Ford Motor Company has filed a patent for a system capable of launching and landing drones from the interior that may be used in future Ford vehicles, Ford Authority has learned.
The patent was filed on January 14th, 2023, published on July 18th, 2024, and assigned serial number 0239532.
The Ford Authority Take
Ford has filed a large number of patents revolving around different ways to incorporate drones into its future vehicles, including ideas for a collaborative system between an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and an automobile, a vehicle-mounted aerial drone container, an unmanned aerial vehicle integration system, and a moonroof docking system for unmanned aerial vehicles – not to mention the fact that the automaker is also testing a drone delivery service at Michigan Central Station.
Now, The Blue Oval continues to explore different ways it can combine drones with future Ford vehicles via this newly published patent that introduces us to an idea for a way to launch and control those aerial vehicles via the interior of automobiles. This is interesting because to this point, Ford has largely proposed launching drones from the exterior of vehicles – whether that be from a special pad or even a hidden compartment.
If this patent comes to fruition, we may soon see a system capable of determining what sort of obstacles a drone that’s placed inside a vehicle may encounter and avoid them, all while identifying potential exit spots. It would even be able to compensate for movement and various speeds, and when the time comes to land the drone back inside of a vehicle, it would be able to do precisely the same thing – in reverse. It’s an interesting idea for certain, and once again proves that Ford is serious about incorporating drones into its future vehicles in some way, shape, or form.
We’ll have more on this and all Ford patents soon, so be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for the latest Ford patent news, Ford business news, and ongoing Ford news coverage.
Comment
This is old news. And in the 1960s, the “Green Hornet” TV series had the Black Beauty car, driven by Kato (Bruce Lee), with a unmanned aerial vehicle and a TV camera, launched from the trunk, so the Green Hornet (Van Williams) could follow the villians by air. A small monitor was in the dash and the Hornet had a small remote to control it.