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1
Rajendran, Parvathy, and Howard Smith. "The Development of a Small Solar Powered Electric Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Systems." Applied Mechanics and Materials 465-466 (December 2013): 345–51. http://dx.doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/amm.465-466.345.
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Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) has an enormous role to both military and civilian missions. However, a short range endurance of current UAV system affects the life expediency, data monitoring, and output performance of a mission. This is due to having UAVs that are dependent on batteries. The weight of the battery and low temperature environment has undoubtedly been the main cause for the poor UAV performance. In spite of its prolific improvement in UAV system, the endurance permissible is between 45 minutes to 4 hours. Therefore, this situation makes battery no longer attractive to be widely used for UAV. Lately attention has been focused on the use of solar cell in UAV in replacement to battery as its power system. Nevertheless, current solar cells characteristic and efficiency is insufficient to sustain a long endurance flight. This is due to failure to identify an appropriate selection of material and parts in designing the UAVs solar augmented power module system. Therefore, comprehensive work on the solar power system and its integration is essential for an excellent UAV performance. Thus, a research work has been done to studies on the design of a solar and battery power system for an electric UAV. Subsequently, a small solar powered electric UAV has been developed. As a result, the UAVs specification, layout and systems description are presented extensively in this paper. This UAV has enabled an understanding how the solar augmented system has enhanced the endurance performance the electric UAV to almost 24 hours. Moreover, this UAV has 5 successfully flight up till date with useful data that predicted this UAV aerodynamic characteristic.
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Chu, Yauhei, Chunleung Ho, Yoonjo Lee, and Boyang Li. "Development of a Solar-Powered Unmanned Aerial Vehicle for Extended Flight Endurance." Drones 5, no. 2 (May 24, 2021): 44. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/drones5020044.
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Having an exciting array of applications, the scope of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) application could be far wider one if its flight endurance can be prolonged. Solar-powered UAV, promising notable prolongation in flight endurance, is drawing increasing attention in the industries’ recent research and development. This work arose from a Bachelor’s degree capstone project at Hong Kong Polytechnic University. The project aims to modify a 2-metre wingspan remote-controlled (RC) UAV available in the consumer market to be powered by a combination of solar and battery-stored power. The major objective is to greatly increase the flight endurance of the UAV by the power generated from the solar panels. The power system is first designed by selecting the suitable system architecture and then by selecting suitable components related to solar power. The flight control system is configured to conduct flight tests and validate the power system performance. Under fair experimental conditions with desirable weather conditions, the solar power system on the aircraft results in 22.5% savings in the use of battery-stored capacity. The decrease rate of battery voltage during the stable level flight of the solar-powered UAV built is also much slower than the same configuration without a solar-power system.
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Rajendran, Parvathy, and Howard Smith. "Future Trend Analysis on the Design and Performance of Solar-Powered Electric Unmanned Aerial Vehicles." Advanced Materials Research 1125 (October 2015): 635–40. http://dx.doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/amr.1125.635.
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This paper analyzes the future trends of both solar and non-solar-powered electric types of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The impacts of solar cell efficiency and battery energy density on the potential of reducing the maximum take-off and payload enhancement for both types of UAV are studied. The battery energy density and solar efficiency’s extrapolated forecast data do not show any sign of technology maturation. Component weight, ratio of solar module to wing area, and solar module power are also analyzed to further emphasize the need to improve the solar and battery technology for the development of solar-powered electric UAVs. Results show that a solar-powered electric UAV should be lighter, smaller, and be able to carry more payload than a non-solar-powered electric UAV in the near future depending on the payload and endurance requirement. Thus, a solar-powered aircraft can be the future of aviation.
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RAJENDRAN, Parvathy, and Howard SMITH. "Experimental Analysis of Small Solar Unmanned Aerial Vehicle to Predict Aerodynamic Performance." INCAS BULLETIN 12, no. 4 (December 4, 2020): 173–82. http://dx.doi.org/10.13111/2066-8201.2020.12.4.16.
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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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Khoshnoud, Farbod, Ibrahim I. Esat, Clarence W. de Silva, Jason D. Rhodes, Alina A. Kiessling, and Marco B. Quadrelli. "Self-Powered Solar Aerial Vehicles: Towards Infinite Endurance UAVs." Unmanned Systems 08, no. 02 (April 2020): 95–117. http://dx.doi.org/10.1142/s2301385020500077.
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A self-powered scheme is explored for achieving long-endurance operation, with the use of solar power and buoyancy lift. The end goal is the capability of “infinite” endurance while complying with the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) dynamics and the required control performance, maneuvering, and duty cycles. Nondimensional power terms related to the UAV power demand and solar energy input are determined in a framework of Optimal Uncertainty Quantification (OUQ). OUQ takes uncertainties and incomplete information in the dynamics and control, available solar energy, and the electric power demand of a solar UAV model into account, and provides an optimal solution for achieving a self-sustained system in terms of energy. Self-powered trajectory tracking, speed and control are discussed. Aerial vehicles of this class can overcome the flight time limitations of current electric UAVs, thereby meeting the needs of many applications. This paper serves as a reference in providing a generalized approach in design of self-powered solar electric multi-rotor UAVs.
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Rajendran, Parvathy, and Howard Smith. "Development of Design Methodology for a Small Solar-Powered Unmanned Aerial Vehicle." International Journal of Aerospace Engineering 2018 (2018): 1–10. http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2018/2820717.
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Existing mathematical design models for small solar-powered electric unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) only focus on mass, performance, and aerodynamic analyses. Presently, UAV designs have low endurance. The current study aims to improve the shortcomings of existing UAV design models. Three new design aspects (i.e., electric propulsion, sensitivity, and trend analysis), three improved design properties (i.e., mass, aerodynamics, and mission profile), and a design feature (i.e., solar irradiance) are incorporated to enhance the existing small solar UAV design model. A design validation experiment established that the use of the proposed mathematical design model may at least improve power consumption-to-take-off mass ratio by 25% than that of previously designed UAVs. UAVs powered by solar (solar and battery) and nonsolar (battery-only) energy were also compared, showing that nonsolar UAVs can generally carry more payloads at a particular time and place than solar UAVs with sufficient endurance requirement. The investigation also identified that the payload results in the highest effect on the maximum take-off weight, followed by the battery, structure, and propulsion weight with the three new design aspects (i.e., electric propulsion, sensitivity, and trend analysis) for sizing consideration to optimize UAV designs.
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Ma, Zhenyu, Xiaoping Zhu, and Zhou Zhou. "Taxiing Characteristic Analysis and Control for Full-Wing Solar-Powered Unmanned Aerial Vehicle." Xibei Gongye Daxue Xuebao/Journal of Northwestern Polytechnical University 37, no. 1 (February 2019): 7–12. http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/jnwpu/20193710007.
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To solve the taxiing control problem of the full-wing solar-powered unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) without front wheel steering servo and rudder, a control approach using differential propeller thrust to control the taxiing is proposed in this paper. Firstly, the taxiing mathematical models of two kinds of full-wing solar-powered UAVs with the front wheels turning freely or fixed are established. Meanwhile, the taxiing characteristics of full-wing solar-powered UAV in different taxiing speeds are analyzed. Secondly, based on the linear active disturbance rejection control (LADRC) theory, a yaw angle controller is designed by using differential propeller thrust as the control output. Finally, a straight line trajectory tracking scheme which is suitable for take-off and landing taxiing is designed on the base of improved vector field theory. Simulation results show that the designed controller has a good control effect on full-wing solar-powered UAV's take-off and landing taxiing periods, and better robustness.
