Drone Patents
US Pat. No. 9,321,510 Mesh Wireless Network for Agricultural Environment
The following drone patents were granted in April 2016:
| PAT.NO. | TITLE |
| 9,324,236 | System and methods for situation awareness, advisory, tracking, and aircraft control information |
| 9,321,591 | Autonomous transports for storage and retrieval systems |
| 9,321,531 | Bystander interaction during delivery from aerial vehicle |
| 9,321,530 | Unmanned aerial vehicle and operations thereof |
| 9,321,514 | Methods and underwater bases for using autonomous underwater vehicle for marine seismic surveys |
| 9,321,510 | Systems and methods for deploying autonomous underwater vehicles from a ship |
| 9,321,461 | Change detection using curve alignment |
| 9,319,903 | Mesh wireless network for agricultural environment |
| 9,318,014 | Systems and methods for reporting visibility to drones |
| 9,317,036 | Flight control for flight-restricted regions |
| 9,317,033 | Control of the autonomous mode of bimodal vehicles |
| 9,315,267 | Integration of high-efficiency, lightweight solar sheets onto unmanned aerial vehicle for increased endurance |
| 9,315,192 | Methods and systems for pedestrian avoidance using LIDAR |
| 9,315,178 | Model checking for autonomous vehicles |
| 9,315,107 | Transport vehicle equipped with current collector |
| 9,313,813 | Skypoint for mobile hotspots |
| 9,313,667 | Cellular communication network through unmanned aerial vehicle cellular communication links |
| 9,311,820 | Configurability options for information, airspace, and property utilized by an unmanned aerial vehicle platform |
| 9,311,760 | Unmanned aerial vehicle authorization and geofence envelope determination |
| 9,310,809 | Systems and methods for collaboratively controlling at least one aircraft |
| 9,310,808 | Apparatus and method for autonomous control and balance of a vehicle and for imparting roll and yaw moments on a vehicle for test purposes |
| 9,310,804 | Use of prior maps for estimation of lane boundaries |
| 9,310,608 | System and method using a multi-plane curtain |
| 9,310,477 | Systems and methods for monitoring airborne objects |
| 9,310,221 | Distributed unmanned aerial vehicle architecture |
| 9,309,750 | Subsea on-site chemical injection management system |
| 9,309,050 | Bot position sensing |
| 9,309,006 | UAV payload module camera assembly and retraction mechanism |
| 9,308,994 | Apparatus and method of attachment of a payload |
| 9,308,891 | Limitations on the use of an autonomous vehicle |
| 9,308,857 | Steering wheel light bar |
| 9,308,856 | Steering wheel light bar |
| 9,307,383 | Request apparatus for delivery of medical support implement by UAV |
| 9,305,306 | Method and system for autonomously delivering information to drivers |
| 9,305,280 | Airborne fulfillment center utilizing unmanned aerial vehicles for item delivery |
| 9,305,223 | Vision-based indicator signal detection using spatiotemporal filtering |
| 9,305,219 | Method for estimating free space using a camera system |
| 9,304,512 | Propulsion prognostics apparatus and systems for unmanned aerial vehicles |
| 9,304,203 | Methods, devices, and systems for improving dynamic range of signal receiver |
| 9,302,783 | Systems and methods for UAV docking |
| 9,302,770 | Payload-release device and operation thereof |
| 9,302,595 | Autonomous charge balancing circuit and method for battery pack |
Drone Patent Applications
U.S. Pat. App. 20160117853 UAV FLIGHT DISPLAY
The following drone patent applications were published in April 2016:
| PUB. APP. NO. | TITLE |
| 20160119747 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ESTIMATING THE POSITION AND ORIENTATION OF A MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS DEVICE IN A BEACON-BASED POSITIONING SYSTEM |
