Weather-Resistant Drone Patents and Technological Advances

Aerodynamically optimized drone design with one or more fuselages to improve efficiency and stability when flying forward and against headwinds. The drone has two or more fuselages that house the components and propellers. The fuselages can be connected in a catamaran or trimaran configuration. This design allows the drone to achieve maximum aerodynamic efficiency and withstand turbulence when tilted forward at a specific angle during flight.

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Controller system for an aerial vehicle that can adapt to changing environmental conditions to ensure safe and efficient flight control. The system adjusts motor limits based on environmental sensors to avoid exceeding the vehicle's capabilities. It uses an iterative process to calculate motor inputs for requested flight maneuvers that consider the adjusted limits. This prevents calculating unachievable motor inputs that could lead to failure.

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Improved method to control unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in order to maintain a precise position even in wind or other disturbances. It uses initial compass data to start moving in the right direction, then corrects that path using GPS to ensure it reaches the exact desired position.

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Alert system for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that notifies operators whenever environmental conditions exceed safe thresholds during delivery flights. The UAV has sensors to detect variables like wind speed or turbulence during flight. If any variable exceeds a predetermined threshold, an alert is generated. This allows monitoring of delivery flights to ensure the safe transport of items.

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Controlling unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to improve safety by automatically switching flight states based on local weather conditions. The method involves obtaining meteorological data where the UAV is flying, determining a flight hazard level based on the data, and then commanding the UAV to switch to an emergency flight state if hazardous conditions are present. This allows the UAV to proactively avoid dangerous weather and land safely rather than continuing a mission.

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A small unmanned aircraft system (sUAS) with vertical takeoff and landing capability and long endurance. It achieves robustness in gusty conditions using a compound wing design. The wing has a fixed inner portion, an articulating intermediate portion with lift engines for vertical takeoff/landing, and a freely rotating outer portion. The rotating portion allows gusts to pass through and reduces lift disruption. The articulating portion allows vertical lift or horizontal cruising.

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Motor design for a drone that improves cooling and reliability by preventing water and debris ingress while allowing airflow. The motor has a detachable upper cover with radial blades that allow air to flow through the motor and exit around the cover. This provides a cooling airflow path. The cover also prevents water and particles from entering the motor through the top.

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A drone that prevents foreign matter like water and dust from entering critical components like motors and gearboxes. The drone has a housing to enclose the motor and gear, with the motor shaft supported by bearings so it can rotate inside the housing. A foreign matter entry prevention unit is placed at the interface between the rotating and fixed sections to prevent contaminants from entering the housing. It could include seals, covers, filters, or other mechanisms to block particles from getting into the motor area.

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An intelligent drone that can autonomously track and follow individuals or objects to provide protection from environmental elements like rain, sun, wind, etc. The drone acts as a protective shield that hovers above and moves with the target entity to keep the elements off.

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Mounting device for electronic components of UAV helicopters that provides lightweight and convenient protection from harsh environmental conditions without needing individual covers for each component. The device has a solid base plate that mounts the components and a flexible cover that seals over them. The cover connects to the base plate with a removable connector. This allows easy access to the components while providing protection from moisture and vibrations. The flexible cover forms a waterproof seal when closed. The mounting device can be added to the UAV helicopter by attaching the base plate and then sealing the cover over the components.

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Icing detection and mitigation system for aircraft that uses onboard heating elements to both detect and prevent ice formation in an energy efficient way. The system autonomously heats aircraft surfaces using electrothermal sources. It then monitors the temperature as it cools to detect icing. If icing is detected, the heating elements are activated to prevent further ice buildup. The system also uses machine learning and calibration techniques to accurately detect icing without extensive sensors.

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Enabling effective guidance of a drone or other flying object, even in foggy conditions, by combining gated imaging and laser pointing. The system uses a gated camera and spotlights that both point in the same direction. The gated camera captures images by illuminating the scene for only a very brief period of time so it can see through the fog. The spotlight projects light in the same direction as the camera is capturing images. This allows the camera to see through the fog and also detect when the spotlight's light is reflected back. By detecting the maximum amount of light reflected within a given time, guidance can be inferred.

