How Drones Land and Charge Automatically on a Smart Base Station
This patent describes a smart base station for drones that uses moving parts to guide a drone into place for charging and secure storage.
Original patent title: “Landing and alignment of an unmanned aerial vehicle with a base station”
This patent describes a smart base station for drones that uses moving parts to guide a drone into place for charging and secure storage. Granted in 2026.
Coverage
What does this patent actually cover?
This patent describes a base station designed to automatically land and charge an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The base station includes a landing platform that can change its shape, featuring 'alignment members' that move. These members can extend outwards and retract inwards, driven by a 'drive mechanism'. As the alignment members retract, they physically 'engage the UAV', guiding it precisely. This process ensures that the drone's power source lines up perfectly with the base station's 'charging hub' for recharging, and also allows for the 'proper closure of the base station' to secure the drone. For example, a delivery drone returning from a mission would approach the base station, which then uses its moving arms to gently pull the drone into the exact position for charging and safe storage.
The gap
What does this patent NOT cover?
- Does not cover base stations that only use static, non-moving structures for drone alignment.
- Does not cover systems where the drone itself performs all final alignment without physical engagement from the base station.
- Does not cover base stations that facilitate charging but lack a mechanism for proper closure after the drone is docked.
- Does not cover charging systems that do not involve a physical alignment of a power source on the drone with a charging hub on the base station.
These exclusions are unique to PatentBrief — derived from the actual claim language, not patent-office boilerplate.
Key facts
What made this novel
The clever part is the dynamic, physical alignment mechanism that not only guides the drone for charging but also ensures the base station can close securely, addressing both power connection and physical protection in one integrated system.
Schematic visualization of the patent's claim structure. Hand-drawn diagrams in progress for each landmark patent.
Where you've seen this
Real-world examples
Drone delivery hubs for services like Amazon Prime Air
Automated inspection drone stations for industrial sites
Security drone charging pads in remote locations
Agricultural drone docking stations for field operations
Why it matters
The bigger picture
This technology is important for making drone operations fully autonomous, especially for tasks like package delivery or infrastructure inspection where drones need to land, recharge, and redeploy without human help. It ensures reliable charging and secure storage, which are critical for scaling drone services. By automating the precise docking process, it reduces the need for human intervention, making drone fleets more efficient and cost-effective.
Filed
March 26, 2025
Granted
September 15, 2026
Market context
Who's building on this
Companies in this space
Companies like Amazon (Prime Air) and Wing (an Alphabet company) are actively developing and deploying drone delivery systems that require automated landing and charging. Drone manufacturers like DJI also offer docking solutions for their commercial drones, and startups in the logistics and inspection sectors are building out similar infrastructure to support autonomous drone fleets.
Market impact
This technology enables the shift from human-operated drone systems to fully autonomous networks, critical for scaling services like drone delivery, remote inspection, and security. It reduces operational costs by minimizing human intervention at the charging and docking stages, thereby expanding the economic viability of drone-based solutions across various industries.
Claim 1 — Plain English
What this patent covers
This patent describes a base station designed to automatically land and charge an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The base station includes a landing platform that can change its shape, featuring 'alignment members' that move. These members can extend outwards and retract inwards, driven by a 'drive mechanism'. As the alignment members retract, they physically 'engage the UAV', guiding it precisely. This process ensures that the drone's power source lines up perfectly with the base station's 'charging hub' for recharging, and also allows for the 'proper closure of the base station' to secure the drone. For example, a delivery drone returning from a mission would approach the base station, which then uses its moving arms to gently pull the drone into the exact position for charging and safe storage.
The clever bit
The clever part is the dynamic, physical alignment mechanism that not only guides the drone for charging but also ensures the base station can close securely, addressing both power connection and physical protection in one integrated system.
What it does not cover
- Does not cover base stations that only use static, non-moving structures for drone alignment.
- Does not cover systems where the drone itself performs all final alignment without physical engagement from the base station.
- Does not cover base stations that facilitate charging but lack a mechanism for proper closure after the drone is docked.
- Does not cover charging systems that do not involve a physical alignment of a power source on the drone with a charging hub on the base station.
Patent timeline
Application submitted to the patent office
Patent officially issued
PatentBrief Score
Impact Score
Early stage
Citation count
0/40
No citations yet
Claim breadth
0/20
Narrow claimsclaimsThe numbered statements at the end of a patent that legally define what the inventor owns.Read more →
Recency
20/20
Granted within 5 years
Assignee scale
0/20
Independent or smaller assigneeassigneeThe entity that owns the patent — usually the inventor's employer or a company.Read more →
PatentBrief Impact Score — based on citation count, claim breadth, recency, and assignee scale. Not a legal assessment.
Heuristic Value Estimate
What this patent might be worth
$11K – $35K
Midpoint $22K · 18.5 yr remaining · industry ×0.9
Heuristic only — blends forward/backward citation counts, claim scope, time remaining, litigation history, and CPC-derived industry baseline. Real valuations need a professional appraisal.
Claim text not yet imported for this patent
Concepts involved
Cite this patent
(2026). How Drones Land and Charge Automatically on a Smart Base Station (U.S. Patent No. 12,735,210). U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/12735210/landing-and-alignment-of-an-unmanned-aerial-vehicle-with-a-base-station
Auto-generated from the patent record. Double-check author order and the issue date against the official USPTO document before submitting.
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Common Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
What does How Drones Land and Charge Automatically on a Smart Base Station cover?
This patent describes a smart base station for drones that uses moving parts to guide a drone into place for charging and secure storage.
When does this patent expire?
This patent is expected to expire on September 15, 2046, when the invention enters the public domain.
What problem does this patent solve?
This technology is important for making drone operations fully autonomous, especially for tasks like package delivery or infrastructure inspection where drones need to land, recharge, and redeploy without human help. It ensures reliable charging and secure storage, which are critical for scaling drone services. By automating the precise docking process, it reduces the need for human intervention, making drone fleets more efficient and cost-effective.
What does this patent NOT cover?
Does not cover base stations that only use static, non-moving structures for drone alignment.
Patent monitoring