104results about "Gliders" patented technology

A system comprise a server configured to communicate vehicle information with a vehicle transceiver of a vehicle moving along a vehicle route and communicate drone information with a drone transceiver of a drone moving along a drone route. A computing device with a memory and a processor may be configured to communicatively connect with the server, process the vehicle information and the drone information, identify a plurality of pickup locations based in part on the vehicle information and drone information, select at least one of the plurality of pickup locations based in part on a priority score associated with a travel time to or wait time for each of the plurality of pickup locations, and update the drone route based in part on the selected pickup location.

A hollow elliptical-cylindrical hull conformingly houses a hollow rectangular-prismatic cabin whereby the four longitudinal parallel outside edges of the latter make contact with the inside surface of the former. The fully constructed aircraft (either non-powered or powered) includes the integral hull-plus-cabin structure along with nose, tail and airfoil structures that are coupled therewith. The cabin conformingly accommodates hollow rectangular-prismatic modules useful for cargo storage. While the nose and / or tail structure is uncoupled from the integral hull-plus-cabin structure, the modules are inserted into the cabin and the cabin is sealed. The aircraft is lifted (e.g., via airplane, helicopter, rocket or balloon) to a particular elevation and released, whereupon the two wings fully emerge and the aircraft effects controlled flight until reaching its destination. After landing, the nose and / or tail structure is uncoupled from the integral hull-plus-cabin structure, the cabin is unsealed, and the modules are removed from the cabin.

A hollow elliptical-cylindrical hull conformingly houses a hollow rectangular-prismatic cabin whereby the four longitudinal parallel outside edges of the latter make contact with the inside surface of the former. The fully constructed aircraft (either non-powered or powered) includes the integral hull-plus-cabin structure along with nose, tail and airfoil structures that are coupled therewith. The cabin conformingly accommodates hollow rectangular-prismatic modules useful for cargo storage. While the nose and / or tail structure is uncoupled from the integral hull-plus-cabin structure, the modules are inserted into the cabin and the cabin is sealed. The aircraft is lifted (e.g., via airplane, helicopter, rocket or balloon) to a particular elevation and released, whereupon the two wings fully emerge and the aircraft effects controlled flight until reaching its destination. After landing, the nose and / or tail structure is uncoupled from the integral hull-plus-cabin structure, the cabin is unsealed, and the modules are removed from the cabin.

The present invention provides a practical method for UAVs to take advantage of thermals in a manner similar to piloted aircrafts and soaring birds. In general, the invention is a method for a UAV to autonomously locate a thermal and be guided to the thermal to greatly improve range and endurance of the aircraft.

Conception introduced for performing powered flight of aircraft by performing work against gravity force, using gliding wing as steady support, namely “flying elevator” conception, and aircraft developed, based on cyclorotor scheme with elaborated steering solution, continuing in flexible handling and control. Said aircraft correctly and optimally implements said conception after presented detailed modeling, simulation and analyzing, having ability for flight with exceptionally high propulsion efficiency, moderate lift to drag ratio and short takeoff and landing. Additionally, it has ability for recuperative descent and deceleration, utilizing direct driving from high torque electrical engines, which can optionally hybridized with combustion engine, and covers speed range up to limits of subsonic flight.

The safe and secure mass commercial air transportation to eliminate or, at least, mitigate dramatically the impact of a baggage-born explosion or fire in a cargo hold of a passenger airplane, menacing technical malfunction or failure of the airplane, or a human error, and to accommodate concurrently additional passengers aboard, owing to separating the cargo hold far sufficiently beyond the airplane and further placing the cargo hold into, at least one, cargo airtrailer in the form of an immense glider(s) driven by the airplane so that baggage and cargo are carried in the airtrailer, or accommodating the passengers aboard a passenger airtrailer (glider) driven by the airplane.

The present disclosure relates to an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) able to harvest energy from updrafts and a method of enhancing operation of an unmanned aerial vehicle. The unmanned aerial vehicle with a gliding capability comprises a generator arranged to be driven by a rotor, and a battery, wherein the unmanned aerial vehicle can operate in an energy harvesting mode in which the motion of the unmanned aerial vehicle drives the rotor to rotate, the rotor drives the generator, and the generator charges the battery. In the energy harvesting mode regenerative braking of the generator reduces the forward speed of the unmanned aerial vehicle to generate electricity and prevent the unmanned aerial vehicle from flying above a predetermined altitude.

A system for electric power production from wind includes a glider having an airfoil, an on-board steering unit, a flight controller for controlling the steering unit, and a connection unit for a tether. The system further includes a ground station including a reel for the tether, a rotating electrical machine connected to the reel, and a ground station controller for controlling the reel and the rotating electrical machine. A master controller operates the system in at least first and second operation modes. In the first operation mode electric power is produced with the rotating electrical machine from rotation of the reel caused by reeling out the tether using a lift force generated upon exposure of the airfoil of the airborne glider to wind. In the second operation mode, the reel is driven by the rotating electrical machine, thereby reeling in the tether onto the reel.

