PODyssey patent portfolio

PODyssey Drone, Pod, and Robocar

One pod for the whole trip. It flies under an autonomous VTOL drone, rides on a self-driving chassis on the ground, and passengers or parcels never change vehicles.

PODyssey system: the same pod on a big-wheel chassis, carried by a four-fan VTOL drone over an empty chassis, and as a cargo pod — Concept rendering

The capability

PODyssey separates the vehicle into three units: a bare flight drone, a pod that carries passengers or packages, and an intelligent wheeled chassis. The drone and the chassis attach to and detach from the pod. On landing, pod and chassis become a robocar. On departure, pod and drone become an eVTOL. The passengers or articles stay inside the same pod through every exchange.

4Issued U.S. patents, inventor Michael S. (Mike) Evans

3Units: bare drone, pod, intelligent chassis

1Pod from origin to destination

The vision

Advanced Air Mobility is growing fast: air taxis, cargo drones, and the early standalone vertiports. Driverless cars are expanding on the ground at the same time. PODyssey sits where the two meet. A traveler arrives at a vertiport by air and leaves by road in the same pod, or the reverse, with no transfer between aircraft and car.

What the patents cover

US 10,207,805: Drone transport system

A flight drone that lands on an enclosed carrier pod, attaches from above, carries it to a new place, and releases it there.

US 10,150,524: Intelligent pod management and transport

A self-powered, self-navigating wheeled carrier vehicle that a passenger or package pod sits on and locks to, making a robocar.

US 10,443,262: Intelligent pod management and transport

An exchange station, or vertiport, with passenger check-in and check-out and a bay where pods move between smart chassis and drones under a central control system.

US 10,899,240: Intelligent pod management and transport

A network of entry stations, exchange points, and destination stations, where the pod moves between transport vehicles, including rail, and the passenger or cargo stays inside the whole way.

How it works at a vertiport

Arrival

The drone with its pod lands on a chassis waiting on the pad. The pod locks to the chassis, the bare drone lifts off to its parking spot, and the robocar drives the passengers to the exit.

Departure

Passengers board a pod on a robocar, which drives to the pad. A bare drone lands on it and attaches, the chassis releases the pod, and the drone departs with the passengers.

Gallery

Concept illustrations, drawings from the issued patents, and the PODyssey vertiport operation slides. Select a figure to open it full size.

Concept illustration: flight drone carrying a passenger and package pod — **Drone and pod.** Concept illustration, based on US patent figures (US 10,207,805).

Concept illustration: pod latched on an intelligent robocar chassis — **Pod on robocar chassis.** Concept illustration, based on US patent figures (US 10,150,524).

Concept illustration: overhead plan of a vertiport exchange station — **Exchange station.** Concept illustration, based on US patent figures (US 10,443,262).

Drone and pod — US 10,207,805, Figs. 2a and 2b: a flight drone approaches a passenger pod from above and attaches to it.

Pod and robocar chassis — US 10,150,524, Figs. 16A and 16B: an intelligent chassis, and a passenger pod seated and latched on it.

Exchange station — US 10,443,262, Fig. 32: overhead view of an exchange station with drone, pod, and passenger bays.

PODyssey arrival — PODyssey 2nd generation arrival: the eVTOL lands on a chassis, the drone detaches, and the robocar drives passengers out. Source: Introduction to 2nd Generation Vertiport Operation.

PODyssey vertiport layout — PODyssey 2nd generation autonomous vertiport with 1-, 4-, and 6-person pods. Source: Introduction to 2nd Generation Vertiport Operation.

Licensing and acquisition inquiries

The inventor, Michael S. (Mike) Evans, is open to licensing or acquisition of the PODyssey patents, and Turnbull Services is working with him.

To learn more, contact us at:

info@turnbullservices.com