Drone Patents — November 2015

Drone Patents

U.S. Pat. No. 9,193,451
Aircraft using Turbo-Electric Hybrid Propulsion System for Multi-Mode Operation

The following drone patents were granted in November 2015:

PAT. NO. Title
9,196,164 Pedestrian notifications
9,195,938 Methods and systems for determining when to launch vehicles into a fleet of autonomous vehicles
9,195,914 Construction zone sign detection
9,195,256 Control system for a remote vehicle
9,195,236 Road flare detection
9,195,233 General purpose robotics operating system
9,195,232 Methods and systems for compensating for common failures in fail operational systems
9,194,678 Modular rocket system
9,194,326 Method for controlling the start-up of a vehicle comprising an engine start-stop system
9,193,451 Aircraft using turbo-electric hybrid propulsion system for multi-mode operation
9,193,442 Predictable and required time of arrival compliant optimized profile descents with four dimensional flight management system and related method
9,193,355 Construction zone sign detection using light detection and ranging
9,193,313 Methods and apparatuses involving flexible cable/guidewire/interconnects
9,190,304 Dynamic storage and transfer system integrated with autonomous guided/roving vehicle
9,189,961 Method and system for autonomous tracking of a following vehicle in the lane of a leading vehicle
9,189,689 Robust scale estimation in real-time monocular SFM for autonomous driving
9,188,986 Computer-implemented method and system for dynamically positioning a vehicle relative to another vehicle in motion for on-the-fly offloading operations
9,188,985 Suggesting a route based on desired amount of driver interaction
9,188,981 Vehicle system, a vehicle and a method for autonomous road irregularity avoidance
9,188,246 Methods and apparatus for recovery of damaged subsea pipeline sections
9,187,189 System, apparatus, and method for active debris removal
9,187,184 Systems and devices for remotely operated unmanned aerial vehicle report-suppressing launcher with portable rf transparent launch tube
9,187,182 Method of controlling operation of an unmanned aerial vehicle
9,187,173 Towable autogyro having a re-positionable mast
9,187,161 Weapon clearance appliance for clearing weapons, such as underwater mines, under water, unmanned underwater vehicle having a weapon clearance appliance of this kind, and method for this purpose
9,187,117 Autonomous lane control system
9,187,095 Method and arrangement for entering a preceding vehicle autonomous following mode
9,187,091 Collision detection system with a plausibiity module
9,187,088 Distribution decision trees
9,185,639 Discovery and acquisition methods for directional networking
9,184,582 Fail operational power system with single energy storage
9,182,761 Autonomous driving control system for vehicle
9,180,967 Configurable pod structure and store stowage and deployment system and method
9,180,882 Avoiding blind spots of other vehicles
9,179,393 Intelligent communication mobile transponder
9,178,258 Split-block construction of waveguide channels for radar frontend
9,177,481 Semantics based safe landing area detection for an unmanned vehicle
9,176,500 Consideration of risks in active sensing for an autonomous vehicle
9,176,076 Cargo inspection system
9,175,977 Method for arbitrating between multiple vehicle navigation systems
9,175,934 Auto-injector countermeasure for unmanned aerial vehicles
9,174,733 Payload-release device and operation thereof
9,174,713 Unmanned underwater vehicle
9,174,676 Method for executing an at least semi-autonomous parking process of a vehicle and parking assistance system for a vehicle
9,174,642 Motor vehicle having a driver assistance device and method for operating a motor vehicle

Drone Patent Applications — November 2015

 

The following drone patent applications were published in November 2015:

PUB. APP. NO. Title
20150341540 PORTABLE DEVICE CONTROLLING UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLE AND METHOD OF CONTROLLING THEREFOR
20150339933 CONFIGURABILITY OPTIONS FOR INFORMATION, AIRSPACE, AND PROPERTY UTILIZED BY AN UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLE PLATFORM
20150339931 FLIGHT CONTROL FOR FLIGHT-RESTRICTED REGIONS
20150339928 Using Autonomous Vehicles in a Taxi Service
20150339912 Security Monitoring and Control
20150339826 APPARATUS AND METHODS FOR ROBOTIC OPERATION USING VIDEO IMAGERY
20150339589 APPARATUS AND METHODS FOR TRAINING ROBOTS UTILIZING GAZE-BASED SALIENCY MAPS
20150338855 CONTROLLING UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES AS A FLOCK TO SYNCHRONIZE FLIGHT IN AERIAL DISPLAYS
20150338852 Sharing Autonomous Vehicles
20150338280 SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR INTERACTION WITH THERMAL DETECTORS
20150336741 RACK STORAGE SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR OPERATING IT
20150336677 IN-FLIGHT REFUELLING DEVICE FOR ELECTRIC STORAGE SYSTEM AND AIRCRAFT EQUIPPED WITH SUCH A DEVICE
20150336671 METHOD FOR ADAPTIVE MISSION EXECUTION ON AN UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLE
20150336670 UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLE AND FUSELAGE THEREOF AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING THE FUSELAGE
20150336669 UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLE NETWORK-BASED RECHARGING
20150336668 UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLE FLIGHT PATH DETERMINATION, OPTIMIZATION, AND MANAGEMENT
20150336667 UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLE PLATFORM
20150336646 AUTONOMOUS UNDERWATER VEHICLE FOR MARINE SEISMIC SURVEYS
20150336645 AUTONOMOUS UNDERWATER VEHICLE MARINE SEISMIC SURVEYS
20150336576 UNMANNED VEHICLE DRIVING APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR OBSTACLE AVOIDANCE
20150336575 COLLISION AVOIDANCE WITH STATIC TARGETS IN NARROW SPACES
20150336502 COMMUNICATION BETWEEN AUTONOMOUS VEHICLE AND EXTERNAL OBSERVERS
20150336014 ENHANCED INTERACTIVITY IN AN AMUSEMENT PARK ENVIRONMENT USING PASSIVE TRACKING ELEMENTS
20150334768 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CONTROL OF MULTIPLE AUTONOMOUS MOBILE NODES BASED ON DYNAMIC SITUATIONAL AWARENESS DATA
20150334562 SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ELECTRONIC KEY PROVISIONING AND ACCESS MANAGEMENT IN CONNECTION WITH MOBILE DEVICES
20150334545 METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR AN EMERGENCY LOCATION INFORMATION SERVICE (E-LIS) FROM AUTOMATED VEHICLES
20150332523 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR BIOLOGICALLY INSPIRED AUTONOMOUS INFRASTRUCTURE MONITORING
20150332153 METHOD FOR ANALYZING GEOGRAPHICAL REGIONS AND DETECTING AREAS OF INTEREST
20150332125 AUTOMATED FEATURE ANALYSIS, COMPARISON, AND ANOMALY DETECTION
20150332083 OBJECT DETECTION SYSTEM
20150331711 SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR CONTEXT-AWARE APPLICATION CONTROL
20150331426 ASSISTED TAKEOFF
20150331422 Autonomous Vehicle Interface System
20150330033 TRACK MAINTENANCE APPARATUS AND METHOD
20150329218 LAUNCH AND RECOVERY SYSTEM FOR UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES
20150329205 AIRCRAFT DEPLOYMENT AND RETRIEVAL OF UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES
20150329204 Vertical Takeoff Winged Multicopter
20150329182 HULL-MOUNT LAUNCH AND RECOVERY OF WATERCRAFT
20150329107 TRAFFIC LIGHT ANTICIPATION
20150327302 SKYPOINT FOR MOBILE HOTSPOTS
20150327136 METHOD FOR CONTROLLING HAND-OVER IN DRONE NETWORK
20150325064 UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLE AUTHORIZATION AND GEOFENCE ENVELOPE DETERMINATION
20150324920 Real-Time Insurance Estimate Based on Limited Identification
20150323932 AUTONOMOUS CARGO DELIVERY SYSTEM
20150323931 UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLE AUTHORIZATION AND GEOFENCE ENVELOPE DETERMINATION
20150323930 UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLE AUTHORIZATION AND GEOFENCE ENVELOPE DETERMINATION
20150323699 SYSTEM, APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR AUTOMATIC ENVIRONMENTAL DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS
20150321759 ROTARY-WING DRONE OF THE QUADRICOPTER TYPE, PROVIDED WITH REMOVABLE BUMPERS FOR PROTECTING THE PROPELLERS
20150321758 UAV deployment and control system
20150321755 COLLAPSIBLE MULTI-ROTOR UAV

Definitions

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.

Inventions and patents are time sensitive. If you have a question about patents, please contact us right away.