| 20160119546 | APPARATUS AND METHODS FOR STABILIZATION AND VIBRATION REDUCTION |
| 20160118059 | DRONE DETECTION AND CLASSIFICATION METHODS AND APPARATUS |
| 20160117936 | AUTONOMOUS VEHICLE AND METHOD FOR COORDINATING THE PATHS OF MULTIPLE AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES |
| 20160117932 | Method and Apparatus For Locating A Target Using An Autonomous Unmanned Aerial Vehicle |
| 20160117931 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MANAGEMENT OF AIRSPACE FOR UNMANNED AIRCRAFT |
| 20160117853 | UAV FLIGHT DISPLAY |
| 20160117811 | METHOD FOR GENERATING A TARGET TRAJECTORY OF A CAMERA EMBARKED ON A DRONE AND CORRESPONDING SYSTEM |
| 20160116915 | SURVEYING AREAS USING A RADAR SYSTEM AND AN UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLE |
| 20160116914 | Drone Tours In Security Systems |
| 20160116913 | AUTONOMOUS VEHICLE ENVIRONMENT DETECTION SYSTEM |
| 20160116912 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING UNMANNED VEHICLES |
| 20160116593 | OBJECT DETECTING APPARATUS, AND METHOD OF OPERATING THE SAME |
| 20160116294 | ACCURATE POSITION DETERMINATION NEAR EXIT LANES |
| 20160116293 | System and Method to Provide Valet Instructions for a Self-Driving Vehicle |
| 20160115702 | METHOD FOR OPERATING A TOWING ROBOT |
| 20160114903 | FLIGHT ENVELOPE PROTECTION SYSTEM FOR UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES |
| 20160114888 | DISTRIBUTED UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLE ARCHITECTURE |
| 20160114887 | AMPHIBIOUS VERTICAL TAKEOFF AND LANDING UNMANNED SYSTEM AND FLYING CAR WITH MULTIPLE AERIAL AND AQUATIC FLIGHT MODES FOR CAPTURING PANORAMIC VIRTUAL REALITY VIEWS, INTERACTIVE VIDEO AND TRANSPORTATION WITH MOBILE AND WEARABLE APPLICATION |
| 20160114886 | DISTRIBUTED UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLE ARCHITECTURE |
| 20160114779 | Method for furnishing a sensor in the braking system in a vehicle |
| 20160112854 | WILDFIRE POSITION INDICATOR APPARATUS AND METHOD OF USE THEREOF |
| 20160112461 | COLLECTION AND USE OF CAPTURED VEHICLE DATA |
| 20160112116 | UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLE (UAV) BEAM FORMING AND POINTING TOWARD GROUND COVERAGE AREA CELLS FOR BROADBAND ACCESS |
| 20160111006 | USER INTERFACES FOR SELECTING UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES AND MISSION PLANS FOR UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES |
| 20160110701 | METHOD, PRODUCT, AND SYSTEM FOR UNMANNED VEHICLES IN RETAIL ENVIRONMENTS |
| 20160109885 | Work Vehicle Cooperation System |
| 20160109884 | CELESTIAL NAVIGATION SYSTEM FOR AN AUTONOMOUS VEHICLE |
| 20160109615 | NUCLEAR RADIATION CLEANUP AND URANIUM PROSPECTING |
| 20160109572 | NEUTRALIZATION OF A TARGET WITH AN ACOUSTIC WAVE |
| 20160109551 | RADIO POSITIONING OF A MOBILE RECEIVER USING A VIRTUAL POSITIONING REFERENCE |
| 20160109288 | OPTICAL CORRELATION FOR DETECTION OF POINT SOURCE OBJECTS |
| 20160108894 | POWER GENERATING WINDBAGS AND WATERBAGS |
| 20160107750 | AIRBORNE DRONE DELIVERY NETWORK AND METHOD OF OPERATING SAME |
| 20160107749 | Fixed Drone Visualization In Security Systems |
| 20160107655 | OPERATING METHOD FOR A VEHICLE IN MANUAL MODE AND IN AUTONOMOUS MODE |
| 20160107531 | SYSTEM FOR RECOVERING ELECTRICAL ENERGY FROM MACHINE |
| 20160105649 | Panoramic View Imaging System With Drone Integration |
| 20160105648 | MOBILE APPRATUS, IN PARTICULAR A ROTARY-WING DRONE, PROVIDED WITH A VIDEO CAMERA DELIVERING SEQUENCES OF IMAGES DYNAMICALLY CORRECTED FOR THE WOBBLE EFFECT |
| 20160105233 | BROADBAND ACCESS SYSTEM VIA DRONE/UAV PLATFORMS |
| 20160105232 | TELECOMMUNICATION NETWORK ARCHITECTURE |
| 20160105139 | Phantom Electric Motor System with Parallel Coils |
| 20160104384 | Redundant Determination of Positional Data for an Automatic Landing System |
