Solar Autopilot Drone

Abstract

Advances in technology have made the drone an affordable tool for various purposes. This article focuses on gaining knowledge of drone at a working and conceptual level. Firstly, there is a detailed explanation of the construction of the drone. Some of the most essential elements of a drone include frame, propellers, engine, system of power the electronic control and communication system. Whether you fly your drone for commercial or recreational purposes, staying in the air as long as possible is the goal. But of course, the battery life of the drone can put a damper on how much you can accomplish while you’re flying.
Batteries serve as a major drawback because they get exhausted after 15 minutes of flight and thereby landing the drone on ground. The batteries used for powering the drones are lithium-polymer batteries.This project aims to provide an ingenious solution to this hurdle by introducing the current popular photovoltaic system into the UAV power system design. Solar drones use solar cells powered directly from the sun and solve major issues related to conventional drones such as increasing the flight time and risk of the drone losing connectivity with its controller. The design is to be modular for easy module upgrade and replacement. Using photovoltaic system minimizes the environmental impact, an issue that can be controversial for large projects built for utilities because they tend to spread across hundreds of acres of land in remote regions.

How to cite this article:
Shukla U, Mishra M, Agarwal T. Solar Autopilot Drone. J Adv Res Power Electro Power Sys 2020;7(1&2): 13-23.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.24321/2456.1401.202003