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Operating an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) in changing environmental conditions without damaging the UAV's electronics. The UAV has an active cooling system with fans to cool electronic devices. The cooling airflow is reduced when sensors detect conditions like rain, humidity, dust, or flight maneuvers that increase the risk of water or debris ingress. This prevents damage but risks overheating. The UAV dynamically scales back CPU tasks, camera frame rates, etc., based on conditions. It also uses fail-safe measures like phase change materials in cooling to absorb excess heat when fans are off.

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Detecting and removing precipitation from camera images captured by UAVs to improve the safety and performance of autonomous flight in poor weather conditions. The image processing system analyzes stereo image pairs to detect precipitation by comparing features that have changed due to moving rain or snow. It then generates a reconstructed image without the precipitation, enabling accurate perception of the environment for navigation and avoidance systems.

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A method and structure for de-icing drone rotor blades to enable operation in icy conditions. The de-icing system uses laser direct structuring (LDS) to create conductive tracks in furrows on the blades, which can be coated with a protective layer. The tracks run the length of the furrows and are electrically connected to heating elements. Energy is transferred from the stationary drone body to the rotating blades via contacts around the rotor mast. This allows heating current to be supplied to the conductive tracks in the rotor blades for de-icing.

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Detecting ice on helicopter rotors to improve flight safety. The detection system analyses the rate of change of a trim signal that controls rotor speed. If the rate exceeds a threshold, it indicates increased drag due to ice build-up.

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Ice resistant aircraft structures that enable autonomous aircraft like drones to safely fly in icing conditions without needing external de-icing fluids or pilot intervention. The structures have a subsurface layer that contains de-icing agents like glycol. An activation mechanism releases the de-icing agents to the surface when icing conditions are detected. This can be triggered by temperature changes, pressure changes, or humidity changes. The de-icing agents prevent ice formation.

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A waterproof drone that can operate in wet conditions like rain and near water, unlike typical drones that are not waterproof and cannot fly in such environments. The drone has a sealed airframe to keep water out and prevent damage to internal components. The airframe has gaskets and seals to seal the upper and lower covers. There are also breathable holes in the upper cover that are covered by a waterproof film to allow the air inside to equalize pressure. The propellers have a locking mechanism with latching elements and passageways to prevent accidental detachment during flight.

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A waterproof unmanned aerial vehicle that can fly in rugged conditions and around water without damage. The UAV has a main frame made of unbreakable lightweight material that covers and protects the internal components. The central control unit and sensors are housed in a sealed frame. The rotors are arranged in parallel axes and can be independently controlled.

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A stable multi-rotor aircraft that can resist wind gusts for improved flight stability. The aircraft has a fuselage with multiple rotors and a wind-resistant unit above the rotors. The unit has radial barriers that divert airflow to counteract crosswinds and stabilize lift.

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Cable for tethered drones that resist wind forces and vibrations. The cable has an airfoil-shaped cross-section that allows it to align itself with the wind when swivel mounted on the drone and ground base. When wind hits the cable, lift forces cause it to rotate so the rounded edge faces into the wind. The symmetric airfoil shape provides equal lift forces on both sides when aligned this way, stabilizing the cable against wind forces and reducing vibrations.

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Hover attitude trim method for autonomous VTOL aircraft to improve landing safety in windy conditions. The method involves orienting the aircraft's wing plane to align with the local wind direction during descent. This reduces the pitch variation from vertical and prevents unstable landings. The autonomous flight computer determines the target wing angle based on the wind and adjusts the cyclic prop-rotor blades and controllable surfaces accordingly. This allows the aircraft to autonomously optimize its hover attitude based on the surrounding wind conditions for safer landings.

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A spin-stabilized aerial aircraft for collecting meteorological data in high wind shear environments. The aircraft has wings that cause it to autorotate and passively stabilize in windy conditions. It also has propulsive arms that actively stabilize it without wind or when descending. This allows the aircraft to dwell in turbulent areas and convert gust measurements into wind shear data.

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An integrated heating airspeed tube for unmanned aerial vehicles reduces the chances of the air inlet holes getting blocked with liquid, improving performance in rainy and snowy weather. The tube has a heating component integrated inside the tube body that prevents liquid blockages. The heating component is located inside a heating cavity formed in the tube body.

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