Henderson, Travis (CSE, UMN), Jenson, Devon (CSE, UMN), D'Sa, Ruben (CSE, UMN), Kilian, Jack (CSE, UMN), Papanikolopoulos, Nikos (University of Minnesota)

Design and Fabrication of a Nomadic Solar-Powered Quad-Rotor

Scheduled for presentation during the Regular Session "Biologically Inspired and Energy Efficient UAS" (FrC2), Friday, September 4, 2020, 15:50−16:10, Kozani

2020 International Conference on Unmanned Aircraft Systems (ICUAS), September 1-4, 2020 (Postponed from June 9-12, 2020), Athens, Greece

This information is tentative and subject to change. Compiled on April 18, 2024

Abstract

The recent advancements and accessibility of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), particularly hover-capable rotorcraft, have captured the attention of companies, media, and the general public. As a result, rotorcraft UAVs are performing tasks of increasing sophistication and difficulty. Though key advancements in battery technology and electric motor efficiency in just the last decade have enabled great strides in platform utility, hovering UAVs are still severely limited in their usefulness due to their short flight time. This aspect of rotorcraft makes their deployment dependent upon regular human intervention to replenish energy. However, the addition of passive energy collection has the potential to relax both the flight time constraint and the dependence of rotorcraft on direct human intervention for replenishing energy reserves. This paper demonstrates the addition of solar power collection to a prototype of the Solar UAV Quad (SUAV-Q) at the University of Minnesota and shows significant potential for performing long-term autonomous missions without the intervention of any third party.