Drone Flights Under Control

Presenter: Nicholas Ryan Gala

Co-Presenter(s):
Cameron Lopez, Paul Meyer

Presenter Status: Undergraduate student

Academic Year: 20-21

Semester: Spring

Faculty Mentor: Nansong Wu

Department: Engineering

Other Funding Source/Program: Student Research Award

President's Strategic Plan Goal: Adaptability and Responsiveness

Screenshot URL: https://drive.google.com/uc?id=1NABz2qgq4SLouSLEx-6RO71n5X8QzsX0

Abstract:
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV/Drone) have been increasing in popularity whether it be for industrial or recreational purposes. An aspect of UAV popularity has been the use of autonomous drones. However, due to the battery life, automatic drone flights are not feasible since there are under a time limit of the drone resulting in only short distance travel. There is a need for automatic recharging routines that would then extend drone flight times as well as other applications. Our proposed solution to this problem is the creation of an automatic recharging routine that will implement a smart landing station along with an UAV. This automatic recharging routine will determine drone flight time left to prioritize multiple drones and cycle them through the charger. The base station will have an on-board camera, a single board computer, wireless charging pad, and a crazy radio module. With the implementation of these components, the base station will be able to support the autonomous drones in landing and recharging. The base station’s portability will offer the opportunity to change its location for users to better adapt to drone flight patterns.