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Zhao, Xin, Zhou Zhou, Xiaoping Zhu, and An Guo. "Design of a Hand-Launched Solar-Powered Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) System for Plateau." Applied Sciences 10, no. 4 (February 14, 2020): 1300. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/app10041300.
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This paper describes our work on a small, hand-launched, solar-powered unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) suitable for low temperatures and high altitudes, which has the perpetual flight potential for conservation missions for rare animals in the plateau area in winter. Firstly, the conceptual design method of a small, solar-powered UAV based on energy balance is proposed, which is suitable for flight in high-altitude and low-temperature area. The solar irradiance model, which can reflect the geographical location and time, was used. Based on the low-temperature discharge test of the battery, a battery weight model considering the influence of low temperature on the battery performance was proposed. Secondly, this paper introduces the detailed design of solar UAV for plateau area, including layout design, structure design, load, and avionics. To increase the proportion of solar cells covered, the ailerons were removed and a rudder was used to control both roll and yaw. Then, the dynamics model of an aileron-free layout UAV was developed, and the differences in maneuverability and stability of aileron-free UAV in plateau and plain areas were analyzed. The control law and trajectory tracking control law were designed for the aileron-free UAV. Finally, the flight test was conducted in Qiangtang, Tibet, at an altitude of 4500 m, China’s first solar-powered UAV to take off and land above 4500 m on the plateau in winter (−30 °C). The test data showed the success of the scheme, validated the conceptual design method and the success of the control system for aileron-free UAV, and analyzed the feasibility of perpetual flight carrying different loads according to the flight energy consumption data.
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Rajendran, Parvathy, and Howard Smith. "Review of Solar and Battery Power System Development for Solar-Powered Electric Unmanned Aerial Vehicles." Advanced Materials Research 1125 (October 2015): 641–47. http://dx.doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/amr.1125.641.
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Electric unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) systems powered solely by battery cannot achieve long endurance. Despite recent improvements in battery technology, UAVs barely last for 4 hours, thereby decreasing the attractiveness of battery-powered UAVs. Progress has been made in developing hybrid-powered solar and battery systems for UAVs. However, the small number of solar UAVs developed indicates the research gap, particularly in the aspect of power system and integration. Accordingly, this paper provides a detailed review of solar cell and battery development applicable to small UAVs. This review includes the technologies of miniature electric motors, batteries, fuel cells, and solar cells. A comprehensive battery and solar cell technology trend is then discussed. This wok elucidates the effect of solar and battery technology progress on solar UAV development. The combination of electric motor, battery, and solar cells offers an excellent solution to the requirements of various long-endurance applications.
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Rajendran, Parvathy, Nurul Musfirah Mazlan, and Howard Smith. "Single Cell Li-Ion Polymer Battery Charge and Discharge Characterizations for Application on Solar-Powered Unmanned Aerial Vehicle." Key Engineering Materials 728 (January 2017): 428–33. http://dx.doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/kem.728.428.
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Solar-powered UAV is an alternative way to achieve high endurance and long range UAV flight. However, solar irradiance is not always available during the flight. Thus, secondary power source which is electrical batteries will improve the performance of solar-powered UAV when solar irradiance is not available. Therefore, bench test for LiPo battery is conducted in this paper for the design of solar-powered UAV power system. The impact of operating temperature at various charging and discharging rate on the duration to full charge and discharge and capacity level of a single LiPo battery were assessed. The solar module installed in solar-powered UAV developed by Aircraft Design Group, Cranfield University has to be designed to charge the battery pack at a nominal or maximum rate of 0.129 C and 0.155 C correspondingly. The solar module requires roughly 5.73 hours on nominal charging rate on 30 °C operating temperature to fully charge capacity level instead of 5.54 hours theoretical predicted. The battery pack will then discharge at cruise flight roughly about 0.071 C to a maximum of 1.685 C if required. If the battery pack is not charged, during cruise flight the battery capacity will deplete completely at about 6.51 hours for the same operating temperature, in contrast to the 6.48 hours based on the theoretical prediction. In addition, the usage of LiPo batteries for operation at high altitudes and/or extreme temperatures without an additional heating or cooling system for these battery packs is not favorable. Thus, it is best to charge at low charging rate and high operating temperature to store and utilize the most capacity from this battery.
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Hwang, SeungJae, SangGon Kim, and YungGyo Lee. "Developing High Altitude Long Endurance (HALE) Solar-powered Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV)." Journal of Aerospace System Engineering 10, no. 1 (March 31, 2016): 59–65. http://dx.doi.org/10.20910/jase.2016.10.1.59.
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Wang, Xiaohong, Hongzhou Guo, Jingbin Wang, and Lizhi Wang. "Predicting the Health Status of an Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Data-Link System Based on a Bayesian Network." Sensors 18, no. 11 (November 13, 2018): 3916. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/s18113916.
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Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) require data-link system to link ground data terminals to the real-time controls of each UAV. Consequently, the ability to predict the health status of a UAV data-link system is vital for safe and efficient operations. The performance of a UAV data-link system is affected by the health status of both the hardware and UAV data-links. This paper proposes a method for predicting the health state of a UAV data-link system based on a Bayesian network fusion of information about potential hardware device failures and link failures. Our model employs the Bayesian network to describe the information and uncertainty associated with a complex multi-level system. To predict the health status of the UAV data-link, we use the health status information about the root node equipment with various life characteristics along with the health status of the links as affected by the bit error rate. In order to test the validity of the model, we tested its prediction of the health of a multi-level solar-powered unmanned aerial vehicle data-link system and the result shows that the method can quantitatively predict the health status of the solar-powered UAV data-link system. The results can provide guidance for improving the reliability of UAV data-link system and lay a foundation for predicting the health status of a UAV data-link system accurately.
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Tian, Zijing, Zygmunt J. Haas, and Shatavari Shinde. "Routing in Solar-Powered UAV Delivery System." Drones 6, no. 10 (September 30, 2022): 282. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/drones6100282.
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As interest grows in unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) systems, UAVs have been proposed to take on increasingly more tasks that were previously assigned to humans. One such task is the delivery of goods within urban cities using UAVs, which would otherwise be delivered by terrestrial means. However, the limited endurance of UAVs due to limited onboard energy storage makes it challenging to practically employ UAV technology for deliveries across long routes. Furthermore, the relatively high cost of building UAV charging stations prevents the dense deployment of charging facilities. Solar-powered UAVs can ease this problem, as they do not require charging stations and can harvest solar power in the daytime. This paper introduces a solar-powered UAV goods delivery system to plan delivery missions with solar-powered UAVs (SPUs). In this study, when the SPUs run out of power, they charge themselves on landing places provided by customers instead of charging stations. Some advanced path planning algorithms are proposed to minimize the overall mission time in the statically charging efficiency environment. We further consider routing in the dynamically charging efficiency environment and propose some mission arrangement protocols to manage different missions in the system. The simulation results demonstrate that the algorithms proposed in our work perform significantly better than existing UAV path planning algorithms in solar-powered UAV systems.
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Wu, Maopeng, Lijuan Su, Jianxun Chen, Xiaoli Duan, Donghua Wu, Yan Cheng, and Yu Jiang. "Development and Prospect of Wireless Power Transfer Technology Used to Power Unmanned Aerial Vehicle." Electronics 11, no. 15 (July 23, 2022): 2297. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/electronics11152297.
