Coordinated Retractable Landing and Structural System for Aerial Vehicles

Abstract

An aerial vehicle includes a retractable landing gear system configured to transition between a deployed landing configuration and a compact stowed configuration. The landing gear is operatively coupled with one or more secondary structures, including a passenger seat, control interface, or payload support structure, such that the landing gear and the secondary structures move in coordination during retraction and deployment. A control system permits retraction only when one or more safety conditions are satisfied, including absence of a passenger or payload. The control system further includes a fail-safe mode that prevents retraction upon detection of a fault condition. The retracted configuration reduces the overall spatial envelope of the aerial vehicle to facilitate transport, storage, or interaction with an external platform.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.