Abstract:
A flight vehicle includes a drone (28) with a pair of shaped protrusions (22, 24) mechanically coupled to the drone. One of the shapes is a hollow lift-producing shape (22), such as being a balloon filed with a lighter-than-air gas, and the other (24) of the shapes is below the drone. The shape below the drone may be a hollow shape that does not produce lift, for example being a balloon filled with air. The shapes (22, 24) may be similar in size and shape, so as to provide similar drag characteristics. The shapes may be opposite ends of a support (26), such as a stick, rod, or other (relatively) slender structure. The vehicle includes a payload (12), such as radar calibration equipment or an antenna. The drone may be used to counteract wind forces on the flight vehicle, and/or to otherwise position the flight vehicle.
Abstract:
A virtual reality system includes a drone including a rotor, a display, an audio speaker, a body harness having adjustable straps, and one or more processors in operative communication with the display, the audio speaker, and the drone. The drone may be fixed to the body harness. The one or more processors may be configured to issue audio-visual content to the display and audio speaker and control the rotor based on the issued audio¬ visual content.
Abstract:
The disclosed embodiments include a trailer for an autonomous vehicle controlled by a command and control interface. The trailer includes a trailer body configured to retain the autonomous vehicle in an undeployed configuration. The trailer also anchors the autonomous vehicle in a deployed configuration. A tether is provided having a first end coupled to the trailer body and a second end that is configured to couple to the autonomous vehicle. A winch is utilized to adjust a length of the tether to move the autonomous vehicle between the undeployed configuration and deployed configuration. Further, a communication system communicates with the command and control interface and the autonomous vehicle to control movement of the autonomous vehicle between the undeployed configuration and deployed configuration.
Abstract:
Methods and systems for determining trajectories for vehicles of a fleet of vehicles are provided. In one example, a method comprises receiving an initial location of one or more vehicles, and receiving a sequence of coverage requirements for a region and an associated period of time. The region may be divided into a plurality of landmarks and the period of time may be divided into a plurality of phases. The method also comprises determining for each of one or more phases and at least one respective landmark, a set of starting landmarks from which a vehicle could reach the respective landmark during the phase. The method further comprises determining which respective landmark that the vehicle should travel to during the one or more phases based on the sequence of coverage requirements and the set of starting landmarks for the one or more phases and the at least one respective landmark.
Abstract:
Disclosed embodiments relate to a combined shipping container and balloon deployment system for deploying balloons into a balloon network. Such a shipping container may allow one or more balloons to be transported to a desired launch location, and then launched directly from the shipping container.