Abstract: A shock absorbing system for use when landing an unmanned aerial vehicle uses a rocker arm pivotally attached to each landing leg of the vehicle. A strut bracket is attached to each landing leg below the rocker arm. A damper leg is pivotally attached to the rocker arm on one side of the landing leg attachment and the upper end of a damper-loaded strut is pivotally attached to the rocker arm on an opposing side of the landing leg attachment. The base of the strut is fixedly attached to the strut bracket. As the vehicle, it places a downward force on each landing leg which cause the bracket to slide downward along the damper leg, causing the damper leg to pivot its end of the rocker arm upwardly and thus the strut end downwardly causing the strut to compress against the bias of the damper and thereby dampen the landing. Damper leg pairs can be joined by a skid.

Abstract: A ground traversing, electrically driven drone travels along a programmed path that corresponds to pass catcher's travel path during a play, matching the pass catcher's speed and run cuts. The play is wirelessly communicated to the drone by a handheld electronic device located remote of the drone. A target is located on the drone so that a quarterback can throw a football at the target in order to refine the quarterback's timing and accuracy for the play. Sensors located remote of the drone track both the football's and quarterback's speed and travel trajectories so that such data can be collected, along with the drone's travel path, and transmitted to the computer and eventually fed into 3-D reconstruction software for analysis by the quarterback and coaching staff. The target rotates so that the target either faces in a fixed direction or constantly faces the quarterback during execution of drone's maneuvers.

Abstract: A ground traversing, electrically driven drone travels along a preprogrammed path that corresponds to pass catcher's travel path during a play, matching the pass catcher's speed and run cuts. The play is wirelessly communicated to the drone by a handheld electronic device located remote of the drone. A target is located on the drone so that a quarterback can throw a football at the target in order to refine the quarterback's timing and accuracy for the play. Sensors onboard the drone track both the football's and quarterback's speed and travel trajectories so that such data can be collected, along with the drone's travel path, and stored onboard the drone's control unit and eventually fed into 3-D reconstruction software for analysis by the quarterback and coaching staff. The target rotates so that the target either faces in a fixed direction or constantly faces the quarterback during execution of drone's maneuvers.

Abstract: An autonomous drone system uses an onboard command and control system for controlling operations of a drone without the need for a radio frequency controller or an external electronic device programming unit. The system uses a control unit that interacts with the drone's unmanned aerial system flight controller. The control unit is programmed via an HMI button that is resident onboard the drone. Various sequences of HMI button depressions program the drone for its missions as well as command the drone to perform the missions. A microphone can be substituted for or can augment the HMI button. Various devices, such as a speaker, lights, a visual display screen, etc., can be resident on the drone for giving a user feedback during command and programming of the drone.

Abstract: An integrated logistics asset guidance system uses a handheld housing that is programmed by a user to formulate a brief discrete message. The message is combined with a GPS coordinate captured by a GPS receiver within the housing with the message and coordinate are transmitted by a satcom transmitter within the housing using military secure encrypted communications protocols to a base station transceiver via a satellite. The transceiver retransmits the GPS coordinate and message via the satellite to a logistics asset so that the logistics asset can travel to the location indicated by the GPS coordinate, the logistics asset delivering supplies requested by the message sent.