, the unmanned aerial vehicle includes an applicator connected to the body. The applicator includes a channel, a chamber in fluid communication with the channel, and a nozzle in fluid communication with the channel.

A smart battery includes a battery and a measurement module coupled to measure electrical characteristics of the battery. The smart battery also includes processing logic and a communication interface configured to receive the electrical characteristics and transmit the electrical characteristics to a receiver.

According to one embodiment, a power transmission device including a housing for landing a vehicle, and a ferromagnetic material and a power transmission coil. An outer shape of a cross-section of the housing becomes larger from a top of the housing toward a bottom of the housing, the outer shape is a non-true circle, and the outer shape is similar to an inner shape of a frame provided in the vehicle. The ferromagnetic material is within the housing, the ferromagnetic material being continuous in an up-and-down direction of the housing. The power transmission coil is within the housing, the power transmission coil being configured to surround the ferromagnetic material.

An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) including a winch system, wherein the winch system includes a single winch line, wherein a payload is suspended from a first end of the winch line, and the winch system is controllable to vary the rate of ascent of the payload to the UAV, and a control system including a processor and program instructions stored in a non-transitory computer readable medium and executable by the processor to control the winch, the control system configured to (a) receive data regarding oscillations of the payload, and (b) operate the winch system to vary a retraction rate of the winch line to damp oscillations of the payload during ascent of the payload to the UAV.

A payload coupling apparatus is provided including a housing, wherein the housing is adapted for attachment to a first end of a tether, a slot extending downwardly from an outer surface of the housing towards a center of the housing thereby forming a lower tip on the housing beneath the slot, and wherein the slot is adapted to receive a handle of a payload. A method of delivering a payload using the payload coupling apparatus is also provided.

Disclosed are systems, mediums, and methods of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) delivery system. The system controls and manages UAVs for delivering packages. The system receives a drop off location for a package and instructs a UAV to navigate to the drop off location with the package. The system notifies a recipient of the package delivery through a device of the recipient, and in response to receiving one or more responses to the notification, causes the UAV to allow access to the package being delivered.

Apparatus and associated methods relate to a remotely controlled airborne vehicle (RCAV) configured to establish a temporary wireless communication link between a control room server and an industrial controller during a factory malfunction, the link for transmission of control commands and reception of sensor data, the RCAVs including a camera configured to transmit live video, the control room server configured to display the live video augmented with the sensor data. In an illustrative example, the industrial controller may be electrically coupled to sensors and actuators that may be part of a factory automation system. Various embodiments may include one or more RCAVs feeding a video processor within the server to produce 3-dimensional (3D) images which may be transmitted, for example, for display on a 3D projection headset. Various embodiments may advantageously provide emergency network connection between control rooms and process control equipment to mitigate hazards within a factory.

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a storage device, for using a robotic device to manipulate a manual control of a device. In one aspect, the system includes a robotic device, a first device that is located at a property and that has a manual control, and a monitoring unit. The monitoring unit may include a network interface, a processor, and a storage device that includes instructions to cause the processor to perform operations. The operations may include determining an operating state of the first device, determining the state of the monitoring system, determining whether one or more of the manual controls associated with the first device should be manipulated to alter the operating state of the first device, and transmitting one or more instruction to the robotic device that instruct the robotic device to manipulate one or more manual controls that are associated the first device.