An apparatus forming an aircraft which is designed for flight by movement through the air, the aircraft has a front and rear portions and a center of mass, with left and right sides when divided by a central plane of reference. The aircraft has inboard portions closer to said central plane of reference and outboard portions farther from said central plane of reference. Further, the aircraft contains at least one positive lifting aerodynamic surface configured to affect the flow of air near said at least one positive lifting aerodynamic surface when said aircraft is appropriately moving forward, and at least one elevon structure configured to create negative aerodynamic force when said aircraft is appropriately moving forward. The elevon structure is constructed so as to have outboard portions thereof positioned outward of said central plane of reference to a distance at least three-fourths of the distance from said central plane of reference to a tip end of said at least one wing.

The invention relates to a transportation system for a wind turbine component such as a wind turbine nacelle or a section of a tubular wind turbine tower, said system comprising a wind turbine component with a rigid structure. The system further comprises at least one standardization means directly or indirectly connected to the rigid structure (6) of said wind turbine component (3), where said at least one standardization means defines a space enclosing said component. The invention also relates to a vehicle for a transportation system, a displacement system and a method of establishing a transportation or displacement system for a wind turbine component.

The invention relates to a combination type high-altitude precise aerial delivery system, which is composed of a controllable parafoil aircraft assembly, a detachable power assembly and a detachable round parachute assembly. After being delivered in high altitude, the system is controlled autonomously and lands on a destination safely and precisely. When both the flying environment and the landing environment are good, the controllable parafoil aircraft assembly is only used to execute a task, thus, the flying weight of the system is lightened, and the system is simplified. The controllable parafoil aircraft assembly and the detachable power assembly are combined, thus, the system can be applied to a severe flying environment; furthermore, the flying delivery distance can also be prolonged. The controllable parafoil aircraft assembly and the detachable round parachute assembly are combined, thus, the round parachute can be opened when the system reaches a low-altitude airspace of a landing point to realize ease landing, and, the system can be applied to a severe landing environment. The controllable parafoil aircraft assembly, the detachable power assembly and the detachable round parachute assembly are combined, thus, the system can be applied to the severe flying environment; the flying delivery distance can be prolonged; furthermore, the system can be applied to the sever landing environment to realize the ease landing. The system disclosed by the invention is multifunctional and wide in application range.

The present invention provides a foldable wing which comprises a wing supporting skeleton, a sliding rail, a skin supporting rib, a skin and a wing movement unit. The wing supporting skeleton comprises a horizontal beam, a longitudinal beam, a wing front edge beam, a wing trailing edge beam, a fixture connector and a sliding block, The wing supporting skeleton is a triangular girder for maintaining planar and sectional shapes of the foldable wing, supporting the skin supporting rib and the skin, and sustaining an aerodynamic load from the skin and a load of a fuselage. After the triangular girder is subjected to a force of the wing movement unit, a shape and an area of the triangular girder are changed so as to achieve folding and unfolding of the foldable wing. A rotocraft and a glider using the foldable wing are also provided.

A heavy payload, autonomous UAV able to deliver supply by way of airdrop with more precision and at a lower cost. The UAV is equipped with two movable wing systems that rotate from a stowed position to a deployed position upon jettison of the UAV from a mothership. The UAV can be controlled remotely or it can operate autonomously and the movable wings can include ailerons to effectuate flight control of the UAV. The UAV can be reusable or can be an expendable UAV.

An airplane, which includes an airframe and a full-segregated thrust hybrid propulsion system mounted on the airframe. The propulsion system includes: one or more sustainer thrust producers; a plurality of electrically powered thrust producers disposed in predetermined positions as a means for providing additional thrust to the airplane, and to supplement airflow over the wings, flaps, and roll control devices of said airplane; whereby increasing the lift of the wing surfaces and providing enhanced control in the roll axis. The trust producers operate independently from one another, with no aerodynamic, electrical or mechanical inter-connection. Safety is enhanced by the ability of either the sustainer thrust producer(s), or the electrically powered augmentation thrust producers to sustain flight to a suitable landing area, should the other system fail.

An aerial delivery assembly for autonomously delivering a load to a target location, the assembly comprising an airframe which comprises a main body, at least one deployable lift providing structure, the lift providing structure being moveable between a stowed position and a deployed position; and at least one deployable and adjustable control structure for controlling the flight of the assembly and moveable between a stowed position and a deployed position. The main body comprises a compartment for receiving a load to be delivered. The assembly further comprises a control unit comprising an actuation module for use in adjusting the control structure, wherein the control unit is releaseably connected to the airframe such that it is reusable in an aerial delivery assembly having a different airframe.

