Somewhat reminiscent of aerial refueling in planes, it’s not clear whether the system would only work on stationary vehicles, or if the system could work while the car is still moving. It’s likely it could only work with stopped vehicles for safety reasons, however, the patent’s title is “on-the-fly,” which can be interpreted in a few different ways. The patent drawings show the drone in extremely close proximity with the vehicle it’s refueling/recharging, which may imply the vehicle is stopped. But then again, this is also just a patent drawing.
The patent claims this sort of system could find use in autonomous vehicles, although it doesn’t say it couldn’t work for regular vehicles.
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