Automated Docking Systems for Drone Operations

Aerial charging drone group and charging method that enables fast charging of two drones mid-air. The charging group has two drones, one with a retractable charging plug and the other with a retractable socket. The drone with the socket detects low battery and requests a nearby drone with the plug to fly over. The socket drone guides the plug drone to align the charging holes. The plug drone descends and the socket drone moves up to meet. The charging plug extends and connects. The drones then dock for charging. The drone bodies are transparent for visual alignment. Mechanisms move the charging components.

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A drone charging platform that enables autonomous charging of drones mid-flight. The platform uses a combination of sensors, navigation, and Bluetooth to locate and charge drones without landing. The drone has a master Bluetooth device and sensors to detect the charging platform. The platform has a slave Bluetooth device to communicate with the drone. When the drone approaches, the platform locates it using navigation and charges it wirelessly. This allows drones to extend their range and endurance by recharging while in flight.

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A system for charging drone batteries mid-flight to extend flight time without landing. The system involves a docking drone that can attach to and charge the battery of a flying drone while it is in flight. The charging drone has a movable shielding plate, an extendable tube, and a female connector that slides into the flying drone's connection terminal to access the battery. The flying drone has a fixed electromagnet and a sliding female connector part. When the charging drone docks, the shielding plate moves laterally to expose the flying drone's connector. The charging drone's connector slides in to engage the flying drone's connector and make contact for charging. The electromagnet holds the charging drone in place. The charging drone can retract its tube and disconnect to fly away when finished. This allows drones to remain in flight while re

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Dual unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) system with air charging and improved endurance capability. The system involves a mother drone and a sub-UAV that can dock and charge in mid-air. This allows the mother drone to transfer power to the sub-UAV mid-flight, extending their combined endurance beyond what a single drone could achieve. The mother drone docks with the sub-UAV, then flies to a location to perform tasks. When the mother drone's battery gets low, it returns to change it while the sub-UAV continues working. The mother drone then redocks and charges the sub-UAV mid-air. This cyclic docking and charging allows extended endurance by swapping power between drones.

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An automatic patrol drone system for power transmission lines that enables autonomous inspection and charging of drones without human intervention. The system uses drones equipped with 5G connectivity, image recognition, electric field monitoring, and obstacle avoidance, along with power towers outfitted with 5G base stations, energy storage, and wireless charging. The drones use tower-provided 5G coordinates to autonomously navigate and inspect lines. When low on battery, they locate the nearest tower for wireless charging. This allows sustained autonomous patrols without manual piloting or carrying heavy batteries.

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System to provide power and data communications to drones on overhead power lines using the existing infrastructure. Drones can dock and charge on specialized stations attached to power lines. The stations collect power from the lines, guide drones for accurate landing, and provide data services. They can also communicate with drones wirelessly. The stations process drone data and relay it back. This allows drones to fly long distances without batteries and access remote areas.

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System to maintain UAV flight continuity using a ground station that can charge and swap UAV batteries. The ground station has a rotating base plate with rails, sliders, and a scissor lift to move the UAVs. The ground station can raise/reorient one UAV for launch while another UAV charges. When a UAV's battery is low, the ground station deploys the charged UAV. This allows continuous UAV flights without landing.

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A robotic system that increases efficiency of wireless charging electric vehicles by using metamaterial panels. The panels can change shape to optimize the coupling between the charging station transmitter coil and the vehicle receiver coil. A robot moves the panels to fill the gap between the coils and adjusts its shape as needed. This allows the coils to remain a fixed distance apart while maintaining close alignment for efficient charging. The metamaterial panels can be made of smart materials that change shape on command to adapt to different vehicle and charging station geometries.

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Power supply system for urban air mobility (UAM) vehicles to enable long-distance electric flight without relying on heavy onboard batteries. The system uses a charging station on the ground with a power cable and an anchored UAM power supply mobility device. During takeoff, the mobility device connects to the UAM vehicle and provides power via the cable. Once airborne, the mobility device flies alongside the UAM vehicle, supplying power through the cable. An auxiliary mobility device controls the cable path to prevent deviations. This allows the UAM vehicle to take off and operate with minimal onboard batteries while receiving power from the ground.

