System for providing land vehicle support operations using an unmanned autonomous vehicle

The unnamed autonomous vehicle UAV 14 system 10 provides one or more support operation to a land vehicle 12, such as gathering information on terrain, projecting images indicating a path (figure 4) or acting as an emergency beacon (figure 7). It does this by using UAV accessories 16, such as cameras, terrain sensors like LIDAR or SONAR. The UAV is deployable from a docked position on the land vehicle. The UAV also gathers information pertaining to the terrain over a mapping zone using said accessories. This information is processed, either by the UAV or ground vehicle, to determine whether a path along the zone is safe for the land vehicle to traverse. The accessories may be interchangeable and the system may be provided with means, in the form of a module changer for the vehicle, to change the accessories attached to the UAV. The system may also include a docking pad attached to the vehicle. This docking station may store in a stowed position and extend allowing the UAV to be deployed. The UAV may either be charged from a docked position or when not in a docked position by an energy source replenisher.