Drone Flights Under Control

Drone Flights Under Control

Student(s)
Paul Meyer, Nicholas Gala, and Cameron Lopez
Faculty Advisor
Dr. Nansong Wu
Year
2021
SOURCE Award Amount
$750

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have the potential to solve many of the problems we faced in our jobs and in our everyday lives. The research and development that goes into advancing the field of UAVs is astonishing to see. Package delivery, surveillance, photography, from industry to institution UAV application is limitless.

UAVs are growing in popularity both recreationally and commercially and when more people use UAVs the more their flaws are seen. UAVs are notorious for their low battery life with the average flight time of most drones ranging from 10 -20 minutes. As the need for longer operational range increases, so will the need for efficient recharging. Batteries aren't the only problem however, with more and more drones being used air traffic becomes more of an issue. If recharging stations become a standard method of extending drone range, and drone traffic continues to increase, a conflict of interest arises between drones competing for the same charging station. If drones are adopted by delivery services, this issue becomes even more apparent and drones crashing into each other becomes a real problem.

People that handle UAVs know that seeing a low battery warning is annoying and puts everything you’re doing on hold, and the more UAVs you have the more of a hassle charging them becomes. Our product aims to remedy that problem with our easy to incorporate wireless charging pads that communicate with your UAVs to form a charging queue. From hobbyist to professional the application of our charging pads will ease the burden of short airtime and increase the overall range your UAVs can observe.