US 11,884,391 B2
Mission pod for unattended UAV operations
Colin Owen, San Francisco, CA (US); Bernard Michini, San Francisco, CA (US); David Merrill, San Francisco, CA (US); Clint Cope, San Francisco, CA (US); Sean Belardo, San Francisco, CA (US); and Isaiah Jones, San Francisco, CA (US)
Assigned to ELROY AIR, INC., San Francisco, CA (US)
Filed by ELROY AIR, INC., San Francisco, CA (US)
Filed on Oct. 14, 2020, as Appl. No. 17/070,037.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/915,300, filed on Oct. 15, 2019.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/914,810, filed on Oct. 14, 2019.
Prior Publication US 2021/0300550 A1, Sep. 30, 2021
Int. Cl. B64C 39/02 (2023.01); B64C 7/00 (2006.01)
CPC B64C 39/024 (2013.01) [B64C 7/00 (2013.01); B64C 2211/00 (2013.01)] 13 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A pod for aerial transport, comprising:
a shell configured to contain a payload within an internal space, wherein the payload comprises an Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) system, including a sensor configured to collect data, a data processor, a data storage device, and a power source;
a plurality of attachment points configured to secure the payload within the shell;
an identification beacon, the identification beacon configured to transmit a signal received by an aerial vehicle wherein the signal includes a physical location and orientation of the shell and the payload within the shell and wherein a sensor on the aerial vehicle is configured to detect the signal and receive the physical location and orientation of the shell relative to the aerial vehicle and position the aerial vehicle over the shell;
a latching mechanism configured to secure, unattended, the shell to the aerial vehicle;
an interface for interacting with the aerial vehicle, wherein the interface includes a plurality of connectors, wherein the plurality of connectors is configured to allow the transit of one or more of the following between the pod and the aerial vehicle: power, fuel, and data; and
a communication means for exchanging information between the pod and the aerial vehicle and wherein the data processer and data storage device autonomously forms a re-tasking that re-tasks the aerial vehicle based on analysis of data collected by the sensor, the re-tasking communicated to the aerial vehicle through the communication means.