Semi-analytical range and endurance computation of battery-powered multi-copter unmanned aerial systems under steady wind conditions

Godbole, Ameya R.; Subbarao, Kamesh; Dogan, Atilla; Huff, Brian

doi:10.1177/0954410019842714

Cited by 4 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 12 publications

(25 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Only very few studies try to estimate the range, endurance or optimal flight speed by combining a multicopter aerodynamics model with a battery model [2], [8], [9], [7], [11], [10], [12]. The first group of works focuses on the hover endurance of multirotor aerial vehicles.…”

Section: Related Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The second group of works additionally focuses on calculating the range and optimal flight speed. In [11] an ideal battery model is used together with a quadratic propeller model augmented with quadratic body drag. The approach neglects induced propeller drag, dynamic lift and assumes an ideal battery with no Peukert effect.…”

Section: Related Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…When the load is a multicopter, only the power demand of the motors can be computed. Replacing the unknown I load (t) in (11) with P cell (t)/U bat (t) yields a quadratic equation in U bat . Solving for the battery voltage gives the final result (the dependence on t has been omitted for improved readability):…”

Section: A Model Structurementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Existing approaches for range and endurance estimates often focus on hover-endurance [8], [9], where the complex aerodynamic effects of multicopter flight can be neglected. Works concerned with estimating the maximum flight range use simplistic multicopter models for forward flight [10], [11], [12]. Such models neglect key aerodynamic effects experienced by all rotary wing aircraft: as the vehicle flies forward, the dynamic lift experienced by the propellers yields a reduction in the multicopter's power consumption.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Range, Endurance, and Optimal Speed Estimates for Multicopters

Bauersfeld

Scaramuzza

2022

IEEE Robot. Autom. Lett.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Multicopters are among the most versatile mobile robots. Their applications range from inspection and mapping tasks to providing vital reconnaissance in disaster zones and to package delivery. The range, endurance, and speed a multirotor vehicle can achieve while performing its task is a decisive factor not only for vehicle design and mission planning, but also for policy makers deciding on the rules and regulations for aerial robots. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this work proposes the first approach to estimate the range, endurance, and optimal flight speed for a wide variety of multicopters. This advance is made possible by combining a state-of-the-art first-principles aerodynamic multicopter model based on blade-element-momentum theory with an electric-motor model and a graybox battery model. This model predicts the cell voltage with only 1.3% relative error ( 43.1mV ), even if the battery is subjected to non-constant discharge rates. Our approach is validated with real-world experiments on a test bench as well as with flights at speeds up to 65km/h in one of the world's largest motion-capture systems. We also present an accurate pen-and-paper algorithm to estimate the range, endurance and optimal speed of multicopters to help future researchers build drones with maximal range and endurance, ensuring that future multirotor vehicles are even more versatile.

show abstract

Section: Related Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Related Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: A Model Structurementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Range, Endurance, and Optimal Speed Estimates for Multicopters

Bauersfeld

Scaramuzza

2022

IEEE Robot. Autom. Lett.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…To avoid coupling (10) and (11) the term I load (t) in ( 10) is approximated by kP cell for some constant k. Finally, (10) is reformulated as a lumped parameter model with timeconstant τ RC to yield:…”

Section: A Model Structurementioning

confidence: 99%

Range, Endurance, and Optimal Speed Estimates for Multicopters

Bauersfeld¹,

Scaramuzza²

2021

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Multicopters are among the most versatile mobile robots. Their applications range from inspection and mapping tasks to providing vital reconnaissance in disaster zones and to package delivery. The range, endurance, and speed a multirotor vehicle can achieve while performing its task is a decisive factor not only for vehicle design and mission planning, but also for policy makers deciding on the rules and regulations for aerial robots. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this work proposes the first approach to estimate the range, endurance, and optimal flight speed for a wide variety of multicopters. This advance is made possible by combining a state-of-the-art first-principles aerodynamic multicopter model based on bladeelement-momentum theory with an electric-motor model and a graybox battery model. This model predicts the cell voltage with only 1.3% relative error (43.1 mV), even if the battery is subjected to non-constant discharge rates. Our approach is validated with real-world experiments on a test bench as well as with flights at speeds up to 65 km/h in one of the world's largest motion-capture systems. We also present an accurate pen-and-paper algorithm to estimate the range, endurance and optimal speed of multicopters to help future researchers build drones with maximal range and endurance, ensuring that future multirotor vehicles are even more versatile.

show abstract