Autonomous Recharging of Aerial Vehicles

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) are gaining popularity due to their agility and ease of manufacture. However, due to battery life limitations, longer autonomous flight patterns are not feasible for most of these vehicles. There is an imminent need among researchers and industry engineers alike to develop UAV systems capable of supporting autonomous recharging routines for a variety of applications. Our solution to this problem is an autonomous system involving a lightweight UAV paired with an intelligent landing platform. The landing platform is equipped with an on-board camera and single board computer (SBC) capable of accomplishing image recognition of the UAV. Combined with an onboard wireless charging pad, these key elements of the landing platform support the autonomous landing and recharging of the UAV. The landing platform is designed as a portable subsystem capable of being deployed on a variety of surfaces, thus allowing for further developments in autonomous vehicle applications.