The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.

The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.

Date of Patent:
Nov. 12, 2024

Filed:

Sep. 27, 2019
Applicant:

California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA (US);

Inventor:

Seyed Ali Hajimiri, Pasadena, CA (US);

Assignee:
Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Assistant Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
G05D 1/00 (2006.01); B64C 37/02 (2006.01); B64C 39/02 (2023.01); B64C 39/04 (2006.01); B64U 10/13 (2023.01); B64U 30/20 (2023.01); B64U 101/00 (2023.01); B64U 101/30 (2023.01); G05D 1/10 (2006.01);
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
G05D 1/0027 (2013.01); B64C 37/02 (2013.01); B64C 39/02 (2013.01); B64C 39/04 (2013.01); G05D 1/00 (2013.01); G05D 1/104 (2013.01); B64U 2101/30 (2023.01); B64U 2201/102 (2023.01); B64U 2201/20 (2023.01);
Abstract

A flying surface may comprise a plurality of interconnectable flying vehicles configured for mid-flight reconfiguration of the flying surface. Each flying vehicle may be entirely self-sufficient, including an onboard thrust unit, an onboard controller, an onboard power unit, and connectors configured to engage corresponding connectors of other flying vehicles to form a flying surface. The flying vehicles may additionally be configured for self-control, thereby enabling a distributed control model for a flying surface that does not require significant, centralized processing power and corresponding power storage. The flying surfaces may dynamically reconfigure mid-flight by attaching or detaching flying vehicles so as to enable a wide variety of in-flight maneuvers.


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