A large part of the activity in the high level air versatility space occurs in secret. The inner workings of contemporary flying innovation are at best opaque unless you are friends with an engineer from Amazon Prime Air or a flight tester from the United States military.

However, sometimes, trend-setters give us a look in the background — in the event that you know where to look.

Welcome to Patent Pending, FLYING’s monthly roundup of the most significant patents pertaining to advanced air mobility (AAM), unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), and drones. We will break down the most intriguing, bizarre, and eye-popping technologies that have not yet been released onto the market each month, saving you hours of time spent poring over filings submitted to the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

A few remarks: There is no assurance that a business will develop patented technology, and the publication of a patent does not necessarily mean that it has been granted. That being said, distributed licenses can give a few understanding into a company’s exploration and development needs — and a ton of them are simply cool.

To View Licenses
The following are a couple distributed in May — to see these licenses yourself, go to the U.S. Public Patent Pursuit, enter the comparing archive ID in the hunt bar, and snap “PN.”

Alef Flying
You might not have known about San Mateo, California-based Alef Flight, yet it’s a name you might see a greater amount of soon. The company has been working on what it hopes will be the first flying car in the world since 2015. A patent that was published this month gives us a look behind the scenes.

It looks funny Alef’s flying car, which should be available for $300,000 by 2025 and has already received 440 preorders. However, if the design is successful, it would be a marvel of modern engineering because it would allow passengers to simultaneously fly like a helicopter and drive like a car.

The vehicle seems to be the affection offspring of a commonplace vehicle and a cheddar grater, with a vented body that houses eight propellers. At its middle is a container where the pilot sits, and the “sides” of the vehicle are really its wings.

While progressing to vertical flight, the container is pivoted so the pilot is confronting the sky — and when the vehicle is off the ground, the situation turns to adjust itself (and the pilot) toward forward flight.

Report ID: US 20230159161 A1

Istanbul College
Urban communities are regularly the adversary of robot conveyance, with huge structures, restricted landing space, and a large number of individuals who present potential wellbeing risks. Yet, a patent recorded by Istanbul College offers a potential arrangement.

The 2021 patent calls for the installation of modular landing and docking platforms on buildings like apartment buildings. These platforms could be covered to keep them safe when not in use. In any case, they would be fit for speaking with drones, opening up when one is drawing nearer with a conveyance.

A manual administrator or independent programming would be liable for sending the robots to the legitimate stages, where a docking framework would guarantee they stay set up while finishing the conveyance. The drone could even be equipped with QR codes to “see” the platforms and direct itself to its destination.

Document ID: US 20230159193 A1 NEC Corp. Flying a drone is similar to playing a video game because drone remote controllers typically have a variety of joysticks and buttons, just like an Xbox controller.

However, it might soon resemble virtual reality more. A remote control device that uses a camera to capture the operator’s hand gestures and converts them into instructions for a drone is described in Japan’s NEC Corp.’s patent filing from 2021.

Although NEC has experience in a number of different fields, this design could revolutionize the drone industry if it is developed. Imagine using a finger to move your drone forward, a “stop” motion to keep it still, or a wave to instruct it to land.

Document ID: US 20230161339 A1

Rhombus Frameworks
The FAA is as yet fostering a past visual view (BVLOS) rule for automated ethereal vehicles (UAVs), one that would permit remote pilots to fly robots where they can’t see them. However, surveillance and detect-and-avoid technologies are not yet sufficiently advanced to make safe BVLOS flights possible.

A company like Rhombus Systems can assist in this regard. Per a 2022 patent recording, the firm has concocted an answer that would utilize an organization of radio wires, for example, cell towers, to make a low-elevation radar framework for UAVs.

Rhombus basically needs to fill in the holes not covered via aviation authority, which can’t “see” at the rise drones fly. The framework would likewise follow different articles in low-height airspace — like birds or inflatables — to give UAVs more prominent identification capacities.

Fundamentally a home and business security firm, it wouldn’t be a stretch to see Rhombus seek after a robot radar and low-height airspace security framework. Additionally, it would undoubtedly be beneficial to BVLOS operations if it reached scale.

Document ID: US 11656354 B2

Furthermore, a Couple of Additional Licenses
In all honesty, AT&T works an armada of robots, and it could be wanting to mechanize its organization.

The media communications monster is attempting to turn its COW (Cell on Wings) drones into portable cell towers, with every airplane sending 5G inclusion more than 10 square miles. In addition, according to a patent application filed in 2021, the business appears to be developing a method for automatically directing COW drones to areas without coverage.

The system would control the drones’ movement between storage or staging hubs and service areas and autonomously determine where they are needed. Additionally, it would inform each drone of its charging location and time.

Report ID: In the meantime, Toyota filed a patent for US 20230147814 A1 that calls for drones to provide a different kind of service: assistance on the road

The organization hasn’t unveiled any explanations to propose it’s as of now working robots. Yet, its 2021 documenting portrays an organization of UAVs that could give alerts to drivers (for example frosty streets or development), convey hardware to work force, and perform different assignments.

These robots would be composed by a constant traffic recognition framework, taking in street blockage information and planning it to recognize spots where a mishap could happen. The framework would then guide robots to occupied crossing points or clogged thruways, getting them ready to offer support if necessary.

Document ID: In today’s modern flying space, drones (US 20230135603 A1) receive the majority of the attention, but advanced air mobility technology is also gaining traction. The issue? The vast majority of pilots lack the necessary training to operate eVTOL air taxis and other similar aircraft.

However, Beta Air, one of the pioneers in the fledgling industry, may have a solution that will make eVTOL pilots’ lives easier. The firm in December documented a patent for a drift and-push control get together, which would basically transform the pilot’s arm into a flight regulator.

The mechanism resembles a very long stick shift in that moving the stick up would increase vertical thrust and moving the stick down would decrease it. The pilot would use a thumbwheel at the end of the stick to increase or decrease the forward thrust. This would make it possible for a single control system to propel the aircraft in four different directions.

Document ID: US 20230159160 A1

In the interim, a patent documented by Kia, which is emphatically not an eVTOL maker, could give Beta Air and other air taxi firms a lift.

The documenting requires a charging framework that would remain connected to the airplane during departure, giving it some additional juice during the most energy-polishing off phase of flight. The system would deploy a smaller drone that rises with the air taxi and keeps the aircraft connected to a power source as it climbs in order to accomplish this. The more modest UAV would then delivery and fly back to the ground.

Document ID: US 20230135344 A1

If the system is implemented, it may be the key to allowing air taxis to fly for longer distances. Remember, however, that Kia’s innovation and those portrayed above might be quite a long while away from improvement — and they might in all likelihood never be created.

Source – flyingmag