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Recently, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) have been widely used in the military and civil fields. However, the battery power is a key factor that restricts the operation range of the UAV. Using wireless power transfer (WPT) technology to power UAVs can improve the endurance of UAVs and enhance their maneuverability and flexibility. In this paper, the WPT technology is divided into three types: near-field WPT technology, far-field WPT technology and solar-powered UAV. The developments, challenges and prospects of these three types of WPT technologies used to power UAVs are summarized. For each type of WPT technology, the basic working principles are first introduced. The development of each type of WPT technology, as well as the challenges and application prospects in UAV charging, is introduced. The related works consist of academic and industry research, ranging from prototypes to commercial systems. Finally, three types of WPT technology used in UAV charging are compared and discussed, and the advantages and disadvantages of each type of WPT technology are shown. The related research showed that using WPT technology to power the UAV is a promising way to enhance the endurance of the UAV.
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Li, Ke, Yansen Wu, Abu Bakar, Shaofan Wang, Yuangan Li, and Dongsheng Wen. "Energy System Optimization and Simulation for Low-Altitude Solar-Powered Unmanned Aerial Vehicles." Aerospace 9, no. 6 (June 20, 2022): 331. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/aerospace9060331.
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The accurate calculation of energy system parameters makes a great contribution to the long-term low-altitude flight of solar-powered aircraft. The purpose of this paper is to propose a design method for optimization and management of the low-altitude and long-endurance Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) energy system. In terms of optimization, the power input and output generated by solar panels and cruise thrust are calculated, and the energy balance of the UAV during flight is analyzed. In addition, in order to meet the energy consumption requirements of UAV during day and night flight, the influence of local environmental conditions (such as morning and evening clouds and night interference) on the aircraft is considered, and the remaining time indicator is designed to ensure long-term flight stability. Battery capacity is also estimated by the remaining time. This paper will describe extended criteria for optimization and extension methods to improve the stability and robustness of aircraft flight performance for multiple consecutive days. In addition, a design method for the UAV has been developed, which simulates and optimizes the parameters of the solar-powered UAV so that it has a wingspan of 5 m and a relative battery mass of 3 kg. The simulation in this paper describes in detail the aircraft taking off from 7 a.m. on the first day to verify the aircraft’s full day and night flight capability, and achieving the aircraft’s long flight on 22 June to meet the mission requirements of multi-day flights. It also analyzed and verified the performance at the edge of the 48 h flight time window on 21 April, which differs from the lighting in August. Finally, a flight experiment was completed on 9 August. The feasibility of the proposed method and process is verified in this paper along with the performance of the designed UAV, which will provide more guidance for future work.
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Huang, Hailong, and Andrey V. Savkin. "Path Planning for a Solar-Powered UAV Inspecting Mountain Sites for Safety and Rescue." Energies 14, no. 7 (April 2, 2021): 1968. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/en14071968.
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This paper focuses on the application using a solar-powered unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to inspect mountain sites for the purpose of safety and rescue. An inspection path planning problem is formulated, which looks for the path for an UAV to visit a set of sites where people may appear while avoiding collisions with mountains and maintaining positive residual energy. A rapidly exploring random tree (RRT)-based planning method is proposed. This method firstly finds a feasible path that satisfies the residual energy requirement and then shortens the path if there is some abundant residual energy at the end. Computer simulations are conducted to demonstrate the performance of the proposed method.
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Jung, Sunghun, Yonghyeon Jo, and Young-Joon Kim. "Flight Time Estimation for Continuous Surveillance Missions Using a Multirotor UAV." Energies 12, no. 5 (March 5, 2019): 867. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/en12050867.
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To achieve the continuous surveillance capable multirotor type solar-powered unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), we develop the photovoltaic power management system (PPMS) which manages power from photovoltaic (PV) modules and a battery pack to support the power of the UAV. To estimate the possible flight time of the UAV, we use the concept of state of charge (SOC) estimation based on the extended Kalman filter (EKF) and complementary filter (CF) and then calculate the possible flight time by using the slope of the SOC graph during hovering flight mode. According to the results, estimated flight time increases up to 54.14 min at 11:00 a.m. and decreases down to 6.70 min at 18:00 p.m.
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Rajendran, Parvathy, Kah Wee Lim, and Kuan Theng Ong. "Power Management Strategy by Enhancing the Mission Profile Configuration of Solar-Powered Aircraft." International Journal of Aerospace Engineering 2016 (2016): 1–9. http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2016/9345368.
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Solar energy offers solar-powered unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) the possibility of unlimited endurance. Some researchers have developed techniques to achieve perpetual flight by maximizing the power from the sun and by flying in accordance with its azimuth angles. However, flying in a path that follows the sun consumes more energy to sustain level flight. This study optimizes the overall power ratio by adopting the mission profile configuration of optimal solar energy exploitation. Extensive simulation is conducted to optimize and restructure the mission profile phases of UAV and to determine the optimal phase definition of the start, ascent, and descent periods, thereby maximizing the energy from the sun. In addition, a vertical cylindrical flight trajectory instead of maximizing the solar inclination angle has been adopted. This approach improves the net power ratio by 30.84% compared with other techniques. As a result, the battery weight may be massively reduced by 75.23%. In conclusion, the proposed mission profile configuration with the optimal power ratio of the trajectory of the path planning effectively prolongs UAV operation.
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Hwang, Seung-Jae, Sang-Gon Kim, Cheol-Won Kim, and Yung-Gyo Lee. "Aerodynamic Design of the Solar-Powered High Altitude Long Endurance (HALE) Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV)." International Journal of Aeronautical and Space Sciences 17, no. 1 (March 30, 2016): 132–38. http://dx.doi.org/10.5139/ijass.2016.17.1.132.
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Cui, Xiao Yang, Yan Ji Hong, and Xing Jin. "Study on the Far Field Laser Power Density of the Laser-UAVs with Photovoltaic Panel." Applied Mechanics and Materials 508 (January 2014): 188–91. http://dx.doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/amm.508.188.
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The concept of a UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) with photovoltaic cells powered by a laser beam has been demonstrated as more firm, having higher usable power and more payloads than solar-powered ones, and features wide prospective. This paper analyzes the process of laser energy transmitted in the atmosphere to arrive at the photovoltaic cells. The interaction of laser energy and the atmosphere are analyzed, and the impacts of the diffraction, beam drift caused by turbulence and the aiming precision of the laser launching system on the distribution of laser spot and far field power density. Some bases for laser energy transport are presented.
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Guo, An, Zhou Zhou, Xiaoping Zhu, Xin Zhao, and Yuxin Ding. "Automatic Control and Model Verification for a Small Aileron-Less Hand-Launched Solar-Powered Unmanned Aerial Vehicle." Electronics 9, no. 2 (February 21, 2020): 364. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/electronics9020364.
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This paper describes a low-cost flight control system of a small aileron-less hand-launched solar-powered unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). In order to improve the accuracy of the whole system model and quantify the influence of each subsystem, detailed modeling of UAV energy and a control system including a solar model, engine, energy storage, sensors, state estimation, control law, and actuator module are established in accordance with the experiment and component principles. A whole system numerical simulation combined with the 6 degree-of-freedom (DOF) simulation model is constructed based on the typical mission route, and the parameter precision sequence and energy balance are obtained. Then, a hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) experiment scheme based on the Stewart platform (SP) is proposed, and three modes of acceleration, angular velocity, and attitude are designed to verify the control system through the inner and boundary states of the flight envelope. The whole system scheme is verified by flight tests at different altitudes, and the aerodynamic force coefficient and sensor error are corrected by flight data. With the increase of altitude, the cruise power increases from 47 W to 78 W, the trajectory tracking precision increases from 23 m to 44 m, the sensor measurement noise increases, and the bias decreases.