The invention discloses the field of unmanned aerial vehicles and provides an unmanned aerial vehicle device with long running time and a control method. The unmanned aerial vehicle device with the long running time comprises a rack and main propellers. The main propellers are symmetrically arranged in the four directions of the rack. The rack is further provided with a master control unit for controlling the flight state of an unmanned aerial vehicle. The unmanned aerial vehicle device further comprises a wing gliding device and a drive device which are connected. The drive device controls the wing gliding device to be unfolded or folded. By the adoption of the unmanned aerial vehicle device, the manner that the wing gliding device is additionally arranged is adopted, the problem that the running time of the unmanned aerial vehicle is short is effectively solved, and the unmanned aerial vehicle glides through the wing gliding device, so that consumption of vehicle-mounted energy is reduced, the unmanned aerial vehicle can conduct long-distance and large-scale operation, the running time of the unmanned aerial vehicle is prolonged, and the time limit and the distance limit of the unmanned aerial vehicle in actual application are eliminated.

An aircraft has a flight termination system that allows flight of an unmanned aircraft to be quickly and efficiently terminated. The flight termination system separates one of the control surfaces of the aircraft, such as a wing, from a fuselage of the aircraft, while one or more other control surfaces connected to the fuselage. The separation may be accomplished by firing one or more explosive bolts to release a clamp that connects the control surface to the fuselage. The separation causes an asymmetry in configuration that results in a rapid crash of the aircraft. The flight termination system causes termination to be effected in small flight footprint, without use of powerful explosives, and without a large cost in weight or volume. The flight termination system may be used in unpowered or powered aircraft.

Characterized in that in a first stage are loaded or produced on board in a mother aircraft at least a product or mixed of products to act on forest fires, pests or atmospheric phenomena; in a second stage the said product is stored in a glider container with gliding flight ability and equipped with a precision guidance system; in a third stage the glider container is dropped from the mother aircraft and guided towards the release point of the load; in a fourth stage the glider container releases of its interior the load of product on the release point, and in a fifth stage the glider container is recovered for a following reusing.

The invention relates to a multi-scale aeronautical meteorological platform. The platform comprises a platform lift-off device, an upper-air gliding variable-structure aircraft and a wireless sonde, wherein the platform lift-off device lifts off with the upper-air gliding variable-structure aircraft and the wireless sonde, acquires atmospheric meteorological data during lift-off, and transmits the acquired atmospheric meteorological data to the ground through wireless. After an altitude meter confirms that the platform reaches a specified altitude, a meteorological balloon stays in the upper air and sends back data; the platform lands at a high speed through the upper-air gliding variable-structure aircraft. After the aircraft reaches a preset height, tail wings rotate, a worm gear and a worm are driven by a steering engine to automatically rotate, the flight mode of the aircraft is changed, and the aircraft glides by using short wings as an aircraft body. Small-scale meteorological information is acquired among near-earth sliding regions, so that the multi-scale meteorological information acquisition is realized. Through the integrated design, the multi-scale aeronautical meteorological platform disclosed by the invention automatically lifts off, lands and acquires meteorological information, and realizes multi-scale meteorological data synchronization, so that the aeronautical meteorological platform has a huge prospect of sharing the meteorological data in the future.

A disposable airdropped glider. The glider body is constructed from precut panels cut from (MDO) or (HDO) plywood and assembled with pocket-screw joinery or piano hinges. A skid board forms a landing surface and a cargo deck roll-off surface. The glider has pivoting wings and struts. The glider has a triple-tail, a flat nose and honeycomb paperboard panels between the nose and the cargo. Wings are pivoted from a position overlying the fuselage to a flying position by gas springs in wing spars which are compressed by a chain attached to the fuselage through a rotating bracket such that the gas springs are compressed when the wings are folded. The airfoils are plastic extrusions with openings that hold the wing spars and co-formed jury spars which attach the upper and lower surface of the wing. A parachute uses a part of the tail structure to form a deployment drogue.

A partially-inflated rigid-structure glider is a portable or collapsible gliding apparatus that a user can transport in a carrying case. The gliding apparatus includes a rigid yet collapsible frame, tension membranes over both on the wings and tail, and inflatable bladder, a pair of drogue brakes, and a left and right steering mechanism. The pair of drogue brakes is located on opposing sides of the gliding apparatus and create drag on its respective side in order to turn the gliding apparatus either left or right. The user can activate either drogue brake with the left and right steering mechanism, which are control lines attached to each drogue brake. The tension membranes are fitted over the frame so that the gliding apparatus has an airfoil shape in order to create lift with the wings and tail while the gliding apparatus is in flight.

