Solar Powered Small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles: A Review

Fixed-wing, solar-powered unmanned aerial vehicles (SUAVs) can use thermals to expand the duration of flight. Nevertheless, due to the demand for calculating the thermal state parameters of the SUAV during flight, the existing methods still have some shortcomings in their practical applications, such as an inaccurate location estimation of the thermal and an insufficient seeking efficiency. In this paper, by integrating the Gaussian distribution model of thermal updraft of the pitching and roll moment of SUAVs, it is demonstrated that the approach introduced is superior to the traditional methods, disregarding the pitching moment. The simulation indicated that the accuracy and convergence speed of the thermal state estimation, performed while employing the cubature Kalman filter (CKF), are significantly improved after the SUAVs pitching moment is considered. The proposed method improves the automaticity and intelligence of SUAVs autonomous thermal search and enhances the cognitive and decision-making capabilities of SUAVs.

show abstract

scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.

Contact Info

hi@scite.ai

10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614

Henderson, NV 89052, USA

Blog Terms and Conditions API Terms Privacy Policy Contact Cookie Preferences Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information

Made with 💙 for researchers

Part of the Research Solutions Family.

Solar Powered Small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles: A Review

Abstract: respect to their materials and mechanical flexibility, in addition to various navigation and control approaches. Finally, limitations of existing solar-powered UAVs are presented in addition to proposed solutions and recommendations for the next generation of drones.

Cited by 4 publications

References 40 publications

Urban solar harvesting: The importance of diffuse shadows in complex environments

Urban solar harvesting: The importance of diffuse shadows in complex environments

Flexible quasi-2D perovskite solar cells with high specific power and improved stability for energy-autonomous drones

Performance Analysis of the Thermal Automatic Tracking Method Based on the Model of the UAV Dynamic Model in a Thermal and Cubature Kalman Filter

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About