The present disclosure belongs to the technical field of unmanned aerial vehicles, and specifically relates to an airdrop device used with an unmanned aerial vehicle. The airdrop device includes a clamping jaw bearing block, a control panel, a power supply, a power source, and a photosensitive sensor. The clamping jaw bearing block is used to be detachably connected with an unmanned aerial vehicle; the control panel, the power supply, the power source, and the photosensitive sensor are all mounted on the clamping jaw bearing block; and the output end of the power source is provided with an engine arm used to hang a material bag. The power supply, the power source, and the photosensitive sensor are all connected with the control panel; and the control panel receives a light signal detected by the photosensitive sensor and controls the power source to act. The airdrop device used with the unmanned aerial vehicle of the present disclosure has a simple and reasonable structure. The clamping claw bearing block is detachably connected to the unmanned aerial vehicle, and the material bag is hung on the engine arm. When materials need to be thrown in air, light below the fuselage of the unmanned aerial vehicle is turned on, and the control panel receives the light signal detected by the photosensitive sensor and controls the power source to act so that the engine arm rotates to detach the material bag.

A method and system for determining the rate of growth of a wildfire.

A delivery container for a drone includes: an outer container (2) which is formed of an elastic material and is watertight and has a load opening (3) that opens and closes which is provided with a water stop portion (3a) to be watertight; and a cushioning portion (5) formed of an elastic material having an air chamber (6) and which is interposed between a load (B) stored inside the outer container (2) and the outer container (2) to hold the load (B) within a predetermined range inside the outer container (2). The delivery container can prevent a load to be delivered from getting damaged or wet and can easily and more reliably protect the load is provided.

A sensor magazine arrangement for a drone, the arrangement comprising a chassis configured to receive at least a portion of a drone to position a load point of such drone relative to the chassis. Also included is an array of sensor receptacles supported by the chassis, each receptacle configured to receive a sensor, and a carriage system fast with the chassis and having a manipulator configured to transfer a sensor between the array and a transfer point proximate the load point. Further included is a controller configured to control the carriage system to allow transfer of a sensor between the array and transfer point. The magazine arrangement broadly facilitates autonomous deployment and/or retrieval of a plurality of sensors via drone. An associated method is also described.

An aircraft includes an airframe with first and second wings having a fuselage extending therebetween. A propulsion assembly is coupled to the fuselage and includes a counter-rotating coaxial rotor system that is tiltable relative to the fuselage to generate a thrust vector. First and second yaw vanes extend aftwardly from the fuselage. A flight control system is configured to direct the thrust vector of the coaxial rotor system and control movements of the yaw vanes. In a VTOL orientation of the aircraft, differential operation of the yaw vanes and/or differential operations of first and second rotor assemblies of the coaxial rotor system provide yaw authority for the aircraft. In a biplane orientation of the aircraft, collective operation of the yaw vanes provides yaw authority for the aircraft.

A thermally insulated package 100 for transporting a temperature sensitive payload by unmanned aerial vehicle. The thermally insulated package comprises a payload retention volume 150, at least one layer of insulation 121, 122 surrounding the payload retention volume 150 and an outer casing 110 enclosing the at least one layer of insulation 121, 122 and the payload retention volume 150. The thermally insulated package 100 is shaped to reduce drag in flight by having an aerodynamic shape, particularly in a nose section 130 and optionally a tail section 140. The thermally insulated package 100 may be particularly suitable as a single use packaging for transporting temperature sensitive goods to remote locations. A packaging blank 200 and an unmanned aerial vehicle comprising the thermally insulated package 100 are also disclosed.

An autonomous cargo delivery aircraft operable to transition between thrust-borne lift in a VTOL orientation and wing-borne lift in a biplane orientation. The aircraft includes a fuselage having an aerodynamic shape with a leading edge, a trailing edge and first and second sides. First and second wings are coupled to the fuselage proximate the first and second sides, respectively. A distributed thrust array includes a first pair of propulsion assemblies coupled to the first wing and a second pair of propulsion assemblies coupled to the second wing. A flight control system is operably associated with the distributed thrust array and configured to independently control each of the propulsion assemblies. The first side of the fuselage includes a door configured to provide access to a cargo bay disposed within the fuselage from an exterior of the aircraft with a predetermined clearance relative to the first pair of propulsion assemblies.

Example implementations may relate to using an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) dedicated to deployment of operational infrastructure, with such deployment enabling charging of a battery of a UAV from a group of UAVs. More specifically, the group of UAVs may include at least (i) a first UAV of a first type configured to deploy operational infrastructure and (ii) a second UAV of a second type configured to carry out a task other than deployment of operational infrastructure. With this arrangement, a control system may determine an operational location at which to deploy operational infrastructure, and may cause the first UAV to deploy operational infrastructure at the operational location. Then, the control system may cause the second UAV to charge a battery of the second UAV using the operational infrastructure deployed by the first UAV at the operational location.

An embodiment of a disaster response system is disclosed that includes a communication and monitoring environment (CME). The CME includes an incident command infrastructure, and a communication infrastructure configured to exchange data with the incident command infrastructure. The communication infrastructure includes a network comprising a plurality of sensor assemblies that are configured to wirelessly communicate with the communication infrastructure. The sensor assemblies are configured to acquire data that includes at least one of environmental conditions, motion, position, chemical detection, and medical information. One or more of the sensors are configured to aggregate data from a subset of the plurality of sensors. The CME is configured to detect an incident based on at least the data acquired by the sensor assemblies.

An aircraft is operable to transition between thrust-borne lift in a VTOL orientation and wing-borne lift in a biplane orientation. The aircraft includes an airframe having first and second wings with first and second pylons extending therebetween forming a central region. A two-dimensional distributed thrust array and a flight control system are coupled to the airframe. A nose cone and an afterbody are each selectively coupled to the airframe. In a cargo delivery flight configuration, the nose cone and the afterbody are coupled to the airframe such that the nose cone and the afterbody each extend between the first and second wings and between first and second pylons to form a cargo enclosure with an aerodynamic outer shape. In a minimal drag flight configuration, the nose cone and the afterbody are not coupled to the airframe such that air passes through the central region during flight.