Unmanned aerial vehicle with protective outer cage

Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) comprising:

• an inner frame,
• an inner flight propulsion system mounted on the inner frame,
• an outer frame forming an outer protective cage that surrounds and protects the inner flight propulsion system, the outer frame having a camera or other sensors for measuring flight parameters and measuring position with respect to external objects,
• a gimbal system comprising a gimbal frame and at least two rotational couplings with orthogonal axes coupling the inner propulsion system to the outer frame,
• a control system including a wireless communication system for communicating with an external controller for a) remote control of the UAV, b) transmitting data from the camera, and c) transmitting data from the other sensors,
• a power source, and
• an outer frame actuation system,
• wherein the control system and the outer frame actuation system are configured to actively orient the outer frame around at least two axes respect to the inner frame to orient the outer frame according to a shape of an environment or the external objects,
• wherein the outer frame actuation system comprises an outer air propulsion system fixed to the outer frame or to the gimbal frame, the inner flight propulsion system configured to enable the UAV to hover and fly without thrust from the outer propulsion system, and
• wherein the control system and the outer frame actuation system are configured to actively orient the outer frame around the at least two axes with respect to the inner frame to move into a desired orientation such that the camera or other sensors are oriented in a certain direction or keep in a stable orientation with respect to the external objects.