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Sendner, Franz-Michael. "An energy-autonomous UAV swarm concept to support sea-rescue and maritime patrol missions in the Mediterranean sea." Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology 94, no. 1 (October 18, 2021): 112–23. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/aeat-12-2020-0316.
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Purpose For the crews and assets of the European Union’s (EU’s) Joint Operations available today, but a vast area in the Mediterranean Sea to monitor, detection of small boats and rafts in distress can take up to several days or even fail at all. This study aims to outline how an energy-autonomous swarm of Unmanned Aerial System can help to increase the monitored sea area while minimizing human resource demand. Design/methodology/approach A concept for an unattended swarm of solar powered, unmanned hydroplanes is proposed. A swarm operations concept, vehicle conceptual design and an initial vehicle sizing method is derived. A microscopic, multi-agent-based simulation model is developed. System characteristics and surveillance performance is investigated in this delimited environment number of vehicles scale. Parameter variations in insolation, overcast and system design are used to predict system characteristics. The results are finally used for a scale-up study on a macroscopic level. Findings Miniaturization of subsystems is found to be essential for energy balance, whereas power consumption of subsystems is identified to define minimum vehicle size. Seasonal variations of solar insolation are observed to dominate the available energy budget. Thus, swarm density and activity adaption to solar energy supply is found to be a key element to maintain continuous aerial surveillance. Research limitations/implications This research was conducted extra-occupationally. Resources were limited to the available range of literature, computational power number and time budget. Practical implications A proposal for a probable concept of operations, as well as vehicle preliminary design for an unmanned energy-autonomous, multi-vehicle system for maritime surveillance tasks, are presented and discussed. Indications on path planning, communication link and vehicle interaction scheme selection are given. Vehicle design drivers are identified and optimization of parameters with significant impact on the swarm system is shown. Social implications The proposed system can help to accelerate the detection of ships in distress, increasing the effectiveness of life-saving rescue missions. Originality/value For continuous surveillance of expanded mission theatres by small-sized vehicles of limited endurance, a novel, collaborative swarming approach applying in situ resource utilization is explored.
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Cui, Xiao Yang, Yan Ji Hong, and Xing Jin. "Study on Temperature Characteristics of the Photovoltaic Panels of the Laser-UAVs." Applied Mechanics and Materials 437 (October 2013): 527–30. http://dx.doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/amm.437.527.
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The concept of a UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) with photovoltaic cells powered by a laser beam has been demonstrated as more firm, having higher usable power and more payloads than solar-powered ones, and features wide prospective. The theory models were based on the thermal equilibrium formulation which took into account of convective cooling raised by the flowing air and the radiation heat exchanges between the photovoltaic panel and the earth, and the atmosphere. Then, numerically, this paper investigated and analyzed the equilibrium temperature, energy efficiency, usable laser power density and maximum endurable laser power density of the photovoltaic panel, which can provide references for the choice of cooling methods and laser-power mission programming of the laser-powered UAVs.
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Papis, Karolina, Rafał Figaj, Jakub Kuś, Maciej Żołądek, and Michał Zając. "Application of photovoltaic cells as a source of energy in unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) – case study." E3S Web of Conferences 173 (2020): 02002. http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/202017302002.
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During last years, renewable energy sources (RES) find their way into the transportation industry. Among the units which may be powered directly with renewable energy, the UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) market is undergoing a rapid development. In this case mainly the solar energy is used. Photovoltaic modules are mainly located on the wings, so it is often necessary to use flexible PV cells which have lower efficiency than the flat ones. This study proves that airfoil geometry modifications by partial flattening are not beneficial from the aerodynamic point of view. The lower energy conversion on photovoltaic panels must be balanced by energy storage and energy management systems. The performance of exemplary installation mounted on AGH Solar Plane has been modelled with TRNSYS software. Obtained results allowed to establish the amount of produced, stored and used energy in six different months.
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Huang, Hailong, Andrey V. Savkin, and Wei Ni. "Energy-Efficient 3D Navigation of a Solar-Powered UAV for Secure Communication in the Presence of Eavesdroppers and No-Fly Zones." Energies 13, no. 6 (March 19, 2020): 1445. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/en13061445.
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Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have been regarded as a promising means to reshape future wireless communication systems. In this paper, we consider how to plan the trajectory of a solar-powered UAV under a cloudy condition to secure the communication between the UAV and a target ground node against multiple eavesdroppers. We propose a new 3D UAV trajectory optimization model by taking into account the UAV energy consumption, solar power harvesting, eavesdropping and no-fly zone avoidance. A Rapidly-exploring Random Tree (RRT) method is developed to construct the UAV trajectory. Computer simulations and comparisons with a baseline method demonstrate that the proposed method is able to produce trajectories to ensure the valid wireless communication link with the ground node and prevent eavesdropping.
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Quaglia, Giuseppe, Carmen Visconte, Leonardo Sabatino Scimmi, Matteo Melchiorre, Paride Cavallone, and Stefano Pastorelli. "Design of a UGV Powered by Solar Energy for Precision Agriculture." Robotics 9, no. 1 (March 13, 2020): 13. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/robotics9010013.
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In this paper, a novel UGV (unmanned ground vehicle) for precision agriculture, named “Agri.q,” is presented. The Agri.q has a multiple degrees of freedom positioning mechanism and it is equipped with a robotic arm and vision sensors, which allow to challenge irregular terrains and to perform precision field operations with perception. In particular, the integration of a 7 DOFs (degrees of freedom) manipulator and a mobile frame results in a reconfigurable workspace, which opens to samples collection and inspection in non-structured environments. Moreover, Agri.q mounts an orientable landing platform for drones which is made of solar panels, enabling multi-robot strategies and solar power storage, with a view to sustainable energy. In fact, the device will assume a central role in a more complex automated system for agriculture, that includes the use of UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) and UGV for coordinated field monitoring and servicing. The electronics of the device is also discussed, since Agri.q should be ready to send-receive data to move autonomously or to be remotely controlled by means of dedicated processing units and transmitter-receiver modules. This paper collects all these elements and shows the advances of the previous works, describing the design process of the mechatronic system and showing the realization phase, whose outcome is the physical prototype.
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Guo, Zhou, Zhu, and Bai. "Low-Cost Sensors State Estimation Algorithm for a Small Hand-Launched Solar-Powered UAV." Sensors 19, no. 21 (October 24, 2019): 4627. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/s19214627.
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In order to reduce the cost of the flight controller and improve the control accuracy of solar-powered unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), three state estimation algorithms based on the extended Kalman filter (EKF) with different structures are proposed: Three-stage series, full-state direct and indirect state estimation algorithms. A small hand-launched solar-powered UAV without ailerons is used as the object with which to compare the algorithm structure, estimation accuracy, and platform requirements and application. The three-stage estimation algorithm has a position accuracy of 6 m and is suitable for low-cost small, low control precision UAVs. The precision of full-state direct algorithm is 3.4 m, which is suitable for platforms with low-cost and high-trajectory tracking accuracy. The precision of the full-state indirect method is similar to the direct, but it is more stable for state switching, overall parameters estimation, and can be applied to large platforms. A full-scaled electric hand-launched UAV loaded with the three-stage series algorithm was used for the field test. Results verified the feasibility of the estimation algorithm and it obtained a position estimation accuracy of 23 m.
