Experimental Assessment of Various Batteries and Propellers for Small Solar-Powered Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

Rajendran, Parvathy; Smith, Howard

doi:10.5614/j.eng.technol.sci.2017.50.3.5

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…where C h b is the directional cosine matrix (DCM) used to transform vectors from the localhorizon axis, where the vehicle flies, to the body axis, using Equation ( 10): (10) which is based on the three Euler orientation angles (ϕ, θ, ψ).…”

Section: Weight and Inertia Characteristicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…which are accompanied by the kinematics equation for Euler angles (ϕ, θ, ψ), expressed in Equation (10). Resultant of forces and moments (∑ F, ∑ M), along with the mass (m) and inertia (I), are as described throughout the previous sections.…”

Section: Non-linear Equation Of Motionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This allows the drone to switch between solar power and other sources of energy as needed, depending on the availability of sunlight and the power usage of the vehicle. Another alternative, used in vehicles such as the Zephyr drone, is to optimize the flight path in a way that can maximize the amount of sunlight it receives [10][11][12]. Furthermore, attitude optimization can also be employed, where the vehicle orients its wing planform towards the sun and maximizes the amount of sunlight that the panels receive to improve their efficiency.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Development of an Automatic Solar Tracker Control System for a Tandem-Winged UAV and Its Implementation Strategies

Jenie

Pardomoan

Moelyadi

2023

Drones

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Solar power is a popular option for powering Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) due to its ability to provide power for long-endurance flight. However, solar-powered UAVs face challenges, including operational reliability problems. To address their operational reliability issues, this paper proposes an automatic solar tracker system and tests two implementation strategies for controlling a tandem-winged and solar-powered UAV, developed by the Faculty of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Institut Teknologi Bandung. Due to its unconventional configuration, a mathematical model for the UAV is developed to evaluate the vehicle’s dynamic characteristics. Based on these, three feedback control systems are designed, i.e., roll attitude control, a heading tracker, and a solar tracker. Two implementation strategies are proposed to combine the control systems, i.e., the mode-switching and the simultaneous tracking strategies. A series of simulations are then conducted to check the vehicle’s overall flight performance, as well as the gathering of solar energy. The mode-switching strategy was able to gather up to 13% more solar energy than the simultaneous strategy, which could only reach slightly above 2%. Mode-switching, however, resulted in a shorter range compared to the latter, due to the time spent in the charging mode, flying in a circular pattern.

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Section: Weight and Inertia Characteristicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Non-linear Equation Of Motionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Development of an Automatic Solar Tracker Control System for a Tandem-Winged UAV and Its Implementation Strategies

Jenie

Pardomoan

Moelyadi

2023

Drones

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Improvement of UAV thrust using the BSO algorithm-based ANFIS model

Konar,

Arık Hatipoğlu,

Akpınar

2024

Aeronaut. j.

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Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), which are available in our lives in many areas today, bring with them new expectations and needs along with developing technology. In order to meet these expectations and needs, main subjects such as reducing energy consumption, increasing thrust and endurance, must be taken into account in UAV designs. In this study, Backtracking search optimisation (BSO) algorithm-based adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) model is proposed for the first time to improve UAV thrust. For this purpose, first, different batteries and propellers were tested on the thrust measuring device and a data set was obtained. Propeller diameter and pitch, current, voltage and the electronic speed controller (ESC) signal were selected as input, and UAV thrust was selected as output. ANFIS was used to relate input and output parameters that do not have a direct relationship between them. In order to determine the ANFIS parameters at the optimum value, ANFIS was trained with the obtained data set by using BSO algorithm. Then, the objective function based on the optimum ANFIS structure was integrated into BSO algorithm, and the input values that gave the optimum thrust were calculated using BSO algorithm. Simulation results, in which parameters such as engine, battery and propeller affecting the thrust are taken into account equally, emphasise that the proposed method can be used effectively in improving the UAV thrust. This hybrid method, consisting of ANFIS and BSO algorithm, can reduce the cost and time loss in UAV designs and allows many possibilities to be tested.

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Experimental Analysis of Small Solar Unmanned Aerial Vehicle to Predict Aerodynamic Performance

Rajendran

Smith

2020

INCAS BULLETIN

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Various studies have been done in recent years on unmanned solar-powered aircraft for non-stop flight at a specified location or area. However, if a solar-powered unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) can achieve a non-stop flight around the world, it may lead to the possibility of a pseudolite (i.e., pseudo-satellite) operation. These solar UAVs capable of operating as a satellite enable sustainable aviation that provides cheaper communication accessibility. Recently, we have developed a mathematical model for solar UAVs that was followed by the fabrication of a solar UAV model. Both the mathematical design model and the prototype model have been published. Thus, this work aims to determine the actual flight performance characteristics of the fabricated solar UAV. In this work, the bench and flight tests of the prototype solar and non-solar UAV model were compared in terms of aerodynamic characteristics and performance. These characteristics are determined using the flight test data and then compared with simulation data using a mathematical design model published earlier. Both accelerated and un-accelerated methods have been applied to predict the polar drag curve, and a distinct band of data obtained for both UAV prototypes. The predicted zero-lift drag coefficients were similar to the theoretical prediction in these UAVs.

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Experimental Assessment of Various Batteries and Propellers for Small Solar-Powered Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

Cited by 4 publications

References 14 publications

Development of an Automatic Solar Tracker Control System for a Tandem-Winged UAV and Its Implementation Strategies

Development of an Automatic Solar Tracker Control System for a Tandem-Winged UAV and Its Implementation Strategies

Improvement of UAV thrust using the BSO algorithm-based ANFIS model

Experimental Analysis of Small Solar Unmanned Aerial Vehicle to Predict Aerodynamic Performance

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