Characterized in that in a first stage are loaded or produced on board in a mother aircraft at least a product or mixed of products to act on forest fires, pests or atmospheric phenomena; in a second stage the said product is stored in a glider container with gliding flight ability and equipped with a precision guidance system; in a third stage the glider container is dropped from the mother aircraft and guided towards the release point of the load; in a fourth stage the glider container releases of its interior the load of product on the release point, and in a fifth stage the glider container is recovered for a following reusing.

A tricycle-type wind-propelled toy land vehicle includes a sail with reliable tangle-free boom control. Both the disposition of the boom and the front wheel steering is actuated by a radio frequency remote control system. The vehicle further includes a skid plate surrounding the front wheel to prevent tip-over. The front wheel is steered by a worm gear drive which is self-locking. Boom control is provided by a guided cable system or, in an alternate embodiment, a direct gear drive to rotate the mast. In yet another embodiment, boom control is provided by a sliding leaf spring which passes underneath the boom and attaches to a track on the underside of the boom.

An aircraft for the autonomous aerial delivery of a load to a target location, the aircraft comprising an airframe having at least one adjustable control structure for controlling the flight of the aircraft and a main body adapted to receive a load a self-contained control module releaseably connected to the airframe, the control module containing an actuator for adjusting the control structure and a controller for producing an electrical drive signal for controlling the actuator; and at least one linkage extending from the control module to the at least one adjustable control structure so as to operably connect the control module to the at least one adjustable control structure, wherein the actuator of the control module is adapted to adjust the at least one adjustable control structure using the at least one linkage so as to control the flight of the aircraft and to steer the aircraft to the target location.

The invention provides an advancing assisting device comprising a propeller and a support which can be fixed to the upper part of the human body. The propeller is fixed to the support and mainly comprises a rotating shaft and blades fixed to the rotating shaft peripherally; the rotating shaft of the propeller is arranged on the upper portion of the support in a manner of being capable of rotating around the self-axis. The device also comprises a pull plate used for pulling the rotating shaft of the propeller to rotate. The advancing assisting device enables a user to better utilize his or her physical power to propel advancing in water or in air.

The invention discloses a water surface jumping gliding robot, and relates to a multi-motion-mode robot. The problem that an existing jumping robot is single in motion form, unstable in jumping posture, large in impact in the falling process and the like is solved. The water surface jumping gliding robot is mainly composed of a water surface supporting system, an empennage, a glider, a six-connecting-rod bouncing mechanism and a driving system. The robot stably floats on the water surface through the water surface supporting system, the driving system drives the bouncing mechanism to store andrelease energy to achieve jumping motion on the water surface, and the glider mechanism achieves the near-water-surface gliding motion function of the robot. The robot body is manufactured through the high-precision 3D printing technology, a spring is used as an energy storage element, a PET film is used as the glider, and the beneficial effects of low weight and diversified motion mode are achieved. The invention relates to a water surface jumping gliding robot which integrates multiple motion modes and is stable in motion posture.

An apparatus forming an aircraft which is designed for flight by movement through the air, the aircraft has a front and rear portions and a center of mass, with left and right sides when divided by a central plane of reference. The aircraft has inboard portions closer to said central plane of reference and outboard portions farther from said central plane of reference. Further, the aircraft contains at least one positive lifting aerodynamic surface configured to affect the flow of air near said at least one positive lifting aerodynamic surface when said aircraft is appropriately moving forward, and at least one elevon structure configured to create negative aerodynamic force when said aircraft is appropriately moving forward. The elevon structure is constructed so as to have outboard portions thereof positioned outward of said central plane of reference to a distance at least three-fourths of the distance from said central plane of reference to a tip end of said at least one wing.

The invention provides an inflatable hang glider unmanned aerial vehicle and belongs to the technical field of unmanned aerial vehicles. The problems that the hang glider unmanned aerial vehicle storage and transportation space is limited, and rapid orbit transfer cannot be conducted are solved. The inflatable hang glider unmanned aerial vehicle comprises a fuselage and inflatable side wings arranged on the two sides of the fuselage. Each inflatable side wing is composed of a plurality of variable section inflating pipes in a combined mode. The radius of the cross section of each variable section inflating pipe is gradually increased from the front end to the back end. The radiuses of the cross sections of the front ends of all the variable section inflating pipes are the same. The radiuses of the cross sections of the back ends of all the variable section inflating pipes of each inflatable side wing are gradually increased from the outer sides to the inner sides. All the variable section inflating pipes of each inflatable side wing are sequentially connected in a linear mode. The front end of each inflatable side wing is fixedly connected with the fuselage. An X-shaped telescopic mechanism is arranged on the back side of each inflatable side wing. A center shaft of each X unit of the X-shaped telescopic mechanisms is fixedly connected with the corresponding inflatable side wing. Rigid windward plates are arranged on the outer side windward sides of the two inflatable side wings.