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Jung, Sunghun. "Development and Verification of Hybrid Power Controller Using Indoor HIL Test for the Solar UAV." Energies 13, no. 8 (April 24, 2020): 2110. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/en13082110.
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A hybrid power system (HPS) is developed for the photovoltaic (PV) powered and tethered multirotor unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) based on the robot operating system (ROS) and verified using an indoor hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) test. All the processes, including a UAV flight mode change (i.e., takeoff, hovering, and landing) and power flow control (consisting of PV modules, a LiPo battery pack, and a UAV) are completely automated using a combination of Pixhawk 2.1 and the Raspberry Pi 3 Model B (RPi 3B). Once the indoor HIL test starts, (1) the UAV takes off and hovers with a preassigned 10 m altitude at a fixed point and keeps hovering until the voltage drops below 13.4 V ; (2) the UAV lands when the voltage drops below 13.4 V, and the hybrid power controller (HPC) starts to charge the LiPo battery pack using the energy from PV modules; and (3) the UAV takes off when the voltage of the battery pack becomes more than 16.8 V, and the procedure repeats from (1). A PV-powered and tethered multirotor UAV using the proposed HPS can fly more safely for a longer time, particularly in an urban area, and so it is competitive to the traditional multirotor type UAV in the sense of both the flight time and the surveillance mission performance.
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Le, Wenxin, Zhentao Xue, Jian Chen, and Zichao Zhang. "Coverage Path Planning Based on the Optimization Strategy of Multiple Solar Powered Unmanned Aerial Vehicles." Drones 6, no. 8 (August 11, 2022): 203. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/drones6080203.
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In some specific conditions, UAVs are required to obtain comprehensive information of an area or to operate in the area in an all-round way. In this case, the coverage path planning (CPP) is required. This paper proposes a solution to solve the problem of short endurance time in the coverage path planning (CPP) problem of multi-solar unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Firstly, the energy flow efficiency based on the energy model is proposed to evaluate the energy utilization efficiency during the operation. Moreover, for the areas with and without obstacles, the coverage path optimization model is proposed based on the undirected graph search method. The constraint equation is defined to restrict the UAV from accessing the undirected graph according to certain rules. A mixed integer linear programming (MILP) model is proposed to determine the flight path of each UAV with the objective of minimizing operation time. Through the simulation experiment, compared with the Boustrophedon Cellular Decomposition method for coverage path planning, it is seen that the completion time is greatly improved. In addition, considering the impact of the attitude angle of the solar powered UAV when turning, the operation time and the total energy flow efficiency are defined as the optimization objective. The bi-objective model equation is established to solve the problem of the CPP. A large number of simulation experiments show that the optimization model in this paper selects different optimization objectives and applies to different shapes of areas to be covered, which has wide applicability and strong feasibility.
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Rajendran, Parvathy, Howard Smith, and Muhammad Hazim bin Masral. "Modeling and Simulation of Solar Irradiance and Daylight Duration for a High-Power-Output Solar Module System." Applied Mechanics and Materials 629 (October 2014): 475–80. http://dx.doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/amm.629.475.
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Solar energy is the largest available renewable energy for enhancing the endurance of a solar-powered unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). However, harnessing solar energy is a great challenge because the power output efficiency of solar module systems is only 15% to 30%. A solar-powered UAV has the potential to outperform a battery-powered UAV, particularly in tasks involving a pseudo satellite that requires long operating hours. Atmospheric conditions and geographical location are the main causes of the poor performance of solar modules. Despite the improvements in solar cell efficiency over the years, solar module systems can still barely convert half of the sun’s power into electricity. This limitation hinders the use of current solar module systems for harvesting solar energy. Recent studies have focused not only on the type of solar cells but also on the positioning system. However, understanding and research on the solar irradiance intensity, as well as on the effect of daylight duration on the power output, remain lacking. A comprehensive model was developed to address this gap and investigate how the movement of the sun movement affects the performance of solar module systems. This simulation model found that daylight duration is more important than available solar irradiance. Higher solar irradiance and daylight duration corresponds to a higher power output of the solar module system. Daylight duration also depends on latitude where higher latitudes lead to longer daylight duration. On the other hand, longitudinal coordinates and elevation have minor effects on the estimation of daylight duration. Therefore, the northern hemisphere has more advantages than southern hemisphere during summer and vice versa.
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Huang, Hailong, and Andrey V. Savkin. "Autonomous Navigation of a Solar-Powered UAV for Secure Communication in Urban Environments with Eavesdropping Avoidance." Future Internet 12, no. 10 (October 10, 2020): 170. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/fi12100170.
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This paper considers the navigation of a solar-powered unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for securing the communication with an intended ground node in the presence of eavesdroppers in urban environments. To complete this task, the UAV needs to not only fly safely in the complex urban environment, but also take into account the communication performance with the intended node and eavesdroppers. To this end, we formulate a multi-objective optimization problem to plan the UAV path. This problem jointly considers the maximization of the residual energy of the solar-powered UAV at the end of the mission, the maximization of the time period in which the UAV can securely communicate with the intended node and the minimization of the time to reach the destination. We pay attention to the impact of the buildings in the urban environments, which may block the transmitted signals and also create some shadow region where the UAV cannot harvest energy. A Rapidly-exploring Random Tree (RRT) based path planning scheme is presented. This scheme captures the nonlinear UAV motion model, and is computationally efficient considering the randomness nature. From the generated tree, a set of possible paths can be found. We evaluate the security of the wireless communication, compute the overall energy consumption as well as the harvested amount for each path and calculate the time to complete the flight. Compared to a general RRT scheme, the proposed method enables a large time window for the UAV to securely transmit data.
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WANG, Kelei, Zhou ZHOU, Jiahao GUO, and De XU. "Study on design of low Reynolds number reflexed airfoil for solar-powered UAV in flying wing configuration." Xibei Gongye Daxue Xuebao/Journal of Northwestern Polytechnical University 40, no. 3 (June 2022): 512–23. http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/jnwpu/20224030512.
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Based on the application requirements of a small hand-launched solar-powered unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) in flying wing configuration, the optimization design of the low Reynolds number (LRN) reflexed airfoil is carried out in this study to meet several requirements such as high lift, mild stall, demanding pitching moment. Firstly, the accuracy and reliability of both quasi-steady and unsteady numerical methods to simulate the LRN transition flow and the stall separated flow at large angles of attack (AOA) are validated by an airfoil case study at specified Reynolds numbers; Secondly, the LRN reflexed air-foil optimization design framework is established by using the CST parameterization method, the multi-island genetic algorithm (MIGA), and the kriging surrogate model; Lastly, the LRN reflexed airfoil optimization study is conducted by using the NACA 8-H-12 reflexed airfoil as the baseline airfoil, it shows that both the lift-to-drag performance and the stall characteristics of the designed airfoil is significantly improved when compared with the baseline airfoil, which are quite beneficial for the small hand-launched solar-powered UAV in flying wing configuration to realize the hand-launched take off and the high-lift long-endurance flight.
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García-Gascón, César, Pablo Castelló-Pedrero, and Juan Antonio García-Manrique. "Minimal Surfaces as an Innovative Solution for the Design of an Additive Manufactured Solar-Powered Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV)." Drones 6, no. 10 (October 2, 2022): 285. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/drones6100285.
