Optimizing Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Electronics: Advanced Charging Systems and Data Transmission Solutions

Abstract

Interest in Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) has been increasingly growing in recent years, especially for purposes other than those for which they were initially used (civil and military purposes). Currently, in fact, they are used for advanced monitoring and control purposes, for 3D reconstructions of the territory and cultural heritage, and for freight transport. The problem in using these systems consists of the limited flight autonomy. In fact, commercially used drones, today, are sold with a set of batteries of limited duration which do not allow flights over large areas and, therefore, detailed surveys. The present work seeks to overcome these limitations by proposing an intelligent automatic charging system (Intelligent Charging Network) created using PC Engines Alix and an experimental drone prototype using a Raspberry Pi 3 and a Navio 2 module. At the same time, an efficient Intelligent Charging Network–drone communication system and a data transmission system are proposed, which allow images acquired by the drone to be transferred directly to the server used for data storage for their subsequent processing as well as the transmission of the flight plan from the QGroundControl application to the drone. The proposed system represents technological innovation in the field of drones with potential future developments linked to the implementation of sustainable drones.