Patent ID: 11866206
Assignee: TEXTRON SYSTEMS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD.
Field: Transport (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC B  A | IPC B

Claim 10:
11. A method of operating an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) module including (i) a UAV having foldable wings, (ii) a UAV case having length and width dimensions, and (iii) at least one user interface terminal, the method comprising:
automatically opening the UAV case in response to a launch command;
automatically starting the UAV after the UAV case is open;
automatically launching the UAV vertically from within the UAV case with the foldable wings in a folded configuration;
after the UAV is airborne, i) automatically unfolding the foldable wings outwards from a body of the UAV such that the foldable wings form a fixed wing having a length that extends beyond the dimensions of the UAV case, and ii) transitioning the UAV to fixed wing horizontal flight;
providing a first secure communication channel between the UAV case and the UAV;
providing a second secure communication channel between the UAV case and the at least one user interface terminal (UIT); and
receiving the launch command, by the UAV case, from the user interface terminal over the first secure communication channel.