Flying camera with string assembly for localization and interaction

1. An arrangement comprising:

a volitant body comprising at least one actuator;

a mechanical arrangement, said mechanical arrangement comprising a tether for mechanically and operationally connecting said volitant body to a reference point remote from said volitant body; and

one or more physical processors configured to:

control said actuator;

determine a tension in said tether using an acceleration of said volitant body; and

determine an angle between said volitant body and said reference point and an attitude of said volitant body using said tension in said tether and said acceleration of said volitant body.

2. The arrangement of claim 1 , wherein said mechanical arrangement is operationally connected to said one or more physical processors.

3. The arrangement of claim 1 , wherein said one or more physical processors are further configured to:

obtain information representative of at least one of (a) said attitude or (b) a position of said volitant body relative to said reference point; and

control said at least one actuator based on said information.

4. The arrangement of claim 3 , wherein said one or more physical processors are further configured to:

obtain information representative of mechanical forces applied to said mechanical arrangement; and

evaluate said information representative of mechanical forces to determine said information representative of at least one of (a) said attitude or (b) said position of said volitant body relative to said reference point.

5. The arrangement of claim 4 , wherein said one or more physical processors are mechanically connected to said volitant body.

6. The arrangement of claim 4 , further comprising:

a force sensor, said force sensor being configured to generate measurements for determining said mechanical forces, said force sensor being operationally connected to said one or more physical processors.

7. The arrangement of claim 4 , further comprising:

a sensor, said sensor being configure to generate measurements representative of at least one of said acceleration, said attitude, or a rotational rate of said volitant body, said sensor being operationally connected to said one or more physical processors.

8. An arrangement of claim 4 , further comprising:

a sensor, said sensor being configure to generate measurements representative of said position of said volitant body relative to said reference point, said sensor being operationally connected to said one or more physical processors.

9. The arrangement of claim 3 , further comprising:

a memory operationally connected to said one or more physical processors, said memory storing first information related to properties of said mechanical arrangement and second information related to properties of said volitant body; and

wherein said one or more physical processors are further configured to:

carrying out an evaluation using at least one of said first information or said second information; and

provide said information representative of at least one of (a) said attitude or (b) said position of said volitant body relative to said reference point.

10. The arrangement of claim 1 , further comprising:

one or both of an active safety means or a passive safety means.

11. A method for operating an arrangement comprising a volitant body comprising at least one actuator, a mechanical arrangement comprising a tether for mechanically and operationally connecting said volitant body to a reference point remote from said volitant body, and one or more physical processors, said method comprising:

controlling said at least one actuator to make said volitant body fly remote from said reference point;

determining a tension in said tether using an acceleration of said volitant body; and

determining an angle between said volitant body and said reference point and an attitude of said volitant body using said tension in said tether and said acceleration of said volitant body.

12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:

obtaining information representative of at least one of (a) said attitude or (b) a position of said volitant body relative to said reference point; and

controlling said at least one actuator based on said information.

13. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:

sensing mechanical forces applied to said mechanical arrangement;

determining information representative of said mechanical forces applied to said mechanical arrangement; and

determining said information representative of at least one of (a) said attitude or (b) said position of said volitant body relative to said reference point using said information representative of said mechanical forces.

14. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:

storing first information related to properties of said mechanical arrangement;

storing second information related to properties of said volitant body; and

performing an evaluation using at least one of said first information or said second information to determine said information representative of at least one of (a) said attitude or (b) said position of said volitant body relative to said reference point.

15. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:

sensing mechanical forces applied to said mechanical arrangement; and

evaluating said sensed mechanical forces to provide evaluation results; and

wherein said controlling said at least one actuator is carried out based on said evaluation results.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein at least one of said evaluating or said controlling is based on a user interacting with said mechanical arrangement.

17. The method of claim 15 , wherein said sensing mechanical forces comprises sensing at least one of direction, magnitude, or time sequence of said mechanical forces.

18. The method of claim 15 , wherein said controlling said at least one actuator includes at least one of executing emergent maneuvers, executing active maneuvers, detecting continuous user input, or detecting parallel user input.

19. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:

communicating with said reference point by applying one or more forces to said mechanical arrangement, wherein said at least one actuator is controlled so that said volitant body applies said one or more forces to said mechanical arrangement.

20. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:

receiving information relating to at least one of direction, magnitude, or time sequence of forces applied to said mechanical arrangement; and

controlling said volitant body so that said volitant body performs a predefined maneuver, wherein said predefined maneuver is associated with said information relating to at least one of direction, magnitude, or time sequence of forces.

21. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:

using said mechanical arrangement to generate a communication channel between said volitant body and a user, wherein mechanical forces are applied to said mechanical arrangement across said communication channel.

22. The method of claim 11 , wherein said volitant body further comprises a camera, and the method further comprises capturing aerial images using said camera.