Rotational Energy Harvesting To Prolong Flight Duration of Quadcopters

Abstract

This paper presents a rotational energy harvester using a brushless dc (BLdc) generator to harvest ambient energy for quadcopter in order to prolong it flight duration. For a quadcopter, its endurance is essential in order to achieve operational goals such as scientific research, security, surveillance, and reconnaissance. Because quadcopters have a limitation on size and mass, they cannot carry a large mass of on-board energy thereby having short flight time. In this paper, BLdc generators are coupled with the propellers of the quadcopter to transfer kinetic energy from the propellers to the generator. Taking into consideration the power requirement of quadcopter, the output of the generator is amplified using dc-dc boost, and is regulated to power and charge the on-board battery. The BLdc generator is simulated in MATLAB/Simulink. A final prototype of the rotational energy harvesting system is built, and this comprises a quadcopter, power management system, and a battery charging system. © 1972-2012 IEEE.