Endless Flyer: A Continuous Flying Drone with Automatic Battery Replacement

Abstract

Fig. 1. Endless Flyer : automatic battery replacement platform enables UAV to fly continuously without requiring manual battery replacement.Abstract-Surveillance and monitoring are indispensable in some large areas for purposes such as home security, road patrols, livestock monitoring, wildfire mapping, and ubiquitous sensing. Computer-controlled micro unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have the potential to perform such missions because they can move autonomously in a surveillance area without being constrained by ground obstacles. However, the duration of flights is a serious problem with UAVs. A typical UAV can fly only for about 10 min using currently available Li-Po batteries, which makes it difficult to conduct tasks like aerial surveillance that clearly require longer flying periods. In this study, we developed an automatic battery replacement mechanism that allows UAVs to fly continuously without manual battery replacement along with the suggestion of the scalable and robust usage for the system. We conducted an initial experiment using this system and successfully assessed the possibility of continuous surveillance in both indoor and outdoor environments.

Autonomous Battery Exchange of UAVs with a Mobile Ground Base

“…This reliance on a service station, and the requirement of a robust and efficient battery exchange mechanism, has resulted in a highly integrated interdependent design of the wasps and the SBox (ASLATECH, Italy). Rather than using a modular external battery carriage receptacle [9], [12], the battery bay is integrated into the structural frame of the wasps. This design leads to a stronger and lighter construction, while at the same time shielding the batteries and connectors from the environment.…”

“…The UAV needs to be designed such that the battery is easily exchangeable but still mounted well enough to withstand the vibrations experienced in flight and landing. Battery exchange stations, that combine rotating battery magazines with at least one linear actuator to move the battery containers from the UAV into the magazine and vice versa are presented in [9]- [11], while [12] uses linearly arranged battery bays.…”

Design and task management of a mobile solar station for charging flying drones

“…This work did not use battery replacement system to make continuous flying system, but it has been provided to ensure that a certain number of them will fly. This work is new but costly and more complicated than the pre-mentioned work in [8]. However, both did not propose a renewable source of energy and depended on a stationary charging station.…”

“…Some scientists used stationary solar power station to feed drones and other used mobile stations. Fujii and others [8] developed an automatic battery replacement system which enables drones to fly continuously without being constrained by battery power limitations. But they used non-renewable power source to charge batteries before replacement with deployed drone's one.…”

Drone (Hexacopter) vs Car, Efficiency of Delivery Breast Milk Problem (Case Study in Jakarta)

“…Hexacopter which is a variant of a drone has the advantage that it does not require a large area for take-off and landing because it is able to take-off and landing vertically [4]. However, hexacopter batteries have a limited capacity so their range and flight time are also limited [5]. Previous research conducted in 2017 shows max weighted time compared to flying mileage as the following graph [3]: From the graph above it can be seen that weight affects the distance from the hexacopter.…”