Tethered Aircraft system with Circular Take-off and Landing

Tethered aircraft systems have proved to be useful for agriculture, engineering, sustainable energy, and military purposes. In specific, in cases that require flight in higher altitudes where the wind is stronger and more consistent, they provide the ability to operate more safely, reliably, and autonomously for longer periods in several weather and environmental conditions. To achieve such a goal, Automatic Take-Off and Landing (ATOL) schemes for Tethered Aircraft are crucial.

Benefits: This technology allows the integration of fully automated more efficient Take-Off and Landing (TOL) processes in addition to lighter, and, therefore, more efficient tethered aircrafts. The tethered aircraft systems become operatable in several weather conditions and can be deployed in small areas or take advantage of previously built tower infrastructures. The single-tethered design also allows for simpler ground stations that are compatible with more than one aircraft simultaneously. Furthermore, it’s a portable and scalable technology in terms of the number of units and terms of size of each unit. Integrating a tethered support vehicle removes the need for a fixed rail and enables easily adjustable circular paths. These vehicles can be either on water or on solid ground and can take care of the acceleration and landing for the aircrafts.

Potentil commercial use/applications: This technology can add value to: companies that work with Drones on a mass scale and require carefully planned Take-Off and Landing systems; Government and Military institutions that use Unmanned Aerial Vehicles for Defense, Inspection, Monitoring, and Surveillance purposes; Environmental agencies that do drone monitoring; Renewable energy organizations/companies that are exploring Airborne Wind Energy Systems (AWES); Non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and Remote community development initiatives dealing with limited energy and space resources environments; agriculture related companies that do crop monitoring, harvesting, precision agriculture, spraying.

We are interesed in exploring and establishing technology licensing agreements with companies in the named technology fields to widen the application and development of this technology.