Methods, devices, and systems of various embodiments are disclosed for managing an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). In various embodiments, the UAV may charge an onboard battery while docked at a docking terminal of a charging station. The UAV may receive a message from the charging station with an instruction to undock from the docking terminal. The UAV may undock from the docking terminal before charging of the onboard battery is complete in response to receiving the message from the charging station with the instruction to undock.

Methods and systems for recipient-assisted recharging during delivery by an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) are disclosed herein. During a UAV transport task, a UAV determines that the UAV has arrived at a delivery location specified by a first flight leg of the transport task. The UAV responsively initiates a notification process indicating that a recipient-assisted recharging process should be initiated at or near the delivery location. When the UAV determines that the recipient-assisted recharging process has recharged a battery of the UAV to a target level, and also determines that a non-returnable portion of the payload has been removed from the UAV while a returnable portion of the payload is coupled to or held by the UAV, the UAV initiates a second flight segment of the transport task.

A driverless ground vehicle for coupling to an aircraft has a vehicle base, a chassis with wheels that is arranged on the vehicle base, a control unit, a drive, an electrical energy store, and a coupling unit. The drive is coupled to the chassis for moving the wheels. The coupling unit is arranged on the vehicle base and carries an electrical line to be connected to the electrical energy store and has a first electrical connector at a distal end. The coupling unit is designed to move the first electrical connector for coupling to a second electrical connector. The control unit is connected to the drive and the coupling unit to control the drive to move the ground vehicle to the aircraft and to control the coupling unit to move the first connector into a predefinable position on the aircraft to establish an electrical connection to the second electrical connector.

A vertical landing is performed by an electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) vehicle above a charger where the eVTOL vehicle includes a rotor that is configured to rotate during an occupant change state to keep the eVTOL vehicle stationary during the occupant change state. A vertically-oriented male charging port that is part of the eVTOL vehicle and a female charging port that is part of the charger are detachably coupled and a battery in the eVTOL vehicle is charged using the charger while the vertically-oriented male charging port and the female charging port are detachably coupled.

An apparatus and method for a recharging station including a landing pad, a rechargeable component coupled to the landing pad, and a power delivery unit configured to deliver power from a power supply unit or power storage unit to the recharging component. Rechargeable component includes a plurality of charging units placed at predetermined spacings from one another. The plurality of charging units allows for the electric aircraft to land in any orientation.

A proximity detection system for facilitating charging of electric aircraft. The proximity detection system includes at least a computing device. The at least a computing device is configured to receive a detection datum from at least a sensor, determine a proximal element as a function of the detection datum, and communicate a notification as a function of the proximal element to at least one of the electric aircraft and a charging structure. The detection datum includes information on at least one of the electric aircraft and the charging structure. The proximal element includes information on a spacing between the electric aircraft and the charging structure. A proximity detection method for facilitating charging of an electric aircraft is also provided.

In an aspect an apparatus for encrypting external communication for an electric aircraft. The apparatus may comprise a communication component configured to communicate with a network node. The apparatus may also include a battery pack configured to power the electric aircraft and a battery sensor, wherein a battery senor is configured to generate battery datum. A computing device may be included within the apparatus. The computing device may be configured to be receive the battery datum, encrypt the battery datum using an encryption process, identify the network node and transmit the encrypted battery datum to the network node using the communication component.

A ground service system for an electric aircraft is disclosed. The system includes a charging module configured to charge a battery of an electric aircraft. The charging module includes a charging cable electrically connected to an energy source. The system includes a cooling module configured to regulate a temperature of the battery. The cooling module includes a cooling cable configured to carry a coolant. The system also includes a cabin soak module configured to provide a cabin soak coolant to a cabin of the electric aircraft. The cabin soak module includes a cabin soak cable configured to carry a fluid.

A system and method for a recharging station including a landing pad, a rechargeable component coupled to the landing pad, a power delivery unit configured to deliver power from a power supply unit or power storage unit to the recharging component, and a support component coupled to the bottom of the landing pad.

A charging system for mitigating charging failure for an electric aircraft, the system comprising a charger port located on the electric aircraft and configured to mate with a charging connector, a sensor communicatively connected to the charger port and configured to detect a charging datum, and a controller communicatively connected to the charger port and the sensor. The controller is configured to receive charging datum from the sensor, detect a charging failure as a function of a comparison between the charging datum to a pre-set charging datum threshold, and record the charging failure in a database.