Liller Jackson, Goel Rishabh, Aziz Abdul, Hester Josiah, Nguyen Phuc
Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX, USA.
Manning College of Information and Computer Sciences, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA, USA.
Sci Rep. 2025 Feb 20;15(1):6141. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-90729-2.
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) hold immense potential across various fields, including precision agriculture, rescue missions, delivery services, weather monitoring, and many more. Despite this promise, the limited flight duration of the current UAVs stands as a significant obstacle to their broadscale deployment. Attempting to extend flight time by solar panel charging during midflight is not viable due to battery limitations and the eventual need for replacement. This paper details our investigation of a battery-free fixed-wing UAV, built from cost-effective off-the-shelf components, that takes off, remains airborne, and lands safely using only solar energy. In particular, we perform a comprehensive analysis and design space exploration in the contemporary solar harvesting context and provide a detailed accounting of the prototype's mechanical and electrical capabilities. We also derive the Greedy Energy-Aware Control (GEAC) and Predictive Energy-Aware Control (PEAC) solar control algorithm that overcomes power system brownouts and total-loss-of-thrust events, enabling the prototype to perform maneuvers without a battery. Next, we evaluate the developed prototype in a bench-top setting using artificial light to demonstrate the feasibility of batteryless flight, followed by testing in an outdoor setting using natural light. Finally, we analyze the potential for scaling up the evaluation of batteryless UAVs across multiple locations and report our findings.
无人机（UAVs）在包括精准农业、救援任务、快递服务、气象监测等在内的各个领域都具有巨大潜力。尽管前景广阔，但当前无人机有限的飞行时长仍是其广泛应用的重大障碍。由于电池限制以及最终需要更换电池，试图通过飞行中太阳能板充电来延长飞行时间并不可行。本文详细介绍了我们对一款无电池固定翼无人机的研究，该无人机由经济实惠的现成组件制成，仅利用太阳能即可起飞、在空中停留并安全降落。特别是，我们在当代太阳能采集背景下进行了全面分析和设计空间探索，并详细说明了该原型机的机械和电气性能。我们还推导了贪婪能量感知控制（GEAC）和预测能量感知控制（PEAC）太阳能控制算法，该算法克服了电力系统电压骤降和推力完全丧失事件，使原型机能够在无电池的情况下执行机动动作。接下来，我们在实验室环境中使用人造光对研发的原型机进行评估，以证明无电池飞行的可行性，随后在户外环境中使用自然光进行测试。最后，我们分析了在多个地点扩大无电池无人机评估规模的潜力并报告了我们的研究结果。
