Drone Patents
US Pat. No. 9,221,536
Unmanned Aerial Vehicle and Operations thereof
The following drone patents were granted in December 2015:
| Patent Number | Title |
|---|---|
| D746,194 | Autonomous vehicle wing assembly |
| 9,224,302 | Four dimensional flight management with time control system and related method |
| 9,224,300 | Apparatus and method for controlling autonomous vehicle platooning |
| 9,224,053 | Combining multiple estimates of an environment into a consolidated estimate for an autonomous vehicle |
| 9,223,749 | Celestial navigation system for an autonomous vehicle |
| 9,223,313 | Monitoring, diagnostic and tracking tool for autonomous mobile robots |
| 9,223,310 | Ship course obstruction warning transport |
| 9,223,025 | Underwater platform with LIDAR and related methods |
| 9,223,002 | System and method for determining the position of an underwater vehicle |
| 9,221,557 | UAV retrieval system and method |
| 9,221,555 | Structural health management with active control using integrated elasticity measurement |
| 9,221,546 | Aircraft hybrid fuel system |
| 9,221,538 | Flight control system for unmanned aerial vehicle |
| 9,221,537 | Unmanned aerial vehicle and operations thereof |
| 9,221,536 | Unmanned aerial vehicle and operations thereof |
| 9,221,461 | Construction zone detection using a plurality of information sources |
| 9,221,396 | Cross-validating sensors of an autonomous vehicle |
| 9,220,086 | Adaptive communication mode switching |
| 9,219,993 | Method and system for determining object motion by capturing motion data via radio frequency phase and direction of arrival detection |
| 9,219,647 | Modular device and data management system and gateway for a communications network |
| 9,219,568 | Systems and methods for interaction with thermal detectors |
| 9,218,646 | Distributed path planning for mobile sensors |
| 9,217,532 | Wing spar retention system and method |
| 9,216,818 | Impact protection apparatus |
| 9,216,743 | Motor vehicle having a driver assistance device and method for operating a motor vehicle |
| 9,216,737 | System and method for automatically detecting key behaviors by vehicles |
| D745,435 | Unmanned aerial vehicle |
| 9,214,021 | Distributed position identification |
| 9,213,938 | Systems and methods for estimating pose |
| 9,213,337 | Detecting lane closures and lane shifts by an autonomous vehicle |
| 9,213,046 | Micro inertial measurement system |
| 9,212,926 | In-vehicle path verification |
| 9,211,959 | UAV launching from moving platform |
| 9,211,947 | Unmanned aerial vehicle angular reorientation |
| 9,211,025 | Postal cube |
| D744,935 | Autonomous vehicle storage bin/tray |
| 9,208,688 | Wind calculation system using a constant bank angle turn |
| 9,208,619 | Tracking the use of at least one destination location |
| 9,208,456 | Vehicle activity module |
| 9,207,681 | Automatic recovery method for an unmanned aerial vehicle |
| 9,207,680 | Estimating multi-vehicle motion characteristics by finding stable reference points |
| 9,207,679 | System and method for determining position and distance of objects using road fiducials |
| 9,207,674 | Autonomous moving robot and control method thereof |
| 9,207,323 | Methods and systems for detecting weather conditions including wet surfaces using vehicle onboard sensors |
| 9,205,922 | Systems and methods for implementing a payload distribution system |
| 9,205,902 | External payload module for an autonomous underwater vehicle |
| 9,205,835 | Systems and methods for detecting low-height objects in a roadway |
| 9,205,828 | Method and apparatus for determining vehicle location based on motor feedback |
| 9,205,815 | Method and device for autonomous braking of a vehicle following collision |
| 9,205,805 | Limitations on the use of an autonomous vehicle |
Drone Patent Applications
The following drone patent applications were published in December 2015:
| Publication Number | Title |
| 20150382169 | Courier Network |
| 20150380783 | METHOD AND DEVICE PROVIDING THE TEMPERATURE REGULATION OF A RECHARGEABLE ELECTRICAL ENERGY STORAGE BATTERY |
| 20150379874 | DYNAMIC SELECTION OF UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES |
| 20150379869 | Use of Relationship between Activities of Different Traffic Signals in a Network to Improve Traffic Signal State Estimation |