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This paper aims to describe the methodology used in the design and manufacture of a fixed-wing aircraft manufactured using additive techniques together with the implementation of technology based on solar panels. The main objective is increasing the autonomy and range of the UAV’s autonomous missions. Moreover, one of the main targets is to improve the capabilities of the aeronautical industry towards sustainable aircrafts and to acquire better mechanical properties owing to the use of additive technologies and new printing materials. Further, a lower environmental impact could be achieved through the use of renewable energies. Material extrusion (MEX) technology may be able to be used for the manufacture of stronger and lighter parts by using gyroids as the filling of the printed material. The paper proposes the use of minimal surfaces for the reinforcement of the UAV aircraft wings. This type of surface was never used because it is not possible to manufacture it using conventional techniques. The rapid growth of additive technologies led to many expectations for new design methodologies in the aeronautical industry. In this study, mechanical tests were carried out on specimens manufactured with different geometries to address the design and manufacture of a UAV as a demonstrator. In addition, to carry out the manufacture of the prototype, a 3D printer with a movable bench similar to a belt, that allows for the manufacture of parts without limitations in the Z axis, was tested. The parts manufactured with this technique can be structurally improved, and it is possible to avoid manufacturing multiple prints of small parts of the aircraft that will have to be glued later, decreasing the mechanical properties of the UAV. The conceptual design and manufacturing of a solar aircraft, SolarÍO, using additive technologies, is presented. A study of the most innovative 3D printers was carried out that allowed for the manufacture of parts with an infinite Z-axis and, in addition, a filler based on minimal surfaces (gyroids) was applied, which considerably increased the mechanical properties of the printed parts. Finally, it can be stated that in this article, the potential of the additive manufacturing as a new manufacturing process for small aircrafts and for the aeronautical sector in the future when new materials and more efficient additive manufacturing processes are already developed is demonstrated.
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Zhang, Liang, Dongli Ma, Muqing Yang, Xiaopeng Yang, and Yayun Yu. "Modeling and Simulation of Flight Profile and Power Spectrum for Near-Space Solar-Powered UAV." Aerospace 9, no. 11 (October 30, 2022): 672. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/aerospace9110672.
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Currently, several solar-powered unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have achieved 24 h uninterrupted cruise. However, models that can cruise for weeks or even months without interruption are in the minority. The technological progress requires the improvement of subsystems and also depends on the accurate planning of flight profile and power spectrum in a long working cycle. Combined with the test data obtained during the development of a solar-powered UAV, this paper establishes systematic mathematical and physical models of aerodynamic, energy, and propulsion systems, which can reflect the change in performance parameters with flight conditions and the performance attenuation with time. Further, a track control strategy based on the principle of maximum energy utilization is proposed, and the energy balance model of each flight stage is established. On the basis of the strategy, the typical flight profile and power spectrum of a solar-powered UAV are analyzed. Finally, the input parameters are decomposed into task parameters (takeoff time window, flight season, flight latitude, takeoff weight) and performance parameters (lift–drag ratio, secondary battery density), and their effects on mission feasibility are studied respectively. The research methods and conclusions of this paper have reference significance for the mission and track planning of solar-powered UAVs.
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Engana Carmo, Joana, João Paulo Neto Torres, Gonçalo Cruz, and Ricardo A. Marques Lameirinhas. "Effect of the Inclusion of Photovoltaic Solar Panels in the Autonomy of UAV Time of Flight." Energies 14, no. 4 (February 8, 2021): 876. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/en14040876.
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Photovoltaic technology and unmanned aerial vehicles are both alluring areas with a lot of potential to explore. Consequently, they have an ability to adapt and progress when faced with new challenges, hence their wide range of applications. An auspicious combination between the two is born from the Unmanned Aerial Vehicles’ (UAVs) inability to to overcome some of its problems, namely the autonomy one. This article springs from the need to vanquish the problem, finding a more permanent solution. Its aim consists in the installation of solar photovoltaic panels in the structure of a UAV, with the objective of studying being its influence on the vehicle’s time of flight. To accomplish this, a theoretical study will be made, encompassing all the potential variables together with its influence. In order to verify the credibility of these claims, a prototype, based on the original aerial vehicle structure form and material, is constructed, using a finite element tool. Later, the prototype is used to evaluate possible harsh circumambient air to structure interactions, modeled by the fluid motion describer Navier–Stokes equations. For a smooth approach involving lighter computational power, a RANS model is used to asses the equations. Based on its results the chosen solar technology credibility is evaluated. A simulation of solar cells will also be carried out, accepting as input previously studied parameters which will modify its performance. Bearing in mind the produced results, it is concluded that the solar panels can only significantly augment the time of flight in very specific conditions.
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Kranjec, Bojan, Sasa Sladic, Wojciech Giernacki, and Neven Bulic. "PV System Design and Flight Efficiency Considerations for Fixed-Wing Radio-Controlled Aircraft—A Case Study." Energies 11, no. 10 (October 3, 2018): 2648. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/en11102648.
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The list of photovoltaic (PV) applications grows longer every day with high consideration for system efficiency. For instance, in spite of many recent PV aircraft designs, aircraft propulsion was mainly reserved for nonelectric motors. Lately, the Solar Impulse flight across the world shows the possibilities of larger PV powered electric aircraft. In order to obtain this goal efficiency of flight, PV conversion, power converters and electric drives have to be maximized. These demands led to a 63.4 m wingspan. The purpose of this paper is to present that PV power could be used for improving the performance of fixed-wing radio-controlled aircrafts with smaller wingspans (1 m). In order to improve the performance of battery powered electric unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), a model without PV cells (commercial Li-ion battery powered UAV) was compared with UAV powered both from battery and PV modules. This work shows details about Boost DC/DC converter and PV system design for small size fixed-wing electric UAVs, investigating the possibility of the application of PV powered drones, as well. Theoretical findings involving efficiency improvements have been confirmed by measurements combining the improvements in electrical engineering, microcontroller application and aerodynamics.
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Suchow, V. V., and Ya S. Kozei. "Features of the choice of the trajectory and stages of the flight of an unmanned aircraft on solar energy in a restless atmosphere." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, Physical-Technical Series 63, no. 4 (January 12, 2019): 486–500. http://dx.doi.org/10.29235/1561-8358-2018-63-4-486-500.
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When forming the design parameters of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) on solar energy, it is important to consider the peculiarities of energy supply not only when performing horizontal flight, but also at other stages (take-off, landing, maneuver, etc.), which ultimately form a common flight trajectory the implementation of which ensures the implementation of the specific task assigned to the UAV. However, the flight should be considered taking into account the actual operating conditions, including atmospheric factors. Determining the features of planning the trajectories and stages of flight of a UAV on solar energy during the implementation of a long flight, considering energy, design constraints and actual operating conditions, is the goal of this work. The possible trajectories of flight of UAVs on solar cells are determined in accordance with the typical tasks of its practical application. A discrete model is proposed for planning a trajectory of a route for a UAV on solar cells. The principles of the implementation of the stages of takeoff and landing of UAVs on solar energy are described, the dependencies between the energy consumption and the main parameters of each stage are determined. The dependences are obtained for determining the main components of the energy balance of UAVs on solar energy on the parameters of curvilinear flight. Verification of the obtained dependences was carried out by comparing the calculated and experimental (flight) data for a particular UAV on solar energy, which is of the mini class by mass. The convergence of the results of calculation and experiment is in the range of 15–20 %. The factors acting on an aircraft in a restless atmosphere, their effect on operational and design constraints are established. A generalized analytical model was obtained to determine the conditions for the implementation of a long flight (4–6 hours) of a solar-powered UAV, considering: mass, aerodynamic, energy characteristics; trajectory, atmospheric and operational conditions. The results of the study can be used at forming the shape of a UAV on solar energy at the stage of its preliminary design.
