Solar powered UAV: Design and experiments

Morton, Scott A.; D'Sa, Ruben; Papanikolopoulos, Nikolaos

doi:10.1109/iros.2015.7353711

Cited by 93 publications

(58 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have gained much attention in advanced communication systems [1]- [5], [52]- [56]. Due to the advantages such as mobility, flexibility, efficiency, and low-cost in deployment, cellular-connected UAVs have potentials in 5G beyond and IoT [7]- [9], [55] systems.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

On Ergodic Capacity and Optimal Number of Tiers in UAV-Assisted Communication Systems

2019

IEEE Trans. Veh. Technol.

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In this paper, we consider unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) assisted communication systems where a number of UAVs are utilized as multi-tier relays between a number of users and a base-transceiver station (BTS). We model the wireless propagation channel between the users and the BTS as a Rayleigh product channel, which is a product of a series of independent and identically distributed (i.i.d.) Rayleigh multi-input multi-output (MIMO) channels. We put a special interested in optimizing the number of tiers in such UAV-assisted systems for a given total number of UAVs to maximize the ergodic capacity. To achieve this goal, in a first part we derive a lower-bound in closed-form for the ergodic capacity which is shown to be asymptotically tight as signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) increases. With the derived bound, in a second part we analyze the optimal number of UAV-tiers, and propose a low-complexity procedure that significantly reduces the search-size and yields near-optimal performance. Moreover, asymptotic properties both for the ergodic capacity of Rayleigh product channel, and the optimal solutions on number of tiers are extensively analyzed.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

On Ergodic Capacity and Optimal Number of Tiers in UAV-Assisted Communication Systems

2019

IEEE Trans. Veh. Technol.

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“…However, research targeting perpetual endurance in these small‐scale robotic aircraft has been relatively sparse. Most research, for example by Morton, focuses on conceptual design studies without extensive flight experience, for example. Projects that have demonstrated perpetual flight are SoLong , which performed a continuous 48‐hour flight using solar power while actively seeking out thermal updrafts, and SkySailor, which demonstrated a 27‐hour solar‐powered continuous flight without the use of thermals.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Design of small hand‐launched solar‐powered UAVs: From concept study to a multi‐day world endurance record flight

Oettershagen

Melzer

Mantel

et al. 2017

Journal of Field Robotics

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We present the development process behind AtlantikSolar, a small 6.9 kg hand-launchable low-altitude solar-powered Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) that recently completed an 81-hour continuous flight and thereby established a new flight endurance world record for all aircraft below 50 kg mass. The goal of our work is to increase the usability of such solarpowered robotic aircraft by maximizing their perpetual flight robustness to meteorological deteriorations such as clouds or winds. We present energetic system models and a design methodology, implement them in our publicly-available conceptual design framework for perpetual flight-capable solar-powered UAVs, and finally apply the framework to the AtlantikSolar UAV. We present the detailed AtlantikSolar characteristics as a practical design example. Airframe, avionics, hardware, state estimation and control method development for autonomous flight operations are described. Flight data is used to validate the conceptual design framework. Flight results from the continuous 81-hour and 2338 km covered ground distance flight show that AtlantikSolar achieves 39 % minimum state-of-charge, 6.8 h excess time and 6.2 h charge margin. These performance metrics are a significant improvement over previous solar-powered UAVs. A performance outlook shows that AtlantikSolar allows perpetual flight in a 6-month window around June 21 st at mid-European latitudes, and that multi-day flights with small optical-or infrared-camera payloads are possible for the first time. The demonstrated performance represents the current state-of-the-art in solarpowered low-altitude perpetual flight performance. We conclude with lessons learned from the three-year AtlantikSolar UAV development process and with a sensitivity analysis that identifies the most promising technological areas for future solar-powered UAV performance improvements.

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“…Although great achievements have been made in the domain of aircraft control, an area that has seen little development is that of solar-powered flight endurance and performance. Recently, a number of groups have shown development in the design of small-scale solar-powered aircraft [1], [2], [3]. Thanks to advancements in motor controller and motor performance, solar cell efficiency, and battery density, more solar energy can be captured and stored than what is required to fly at level flight.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To achieve a number of design goals, the size of these aircraft range between 4 meters [3], [7], [1] and 5.8 meters [2]. These systems have relatively high aspect ratio wings and, in order to meet the multi-day flight design goals, have correspondingly long wingspans.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

SUAV:Q - a hybrid approach to solar-powered flight

D'Sa

Jenson

Papanikolopoulos

2016

2016 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA)

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Selecting an aerial platform for an application typically requires compromise. A choice must be made between the flight time and long-range capabilities of a fixed-wing aircraft or the maneuverability and stationary characteristics of a multi-rotor platform. Recent developments of small-scale solar-powered UAVs have leveraged the advances in solar cell, energy storage, and propulsion system technology to reach extended flight times capable of all-day and multi-day flight.This paper presents the concept of a small-scale hybrid unmanned aerial vehicle capable of augmenting the maneuverability of a quad-rotor with the energy collection and supply of a solar-powered fixed-wing aircraft. An investigation into the aircraft design, transforming mechanism, and energy management of the multi-state system is presented.A proof-of-concept prototype has been constructed to demonstrate the airframe operating in a quad-rotor configuration. Power electronics capable of simultaneous battery charging and power loading from a solar array have been validated. Additional work in optimization of the propulsion system and airframe needs to be completed to maximize the performance of the hybrid system.

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Solar powered UAV: Design and experiments

Cited by 93 publications

References 10 publications

On Ergodic Capacity and Optimal Number of Tiers in UAV-Assisted Communication Systems

On Ergodic Capacity and Optimal Number of Tiers in UAV-Assisted Communication Systems

Design of small hand‐launched solar‐powered UAVs: From concept study to a multi‐day world endurance record flight

SUAV:Q - a hybrid approach to solar-powered flight

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