| 20150379781 | Tracking the Use of at Least One Destination Location |
| 20150379661 | EFFICIENT HARDWARE MECHANISM TO ENSURE SHARED RESOURCE DATA COHERENCY ACROSS DRAW CALLS |
| 20150379468 | METHODS FOR DELIVERY TO MULTIPLE LOCATIONS USING AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES |
| 20150378837 | MULTIMEDIA FILE REPAIR METHODS AND APPARATUS |
| 20150377635 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DETERMINING A DROP-OFF AND A PICK-UP LOCATION BASED ON FITNESS GOALS |
| 20150377615 | METHOD OF DOCUMENTING A POSITION OF AN UNDERGROUND UTILITY |
| 20150377405 | INSPECTION SYSTEMS |
| 20150377116 | Forced Air Blower Bypass System |
| 20150376989 | SUBSEA ON-SITE CHEMICAL INJECTION MANAGEMENT SYSTEM |
| 20150375938 | AUTONOMOUS TRANSPORTS FOR STORAGE AND RETRIEVAL SYSTEMS |
| 20150375862 | Stealth Aerial Vehicle |
| 20150375840 | STAND-OFF DELIVERY OF UNMANNED UNDERWATER VEHICLES |
| 20150375765 | LEAD RAIL VEHICLE WITH DRONE VEHICLE AND METHOD |
| 20150375757 | Autonomous driving system for a vehicle and method for carrying out the operation |
| 20150375586 | COMBINED SUBMERSIBLE VESSEL AND UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLE |
| 20150372346 | ELECTRIC VEHICLE PROPULSION SYSTEM AND METHOD UTILIZING SOLID-STATE RECHARGEABLE ELECTROCHEMICAL CELLS |
| 20150371771 | WIRELESS POWER TRANSFER SYSTEMS AND METHODS |
| 20150370533 | Solar tablet verbal |
| 20150370258 | METHOD FOR CONTROLLING A PATH OF A ROTARY-WING DRONE, A CORRESPONDING SYSTEM, A ROTARY-WING DRONE IMPLEMENTING THIS SYSTEM AND THE RELATED USES OF SUCH A DRONE |
| 20150370255 | METHODS FOR OPERATION OF AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES IN SPECIAL CONTROL ZONES |
| 20150370252 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR MULTI-MODE UNMANNED VEHICLE MISSION PLANNING AND CONTROL |
| 20150370251 | Method and system for drone deliveries to vehicles in route |
| 20150370250 | MAGIC WAND INTERFACE AND OTHER USER INTERACTION PARADIGMS FOR A FLYING DIGITAL ASSISTANT |
| 20150367957 | PROVIDING VISIBILITY TO A VEHICLE’S ENVIRONMENT VIA A SET OF CAMERAS WHICH IS CONFORMAL TO THE VEHICLE |
| 20150367932 | Delta M-Wing Unmanned Aerial Vehicle |
| 20150367850 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR MIMICKING A LEADING VEHICLE |
| 20150365792 | NETWORK ARCHITECTURE FOR SYNCHRONIZED DISPLAY |
| 20150365159 | UNMANNED AIR VEHICLE WITH AUTONOMOUS AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL COMMUNICATIONS CAPABILITY |
| 20150363717 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROCESSING OF UAV BASED DATA FOR RISK MITIGATION AND LOSS CONTROL |
| 20150363156 | MEDIA SPLITTING AND REDUCTION IN STORAGE REQUIREMENTS BASED ON COMMON CONTENT |
| 20150362918 | Method of Operating a Remotely Accessible Unmanned Underwater Vehicle |
| 20150362917 | MESSAGING-ENABLED UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLE |
| 20150360797 | UNMANNED AIR VEHICLE RECOVERY SYSTEM |
| 20150360777 | Multi-Task Frisbee-Umbrella |
| 20150360692 | Robust Method for Detecting Traffic Signals and their Associated States |
| 20150360665 | METHOD FOR OPERATING AN ELECTROMECHANICAL VEHICLE BRAKING |
| 20150360663 | METHOD FOR OPERATING AN ELECTROMECHANICAL VEHICLE BRAKE SYSTEM |
| 20150358790 | AUTOMATED MOBILE SYSTEM |
| 20150358773 | LOCATION-BASED NETWORK SYSTEM AND LOCATION-BASED COMMUNICATION METHOD |
| 20150358345 | ACTIVE ATTACK DETECTION SYSTEM |
| 20150357868 | Optical Energy Transfer and Conversion System |
| 20150356885 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR GENERATING AND DELIVERING PERSONALIZED NUTRITION |
| 20150356868 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MEASURING THE REAL TRAFFIC FLOW OF AN AREA |
| 20150356665 | PRE-PURCHASE MECHANISM FOR AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES |
| 20150356482 | AERIAL DRONE FOR WELL-SITE AND SIGNAL SURVEY |
| 20150355641 | LANE CHANGING APPARATUS AND METHOD OF AUTONOMOUS VEHICLE |
Definitions
As we use the word 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, many drones have the ability to automatically stabilize the vehicles by adjusting control elements and power settings, but a human is needed to tell the drone where to go.
Aerial drones are also known by several 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.