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Yi, Jun Min, and Ikjune Yoon. "Efficient Energy Supply Using Mobile Charger for Solar-Powered Wireless Sensor Networks." Sensors 19, no. 12 (June 13, 2019): 2679. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/s19122679.
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An energy-harvesting wireless sensor network mitigates the energy shortage problems of existing battery-based wireless sensors; however, its hotspot area sensor nodes still experience 3 blackouts, thereby reducing network connectivity. Techniques that transfer energy directly to sensor nodes using wireless power transfer (WPT) have been studied in recent years to address this issue. In this paper, we propose a technique that uses a drone (quadcopter), which is a type of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), as a mobile sink. The drone selects and manages anchor nodes that aggregate data temporarily, collects data by visiting the anchor nodes to mitigate the hotspot issue, and then prevents blackouts by supplying energy to low-energy nodes, thereby improving network connectivity. The anchor nodes are carefully selected after considering the energy capacity of the drone, the size of the network, the amount of collected data, and the energy consumed by the nodes to increase the network’s energy efficiency. Furthermore, energy is transferred from the drone to the anchor nodes to support their energy consumption. In our study, this method reduced the blackouts of sensor nodes, including anchor nodes, in hotspot regions, and increased network connectivity, thereby improving the amount of data gathered by the mobile sink.
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El-Salamony, Mostafa, and Mohamed A. Aziz. "Solar Panel Effect on Low-Speed Airfoil Aerodynamic Performance." Unmanned Systems 09, no. 04 (March 4, 2021): 333–47. http://dx.doi.org/10.1142/s2301385021500175.
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Recently, a great interest in search of alternate means of power for the traditional fuel for aircraft propulsion is raised so as to decrease gas emissions and reduce operating costs. For the small and micro unmanned aerial vehicles or small transportation aircraft, there are many challenges in the direction of constructing an electric or solar powered airplane whose wings may possibly be sheltered with photo voltaic PV solar panels to harvest sun’s energy for propulsion. Greatest remarkably success solar powered aircraft has attracted the attention of researchers other than UAV and small aircraft supporters. Although the solar panel is thin, its thickness is considerable compared to the airfoil thickness. This paper aims to evaluate the impact of adding the solar panel over a low camber airfoil suitable for low-Reynolds number flights, as mini UAVs. Three panel installation configurations are examined to stand on the most suitable configuration, in terms of aerodynamic efficiency. The analysis is based on the airfoil characteristics (lift, drag, and moment) and the pressure distribution over the airfoil surface. A parametric study is conducted to study the effect of the solar panel size, thickness, and position on the aerodynamic performance.
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Hwang, Young-Seok, Stephan Schlüter, Seong-Il Park, and Jung-Sup Um. "Comparative Evaluation of Mapping Accuracy between UAV Video versus Photo Mosaic for the Scattered Urban Photovoltaic Panel." Remote Sensing 13, no. 14 (July 13, 2021): 2745. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/rs13142745.
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It is common practice for unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) flight planning to target an entire area surrounding a single rooftop’s photovoltaic panels while investigating solar-powered roofs that account for only 1% of the urban roof area. It is very hard for the pre-flight route setting of the autopilot for a specific area (not for a single rooftop) to capture still images with high overlapping rates of a single rooftop’s photovoltaic panels. This causes serious unnecessary data redundancy by including the surrounding area because the UAV is unable to focus on the photovoltaic panel installed on the single rooftop. The aim of this research was to examine the suitability of a UAV video stream for building 3-D ortho-mosaics focused on a single rooftop and containing the azimuth, aspect, and tilts of photovoltaic panels. The 3-D position accuracy of the video stream-based ortho-mosaic has been shown to be similar to that of the autopilot-based ortho-photo by satisfying the mapping accuracy of the American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS): 3-D coordinates (0.028 m) in 1:217 mapping scale. It is anticipated that this research output could be used as a valuable reference in employing video stream-based ortho-mosaics for widely scattered single rooftop solar panels in urban settings.
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Huang, Hailong, and Andrey V. Savkin. "Energy-Efficient Autonomous Navigation of Solar-Powered UAVs for Surveillance of Mobile Ground Targets in Urban Environments." Energies 13, no. 21 (October 23, 2020): 5563. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/en13215563.
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In this paper, we consider the navigation of a group of solar-powered unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for periodical monitoring of a set of mobile ground targets in urban environments. We consider the scenario where the number of targets is larger than that of the UAVs, and the targets spread in the environment, so that the UAVs need to carry out a periodical surveillance. The existence of tall buildings in urban environments brings new challenges to the periodical surveillance mission. They may not only block the Line-of-Sight (LoS) between a UAV and a target, but also create some shadow region, so that the surveillance may become invalid, and the UAV may not be able to harvest energy from the sun. The periodical surveillance problem is formulated as an optimization problem to minimize the target revisit time while accounting for the impact of the urban environment. A nearest neighbour based navigation method is proposed to guide the movements of the UAVs. Moreover, we adopt a partitioning scheme to group targets for the purpose of narrowing UAVs’ moving space, which further reduces the target revisit time. The effectiveness of the proposed method is verified via computer simulations.
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Starzyński, Jacek, Paweł Zawadzki, and Dariusz Harańczyk. "Machine Learning in Solar Plants Inspection Automation." Energies 15, no. 16 (August 17, 2022): 5966. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/en15165966.
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The emergence of large photovoltaic farms poses a new challenge for quick and economic diagnostics of such installations. This article presents this issue starting from a quantitative analysis of the impact of panel defects, faulty installation, and lack of farm maintenance on electricity production. We propose a low-cost and efficient method for photovoltaic (PV) plant quality surveillance that combines technologies such as an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), thermal imaging, and machine learning so that systematic inspection of a PV farm can be performed frequently. Most emphasis is placed on using deep neural networks to analyze thermographic images. We show how the use of the YOLO network makes it possible to develop a tool that performs the analysis of the image material already during the flyby.
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Kiam, Jane Jean, Enrico Scala, Miquel Ramirez Javega, and Axel Schulte. "An AI-Based Planning Framework for HAPS in a Time-Varying Environment." Proceedings of the International Conference on Automated Planning and Scheduling 30 (June 1, 2020): 412–20. http://dx.doi.org/10.1609/icaps.v30i1.6687.
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A High-Altitude Pseudo-Satellite (HAPS) is a fixed-wing, solar-powered Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) developed to become a flexible alternative to satellites with fixed-orbits for monitoring ground activities over long periods of time. However, given its lightweight build and weak electro-motors, the platform is rather sensitive to weather and cannot fly around hazardous weather zones swiftly. In this work, we formulate the problem of planning missions for multiple HAPS as a hybrid planning problem expressed in PDDL+. The formulation also considers the problem of modeling the platform dynamics, the time-varying environment, and the heterogeneous tasks that need to be carried out. Additionally, we propose a framework that combines a PDDL+ automated planner with an Adaptive Large Neighborhood Search (ALNS) approach, developed to couple the automated planner with a meta-heuristic that is specific for the problem. The task and motion planning are done in an intertwined way within the framework, preserving hence a common decision/search space. We validate our approach with a third-party realistic simulator for HAPS, as well as with a set of benchmark tests, showing that our integrated approach produces executable mission plans.
