Kite raising 2.0? Mazda installed a drone departure / arrival port on the rear window. Is it used for driving support? | MOBY

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Mazda was inventing an in-vehicle drone

It was found on November 25, 2021 that Mazda had filed a patent application on May 19, 2020 for inventions that utilize drones, such as the "departure and landing device for in-vehicle aircraft."

Used for parking monitoring and driving support

There are a total of nine patents related to Mazda's in-vehicle drones released this time. Inventions such as providing a drone departure / arrival port on the rear window and utilizing images taken by the drone for driving assistance and parking monitoring have been published.

It is pointed out that a camera mounted on a normal car creates a blind spot due to surrounding walls and obstacles. It is said that blind spots can be reduced by shooting with a drone from a high position.

For example, in the invention relating to a vehicle peripheral monitoring system, the driver may be attacked by a suspicious person such as a robber when the occupant approaches a parked vehicle in order to start driving. The drone is used in a system that confirms the safety of the surroundings when the vehicle approaches a parked vehicle. In addition to suspicious persons, it is also useful for checking small children and animals in blind spots.

In addition to this, a vehicle guidance system has also been released, in which a drone searches for an empty parking space in a large parking lot and guides to that point safely.

The invention utilizing this drone can be said to be an evolution of a 360 ° view monitor that allows you to see the surroundings from above.

A gimmick that stays horizontal even when the back door is opened

Also, if the drone's departure / arrival port is installed in the rear door window, there is a problem that the departure / arrival port cannot be kept horizontal as the rear door opens and closes.

Therefore, Mazda invented a mechanism to keep the departure and arrival ports horizontal so that the drone can arrive and depart regardless of the open and closed state of such rear doors.

It seems that it has made it possible to meet the needs of users who want to open the rear door to put in and take out luggage and to take pictures of the place sitting in the opening from the sky.