A base station is disclosed that is configured for use with a UAV. The base station includes: an enclosure with an outer housing that defines a roof section and an inner housing that is connected to the outer housing; one or more heating elements that are supported by the enclosure and which are configured to heat the roof section; one or more fiducials that are supported by the enclosure; an illumination system that is supported by the enclosure and which is configured to illuminate the one or more fiducials; and a visualization system that is supported by the enclosure.

Light emitting device positional tracking systems and methods are provided. In one example, a method includes receiving images captured of a target location comprising a plurality of light emitting devices, where each of the light emitting devices has an associated blinking pattern. The method may further include detecting the blinking pattern for each of the light emitting devices in the images. The method may further include determining a classification for each of the light emitting devices based on its detected blinking pattern. The method may further include aligning a mobile platform with the target location based on the classifications of the light emitting devices. Related devices and systems are also provided.

Techniques for range finding for an unmanned aerial system are described. As one example, an unmanned aerial system includes at least one motor to provide propulsion, a piezoelectric acoustic actuator having a resonant frequency, a piezoelectric acoustic sensor having the resonant frequency, and a controller to modulate a fixed amplitude and fixed frequency, at the resonant frequency, carrier wave according to a pseudo-random sequence of bits to produce a modulated wave sequence having a respective section of the carrier wave for each bit of the bits of the pseudo-random sequence having a first value, and a respective section of the carrier wave for each bit of the bits of the pseudo-random sequence having a second value, transmit the modulated wave sequence from the piezoelectric acoustic actuator, receive a reflected wave sequence including a reflection of the modulated wave sequence with the piezoelectric acoustic sensor, determine a delay time between the transmit and the receive of the modulated wave sequence based on the reflected wave sequence received by the piezoelectric acoustic sensor and the modulated wave sequence transmitted by the piezoelectric acoustic actuator, and modify power provided to the at least one motor based on the delay time.

A secure, personalized, and locatable container for residential, commercial, industrial, and military use that is capable of interfacing with Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGVs) for the purpose of sending and receiving mail and parcels. The container is stationary when installed but can be uninstalled and easily transportable to an alternate location for re-installation. The present invention of the container and proprietary communications protocol provides the benefit of touchless, secure, and verifiable parcel service anywhere in the world.

A drone docking/landing system includes: a docking portion having a shape of any one of a polygonal pyramid, a truncated polygonal pyramid, a cone, and a truncated cone and being capable of docking a drone; and a landing portion mounted at a lower portion of the drone, having a lower portion that is open, into which the docking portion is inserted, and having an empty inner space, wherein the landing portion has a shape of any one of a polygonal pyramid, a truncated polygonal pyramid, a cone, and a truncated cone, wherein the shape corresponds to the shape of the docking portion so that the docking portion is inserted into the landing portion.

A method for providing medical services to a patient, including: receiving a medical service request associated with a patient location; selecting an aircraft, located at an initial location, from a plurality of aircraft based on the patient location and the initial location; determining a flight plan for flying the aircraft to a region containing the patient location; at a sensor of the aircraft, sampling a first set of flight data; at a processor of the aircraft, autonomously controlling the aircraft to fly based on the flight plan and the set of flight data; selecting a landing location within the region; and landing the aircraft at the landing location, including: sampling a set of landing location data; determining a safety status of the landing location based on the set of landing location data; outputting a landing warning observable at the landing location; at the sensor, sampling a second set of flight data; and in response to determining the safety status and outputting the landing warning, autonomously controlling the aircraft to land at the landing location based on the second set of flight data.

A smart landing pad comprises a flexible display that shows images or patterns, and a protective layer over the display. The protective layer allows a UAV to land without damaging the display. Locator and range finder devices, coupled to the display, communicate with the UAV. The display is operative for wireless communications with a computer or mobile device that provides on-demand user functions, allowing for dynamically changing or customizing the images/patterns shown on the display. The images/patterns comprise a background area showing changeable images that match an environment where the landing pad is placed, and a target landing area surrounded by the background area. The target landing area includes a changeable insensitive, contrast portion, and changeable marker pattern portions having changeable colors/shapes. The images/patterns also include changeable QR codes on the target landing area. The display is IoT enabled so that data from the landing pad is remotely cloud accessible.

A smart landing pad comprises a flexible display that shows images or patterns, and a protective layer over the display. The protective layer allows a UAV to land without damaging the display. Locator and range finder devices, coupled to the display, communicate with the UAV. The display is operative for wireless communications with a computer or mobile device that provides on-demand user functions, allowing for dynamically changing or customizing the images/patterns shown on the display. The images/patterns comprise a background area showing changeable images that match an environment where the landing pad is placed, and a target landing area surrounded by the background area. The target landing area includes a changeable insensitive, contrast portion, and changeable marker pattern portions having changeable colors/shapes. The images/patterns also include changeable QR codes on the target landing area. The display is IoT enabled so that data from the landing pad is remotely cloud accessible.

Provided are an airway setting device for signaling an airway to an aerial vehicle and an automatic navigation system for controlling the aerial vehicle to fly the airway. The airway setting device transmits radio frequency (RF) signals through two antennas spaced apart from each other. The transmitted RF signals are encoded with phase difference information intended for an aerial vehicle receiving the transmitted RF signals. An automatic navigation system of the aerial vehicle receives the RF signals from the two antennas spaced apart from each other, measures a phase difference between the RF signals, decodes encoded phase difference information, and compares the measured phase difference with the decoded phase difference to identify and maintain an airway.

A method for providing medical services to a patient, including: receiving a medical service request associated with a patient location; selecting an aircraft, located at an initial location, from a plurality of aircraft based on the patient location and the initial location; determining a flight plan for flying the aircraft to a region containing the patient location; at a sensor of the aircraft, sampling a first set of flight data; at a processor of the aircraft, autonomously controlling the aircraft to fly based on the flight plan and the set of flight data; selecting a landing location within the region; and landing the aircraft at the landing location, including: sampling a set of landing location data; determining a safety status of the landing location based on the set of landing location data; outputting a landing warning observable at the landing location; at the sensor, sampling a second set of flight data; and in response to determining the safety status and outputting the landing warning, autonomously controlling the aircraft to land at the landing location based on the second set of flight data.