Evaluation of energy efficient propulsion technologies for unmanned aerial vehicles

Abstract

The transition to cleaner, more efficient and longer-endurance aircraft is at the forefront of research and development in air vehicles. The focus of this research is to experimentally evaluate hybrid propulsion and energy harvesting systems in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Hybrid systems offer benefits over conventional gasoline and electric systems including lower environmental impacts, reduced fuel consumption, redundancy, and distributed propulsion. Additional energy efficiency can be achieved by harvesting some of the thermal energy of the exhaust gases. The development and experimental evaluation of a hybrid propulsion UAV was carried out at the University of Victoria Center for Aerospace Research (UVIC-CfAR) in the framework of the Green Aviation Research & Development Network (GARDN) grant. The work involved the development of a framework to evaluate UAV hybrid propulsion efficiency, and to predict the amount of power harvestable from thermoelectric generators (TEGs). The objective was to combine all of the components into a modular test bench that will allow the performance of the parallel hybrid system to be characterized and compared with theoretical results. Several experiments were performed to collect performance data of various components including a triple-TEG system connected to an engine, and system variables were modified to simulate flight profiles.

Comprehensive assessment of intelligent unmanned vehicle techniques in pesticide application: A case study in pear orchard

“…The average gasoline consumption of UAV application was approximately 3 l/h, while gasoline consumption of UGVs and conventional technology was 1.52 and 1.48 l/ha, respectively ( Table 3 ). UAV technology was recognized as cleaner energy equipment because of replacing fuel with electric power ( Matlock et al, 2019 ). However, in practical operation, UAV application needs to maintain its endurance through long-term battery charging, which still requires a high amounts of gasoline consumption of gasoline.…”

Implementation of a Hybrid Power Testbed Model of a Hybrid Electric Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

“…After the sizing and modeled simulation of the UAV/Aircraft a final aspect in the construction of a HE-UAV is to build a testbed that seamlessly integrate the hybrid powertrain components of the HE -UAV. Various researchers has attempted to build such tested from the literature [15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25]. These were developed to validate the results obtained from the sizing of their HE-UAVs, and the results of numerical simulation models developed through a control strategy (energy management strategy) to optimize HE -UAVs performance for given mission profiles.…”

“…Matlock et al [23] developed a modular testbench of a hybrid propulsion system to compare the theoretical results obtained from the simulation of the hybrid framework of a hybrid propulsion system which is used to simulate various mission profiles of an aircraft developed in MATLAB with experimental results. The components of the hybrid propulsion system were individually modeled (Propeller, lithium polymer batteries, electric motors and internal combustion engine).…”

Analisis Computational Fluid Dynamic Pengaruh Jarak Propeller Pada Contra Rotating Propeller Terhadap Gaya Dorong Pesawat Tanpa Awak

“…Secara prinsip, pesawat tanpa awak merupakan pesawat udara yang dikendalikan jarak jauh oleh pilot atau sistem secara otomatis dengan menerapkan hukum aerodinamika [3]. Perkembangan yang terjadi pada pesawat tanpa awak terdapat pada beberapa bagian salah satunya adalah propeller [4].…”