Wireless Charging Technology for UAV Applications

This paper presents the design and implementation of a wireless energy circuit for powering unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) using wireless power transmission (WPT) technology. The technology presented here would allow a drone to cover longer flight distances, with landing bases positioned along the way for pit stop charging, offering a possible solution to overcome the small battery life of UAVs. The landing base developed has an electrical power system with a photovoltaic panel and battery bank, charge controller, and transmitter module. The tests were performed with a Parrot AR Drone 2.0 with a receiver coil, receiver module, and voltage booster to capture and supply energy to its lithium polymer battery. To be able to monitor the real-time status of the landing base and charging, a dedicated software was developed for communicating with a microcontroller and collecting the data. The results prove the feasibility of the technology, although improvements in the charging coupling are necessary for better charging efficiency.