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High-altitude precision docking of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for efficient mid-air recharging. The method involves autonomous docking of a UAV with a high-altitude parking compartment using sensors and positioning systems. The compartment has a recharging module to replenish the UAV's battery. The UAV locates the compartment, descends, and docks accurately using a lifting motor, slide motor, and switch. This enables mid-air recharging at high altitudes where other methods like solar or laser charging are impractical.

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A take-off type unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) charging system that allows UAVs to autonomously detach and recharge from a charging platform without landing. The system has charging devices mounted on the platform that UAVs can connect to in mid-air. The charging devices have retractable cables that UAVs can pull out and disconnect, allowing them to fly away with the cable. This eliminates the need for large landing pads and allows UAVs to continuously recharge while in flight.

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Docking stations for drones on overhead power lines that enable charging and data communication with drones. The stations harvest power from the power line using current transformers. Drones have docking units to securely connect and charge. The stations communicate with drones for guided landing. They also collect drone data and send to a remote platform for processing. This provides drone surveillance, monitoring, and maintenance on power lines using existing infrastructure.

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A system for enabling drones to fly further distances and for longer times by having movable charging stations that can autonomously navigate to meet the drones. The drones transmit their charging needs to nearby stations, which select an optimal one based on factors like arrival time and capacity. This allows efficient, on-demand charging without requiring the drones to return to fixed stations. The stations can move autonomously to intercept the drones, eliminating range limitations.

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Coordinating multiple autonomous drones during landing to prevent collisions and optimize battery charging. The system involves having each drone share its identification, position, battery level, and delivery destination. Landing points are set and drones are guided based on distance and battery level. If a drone with low battery approaches a landing point already occupied by another drone with high battery, the system can swap their landing spots to conserve battery charge. The ground landing devices share drone info to enable this coordination.

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A system for enabling multiple drones to land, charge, and handover tasks simultaneously at a centralized location. The system has a charging station with multiple enclosed bays for each drone to land in and charge. The bays have embedded ARM systems to communicate with the monitoring background and other drones. When a drone returns low on charge, it lands and the ARM hands over its incomplete tasks to another fully charged drone. This allows efficient mission continuation without needing to return to base. The charging station has solar panels to power the bays.

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Automated drone system for industrial and public applications that addresses the limitations of short drone flight times and fixed docking stations by integrating a mobile vehicle with docking stations. The vehicle has a ceiling that opens to allow drones to take off and land. Lifts raise and lower drones to align propellers for compact storage. The vehicle moves to destinations while drones autonomously fly, recharge, and wait. This enables multi-drone operation and extends flight time compared to fixed stations.

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An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) docking system that enables UAVs to recharge, refuel, and exchange data without landing. The system uses a UAV with a spherical docking ball on its arm and a docking station with flippers and a charging dome. The UAV flies the ball to the station, engages the flippers, lowers the ball, and the dome charges the UAV. To release, the dome raises and the flippers fall, allowing the UAV to drop. Springs return the flippers. This allows vertical takeoff/landing UAVs to recharge, refuel, and exchange data without landing.

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Autonomous drone operations using docking ports on wearables, vehicles, and buildings to enable hands-free drone use. The drones have universal docking ports to attach to various stations for autonomous launch, charging, networking, and navigation. The stations have imaging and guidance systems to locate and dock drones. The ports also enable wireless power transfer between docked drones and stations. The drones can form groups for coordinated tasks and networking. The wearable docking ports allow drones to dock on a user's body for hands-free operation.

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Airborne drone charging system that allows extended flight times for drones by aerial charging. A service drone hovers above a parked drone and wirelessly charges it mid-air. The service drone has positioning sensors to accurately dock and charge. The parked drone lands on a platform on the service drone. The service drone has a larger power supply to charge both itself and the parked drone. This allows drones to have shorter battery packs since they can recharge in flight. The service drone can also charge parked drones at remote locations.

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Docking system for drones that allows them to recharge, monitor situations, and connect to networks while perched on existing infrastructure. The system has a rotating connector that attaches to the drone and can swing it from a horizontal to vertical position. The connector has a charging prong to connect to power sources like street lights. Arcuate arms engage the infrastructure to hold the drone in place. This enables drones to land on structures and recharge, monitor situations, and transmit data without needing dedicated landing pads.

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