| 20160104376 | Probe Based Variable Speed Sign Value |
| 20160104098 | CONTACT CENTER DELIVERY IN-BUILDING HOMING SERVICE |
| 20160103512 | DUAL OPERATIONAL TOUCH SCREEN DEVICE FOR A VEHICLE |
| 20160103449 | OPERATING METHOD FOR A VEHICLE IN MANUAL MODE AND IN AUTONOMOUS MODE |
| 20160103212 | DETECTING LOW-SPEED CLOSE-RANGE VEHICLE CUT-IN |
| 20160102625 | System and Method for Alerting and Suppression of Detonation and/or Pre Ignition Phenomena in Internal Combustion Engines by Monitoring RPM Fluctuation |
| 20160101874 | DRONE RECEIVING SYSTEMS AND METHODS |
| 20160101872 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR FUEL MONITORING |
| 20160101856 | WEARABLE UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES, AND ASSOCIATED SYSTEMS AND METHODS |
| 20160099946 | CONTROLLING OPERATION OF A MACHINE AND DESCRIBING ACTIONS PERFORMED BY THE MACHINE THROUGH A SOCIAL NETWORKING SYSTEM |
| 20160098085 | Systems and Methods For Haptic Remote Control Gaming |
| 20160097875 | Compensation of Magnetic Data for Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Mapping Surveys |
| 20160097853 | NEURAL NETWORK-BASED RADAR SYSTEM |
| 20160097793 | MICRO INERTIAL MEASUREMENT SYSTEM |
| 20160097616 | Laser Guided and Laser Powered Energy Discharge Device |
| 20160096630 | AIRCRAFT HYBRID FUEL SYSTEM |
| 20160096622 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR PROVIDING A SAFETY APPARATUS TO DISTRESSED PERSONS |
| 20160096614 | AERIAL VEHICLE WITH FRAME ASSEMBLIES |
| 20160096613 | VTOL SYMMETRIC AIRFOIL FUSELAGE OF FIXED WING DESIGN |
| 20160096525 | METHODS AND DEVICES FOR SAFE OPERATION OF UNDERSIZE AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES ON PUBLIC ROADS |
Definitions
As we use the term here, a “drone” is a vehicle that does not have an on-board human operator. Most drones have some degree of autonomous operation. At least some aspect of a drone’s operation is controlled internally. This requires a computer and software. Vehicles that require a human to control every aspect of operation, such as a hobbyist’s remote controlled airplane, are generally not considered drones.
Most drones use a mixture of autonomous and human control. For example, a drone may have the ability to automatically stabilize itself by adjusting control elements and power settings, but a person is needed to tell the drone where to go.
Aerial drones are known by many different names and acronyms. Here are the most popular:
- Remotely Piloted Vehicle (RPV)
- Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV)
- Unmanned Aircraft (UA)
- Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS)
- Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle (UCAV)
Since drones use a very wide range of technologies (please see our drone technology article), we do not attempt to include every patent or application that could be applied to drones. As we use it here, the term “drone” includes any autonomous vehicle. Please let us know if we have missed any important patents.
Drone patent applications are applications that have been filed with and published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Although most applications are published, a small percentage (about 7% nation wide) are not published for various reasons. Patent applications are generally published 18 months after the first priority date of the application. Published applications have not necessarily been examined and some applications will be abandoned after publication. Once an application is examined and approved and all fees and formalities have been satisfied, the Patent Office grants a patent.
More Information
Please see our patent page for more information on patents and our intellectual property page for more information on intellectual property.