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Ravi, Prakash, Miao Wang, and Mark J. Scott. "Journal of Smart Environments and Green Computing." Journal of Smart Environments and Green Computing 2, no. 3 (2022): 126–42. http://dx.doi.org/10.20517/jsegc.2022.02.
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Aim: The rapid growth in the number of ground users over recent years has introduced the issues for a base station of providing more reliable connectivity and guaranteeing the reasonable quality of service (QoS). Thanks to the unique features of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), such as flexibility in deployment, large coverage range and lower cost, UAVs can help the base station to provide wireless connectivity to the ground users, e.g., in rural and remote areas. As the energy limitation is the main concern for UAVs, the motivation is to provide uninterrupted connection to ground users in the next generation wireless networks using solar powered UAV-assisted air networks. Methods: The research uses global horizontal irradiance (GHI) data from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, small cell power ratings for communication, and UAV parameters. In addition, the TensorFlow library and Python programming language were also used to develop machine learning models and simulate the UAV flying time. Results: In this paper, we develop a novel resource management system for UAVs, which consists of an energy harvesting deep learning model to predict the future power harvested from the solar panel and a consumption model which determines user arrival rate. With energy consumption and harvesting predictions, the resource management system adaptively switches the power consumed by a UAV for communication. In addition, based on the future energy availability and user's arrival rate, the resource management system communicates with other UAVs and enables energy coordinating scheduling among multiple UAVs to support user communications. The experiment results demonstrate that by using adaptive energy scheduling among UAVs, the flying time of the UAVs is improved by 40% during nighttime and by 37% when performing energy coordination among multiple UAVs. Conclusion: In this work, the UAV based communications have been researched. To understand more about UAVs and air segments, some literature review has been done based on previous works. Finally, alteration of the transmission power using several methodologies has been accomplished to increase the flying time of the UAV.
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Chiang, Wei-Hsiang, Han-Sheng Wu, Jong-Shinn Wu, and Shiow-Jyu Lin. "A Method for Estimating On-Field Photovoltaics System Efficiency Using Thermal Imaging and Weather Instrument Data and an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle." Energies 15, no. 16 (August 11, 2022): 5835. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/en15165835.
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A new approach is proposed for estimating the power efficiency of an on-field solar photovoltaics (PV) system using data from thermal imaging and weather instruments obtained using an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). This method is specifically designed for the non-intrusive detection of the performance of the PV system in a large-scale solar power plant that could be efficient, manpower saving, operationally safe and comprehensive. In this study, a drone instrumented with a radiometer, a thermometer and an anemometer flew at a height of 1.5 m with a maximum lateral flight speed of 3.6 m/s above the PV modules (60 cells each) with hotspots or with aging but without hotspots. The average temperatures of the PV modules were then calculated through the measured radiation intensity, ambient temperature and wind speed based on the published correlation formula. The experimental correlations were obtained by measuring over 60 aging PV modules without hot-spot damage, and the uncertainties of the estimated efficiencies fell between 2% and 5%. Through the use of 20 hot-spot damaged PV modules when the measured temperatures of the cells were in the range of 80–90 °C, it was found that based on the experimental correlationd, their power efficiencies would be lower than 40% if more than eight cells had hot spots in a PV module. By taking this simple measure, the operator can decide which PV module is damaged and should be replaced immediately. By taking such measures, one can reduce the loading effect of solar PV modules adjacent to them because of the low efficiency and high impedance caused by the damage. We believe the new approach developed in this study could be very cost-effective and time-saving for improving the efficiency of power plant operations.
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Nguyen, N. V., J. W. Lee, M. Tyan, and D. Lee. "Possibility-Based Multidisciplinary Optimisation For Electric-Powered Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Design." Aeronautical Journal 119, no. 1221 (November 2015): 1397–414. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0001924000011313.
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AbstractThis paper describes a possibility-based multidisciplinary optimisation for electric-powered unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) design. An in-house integrated UAV (iUAV) analysis program that uses an electric-powered motor was developed and validated by a Predator A configuration for aerodynamics, weight, and performance parameters. An electric-powered propulsion system was proposed to replace a piston engine and fuel with an electric motor, power controllers, and battery from an eco-system point of view. Moreover, an in-house Possibility-Based Design Optimisation (iPBDO) solver was researched and developed to effectively handle uncertainty variables and parameters and to further shift constraints into a feasible design space. A sensitivity analysis was performed to reduce the dimensions of design variables and the computational load during the iPBDO process. Maximising the electric-powered UAV endurance while solving the iPBDO yields more conservative, but more reliable, optimal UAV configuration results than the traditional deterministic optimisation approach. A high fidelity analysis was used to demonstrate the effectiveness of the process by verifying the accuracy of the optimal electric-powered UAV configuration at two possibility index values and a baseline.
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Jashnani, Sumit, Prahsant Shaholia, Ali Khamker, Muhammad Ishfaq, and Tarek Nada. "Preliminary Design of Solar Powered Unmanned Aerial Vehicle." Applied Mechanics and Materials 225 (November 2012): 315–22. http://dx.doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/amm.225.315.
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Applications involving the use of alternate, renewable energy sources are expanding exponentially, and are in high demand. Solar power has long been harnessed for such applications and aviation is no stranger to it with its strong drive towards becoming an environment-friendly industry. This paper describes a straight forward procedure to design and test a solar powered unmanned aerial vehicle that can fly continuously for 24 hours at any day of the year. The paper introduces the modeling and preparation of hardware testing of the propulsion and power sub-system. The main components of this sub-system are solar panels, the electromechanical drive train and the propeller. A design for a thrust stand to measure the performance of the system is also introduced.
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Sri, Karthik Reddy Buchireddy, Poondla Aneesh, Kiran Bhanu, and M. Natarajan. "Design Analysis of Solar-Powered Unmanned Aerial Vehicle." Journal of Aerospace Technology and Management 8, no. 4 (October 30, 2016): 397–407. http://dx.doi.org/10.5028/jatm.v8i4.666.
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B.S., Karthik Reddy, and Aneesh Poondla. "Performance analysis of solar powered Unmanned Aerial Vehicle." Renewable Energy 104 (April 2017): 20–29. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2016.12.008.
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Abu-Hamdeh, Nidal H., Khaled A. Alnefaie, and Majed K. Al-Hajjaj. "Conceptual Design of Solar Powered Unmanned Arial Vehicle." Applied Mechanics and Materials 225 (November 2012): 299–304. http://dx.doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/amm.225.299.
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The solar-powered aircraft represents a major step forward in environmentally friendly vehicle technology. An unmanned aircraft vehicle (UAV) was designed to fly for 24 hours continuously to achieve surveillance at low altitude. It is a lightweight, solar-powered, remotely piloted flying wing aircraft that is demonstrating the technology of applying solar power for long-duration and low-altitude flight. Several programs and codes were used in the designing process of the UAV and generating its layout. A MATLAB computer programming code was written to optimize on various values of aspect ratio (AR) and wingspan (b) after setting the mission requirements and estimating the technological parameters. A program called Java Foil was used to calculate the lift. Another program called RDS was used to obtain the final layout of the aircraft. The great benefit is that the design is general enough to be applied to different values of aspect ratio and wingspan. Moreover, the analytical form of the method allows identifying clear some general principles like the optimization on various values of aspect ratio and wingspan, and the calculation of the lift.