Ruggedized autonomous helicopter platform

1. An unmanned helicopter platform comprising:

a fuselage housing flight control electronics;

a tail coupled with the fuselage, the tail including a tail rotor and a tail rotor motor;

a main rotor assembly coupled with the fuselage and the flight control electronics, the main rotor assembly including a main rotor having an axis of rotation and a main rotor motor; and

a payload rail coupled with and extending along the fuselage, the payload rail allowing mechanical connection of a plurality of payloads to the fuselage, the payload rail allowing positioning of the plurality of payloads connected to the payload rail such that a center of gravity of the plurality of payloads is able to be aligned with the axis of rotation of the main rotor.

2. The unmanned helicopter platform of claim 1 , wherein the main rotor assembly further includes:

an enclosed swash assembly including a rotating portion and a fixed portion, the rotating portion enclosing a central portion of the main rotor and rotatable with respect to the fuselage, the fixed portion coupled with the fuselage.

3. The unmanned helicopter platform of claim 2 , wherein the payload rail extends from a forward section of the fuselage to an aft section of the fuselage.

4. The unmanned helicopter platform of claim 1 , wherein the tail is removably coupled to the fuselage, wherein the fuselage includes a fuselage coupling section and the tail includes a tail coupling section configured to mate with the fuselage coupling section, the tail coupling section and the fuselage coupling section providing a mechanical connection, a data connection and a power connection between the fuselage and the tail.

5. The unmanned helicopter platform of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the payloads is a battery payload for providing power to the main rotor motor.

6. The unmanned helicopter platform of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the payloads is a compute payload.

7. The unmanned helicopter platform of claim 1 , wherein the plurality payloads includes at least one of a laser altimeter module, a camera module, a lidar module, a radar module, a megaphone, a thermal sensor module, and/or a global positioning module.

8. The unmanned helicopter platform of claim 1 , further comprising:

a communication assembly connected to the fuselage, wherein the communication assembly is for accepting a first plurality signals from an external source and for providing a second plurality of signals from the unmanned helicopter platform to an external receiver.

9. The unmanned helicopter platform of claim 8 , wherein the communication assembly includes a mesh radio.

10. The unmanned helicopter platform of claim 1 , further comprising:

at least one landing gear coupled with the fuselage.

11. The unmanned helicopter platform of claim 10 , wherein the at least one landing gear further includes:

a first section connected to the fuselage, a second section, and a hinge between the first section and the second section; and

a landing gear motor for automatically rotating the second section with respect to the first section around the hinge.

12. The unmanned helicopter platform of claim 1 , further comprising:

a global positioning unit coupled with the fuselage; and

at least one global positioning antenna coupled with the fuselage for providing global positioning data to the global positioning unit.

13. A method for an unmanned helicopter platform comprising:

providing a fuselage housing flight control electronics;

providing a tail coupled with the fuselage, the tail including a tail rotor and a tail rotor motor;

providing a main rotor assembly coupled with the fuselage and the flight control electronics, the main rotor assembly including a main rotor having an axis of rotation and a main rotor motor; and

providing a payload rail coupled with and extending along the fuselage, the payload rail allowing mechanical connection of a plurality of payloads to the fuselage, the payload rail allowing positioning of the plurality of payloads connected to the payload rail such that a center of gravity of the plurality of payloads is able to be aligned with the axis of rotation of the main rotor.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the main rotor assembly further includes:

an enclosed swash assembly including a rotating portion and a fixed portion, the rotating portion enclosing a central portion of the main rotor and rotatable with respect to the fuselage, the fixed portion coupled with the fuselage.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the payload rail extends from a forward section of the fuselage to an aft section of the fuselage.

16. The method of claim 13 , wherein the tail is removably coupled to the fuselage, wherein the fuselage includes a fuselage coupling section and the tail includes a tail coupling section configured to mate with the fuselage coupling section, the tail coupling section and the fuselage coupling section providing a mechanical connection, a data connection and a power connection between the fuselage and the tail.

17. The method of claim 13 , wherein at least one of the payloads is a battery payload for providing power to the main rotor motor.

18. The method of claim 13 , wherein at least one of the payloads is a compute payload.

19. The method of claim 13 , wherein the plurality payloads includes at least one of a laser altimeter module, a camera module, a lidar module, a radar module, a megaphone, a thermal sensor module, and/or a global positioning module.

20. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:

providing a communication assembly connected to the fuselage, wherein the communication assembly is for accepting a first plurality signals from an external source and for providing a second plurality of signals from the unmanned helicopter platform to an external receiver.