Indoor aerial vehicles with advanced safety features

Abstract

An aerial vehicle configured for operation within indoor spaces has a meshed construction with a housing defined by upper and lower sections having meshes provided above and below propellers and motors of the aerial vehicle. The aerial vehicle also includes a suite of sensors such as LIDAR sensors, time-of-flight sensors, cameras, ultrasonic sensors, or others. Meshes of the upper and lower sections include central openings along with spokes and concentric rings provided about the central openings. Meshes of the lower section have substantially larger central openings than meshes of the upper section, but feature more dense spokes or concentric rings beneath tips of the rotating propellers, which may be hinged or foldable in nature. Data captured by sensors of the aerial vehicle may be utilized for any purpose, such as to generate environment maps of an indoor space, or to monitor the indoor space for adverse conditions or events.