Elroy Air, Inc.

Oracle International Corporation

Sifteo, Inc.

David Scott Merrill

Terik Weekes

Douglas N Surber

Jean De Lavarene

Colin Owen

Isaiah Jones

Sean Belardo

Clint Cope

Shane Hills

Clinton Cope

William Peters

Tong Zhou

Jeevan James Kalanithi

Stephen Felts

Bernard Michini

Suman Guha

Kim E Powell

Sanjay Singh Thakur

Karlay Tan

Lee Hian Quek

Sudhir Subramanian

Keng Lap Ao

Matthew Michini

A modular aerial cargo aerodynamic encasement and a method for modular aviation cargo transport is provided. The aviation cargo aerodynamic encasement comprises a platform having a planar upper surface configured to accept cargo and a lower surface. The lower surface includes two or more ground supports displacing a portion of the platform from contact with a supporting surface. The platform includes two or more load transfer structures. The aviation cargo aerodynamic encasement further comprises a fairing configured to detachably couple to the platform, wherein the fairing, when coupled to the platform, forms an aerodynamic encasement, and wherein the aerodynamic encasement is detachably mountable to an aircraft by the two or more load transfer structures.

Modular aerodynamic cargo encasement

An autonomous cargo container retrieval and delivery system locates a select cargo container and maneuvers an unmanned aerial vehicle proximate to the container for retrieval. The vehicle positions itself to engage the cargo container using a grasping mechanism, and, responsive to engaging the cargo container, retracts the cargo container toward the vehicle. As the cargo container is retracted toward the vehicle, weight sensors within the retrieval mechanism sense the weight and the weight distribution of the cargo container, and, can modify the cargo container's location on the vehicle to optimize vehicle flight operations or replace the container on the ground and alert the operator that the cargo container is too heavy or has an improper weight distribution. Upon mating the cargo container with the vehicle, a coupling mechanism latches or secures the cargo container to the vehicle for further flight and/or ground operations.

Unmanned vehicle cargo handling and carrying system

A mission pod configured to be carried by a UAV or other aerial vehicle and accompanying systems and methods to allow the unattended accomplishment of diverse mission types is described. The mission pod having means for communication between the pod and UAV, mechanisms for removably attaching the pod to, and detaching the pod from, the UAV without the intervention of ground crew, mechanisms for facilitating power, fuel, and/or data transfer between the pod and UAV, means for securing various mission components within the pod, and pod configurations supporting various sensing modalities and other mission requirements.

Mission pod for unattended UAV operations

A reconfigurable hybrid Vertical Takeoff and Landing (VTOL) vehicle includes a turntable bearing coupling a conventional wing to a fuselage. The fuselage, designed to couple to and release a cargo pod from its undercarriage, is configured to accept a high wing juncture such that the wing can rotate from a flight configuration to a transport configuration. The transport configuration aligns the wing with the fuselage sufficient to enable the hybrid VTOL vehicle to fit within a standard intermodal container or transport aircraft.

Reconfigurable hybrid VTOL system

The invention relates, generally, to systems and methods for optimizing the performance of an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) by optimizing the UAV's drivetrain, extending the UAV's battery life; by monitoring and reporting on payload imbalance or overweight conditions; and by improving the aerodynamics and streamlining of certain drag-producing elements.

Unmanned aerial vehicle optimization

A compound aircraft embodies an array of rotors for vertical flight positioned on support booms and wing elements for cruise flight coupled to a central fuselage housing avionics and a pusher propeller for forward propulsion. The aircraft accommodates a cargo-carrying container with mating of the surfaces between container and fuselage and latching mechanisms for attaching and detaching the container and vehicle.

Compound multi-copter aircraft

Transportable unmanned cargo delivery aircraft

Unmanned cargo delivery aircraft

Modular aerial cargo aerodynamic encasement

Growing community of inventors

Palo Alto, CA, United States of America

David Scott Merrill