TY - GEN
T1 - AutoCharge
T2 - 2023 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, ICRA 2023
AU - Saviolo, Alessandro
AU - Mao, Jeffrey
AU - Roshan Balu, T. M.B.
AU - Radhakrishnan, Vivek
AU - Loianno, Giuseppe
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 IEEE.
PY - 2023
Y1 - 2023
N2 - Battery endurance represents a key challenge for long-term autonomy and long-range operations, especially in the case of aerial robots. In this paper, we propose AutoCharge, an autonomous charging solution for quadrotors that combines a portable ground station with a flexible, lightweight charging tether and is capable of universal, highly efficient, and robust charging. We design and manufacture a pair of circular magnetic connectors to ensure a precise orientation-agnostic electrical connection between the ground station and the charging tether. Moreover, we supply the ground station with an electromagnet that largely increases the tolerance to localization and control errors during the docking maneuver, while still guaranteeing smooth un-docking once the charging process is completed. We demonstrate AutoCharge on a perpetual 10 hours quadrotor flight experiment and show that the docking and un-docking performance is solidly repeatable, enabling perpetual quadrotor flight missions.
AB - Battery endurance represents a key challenge for long-term autonomy and long-range operations, especially in the case of aerial robots. In this paper, we propose AutoCharge, an autonomous charging solution for quadrotors that combines a portable ground station with a flexible, lightweight charging tether and is capable of universal, highly efficient, and robust charging. We design and manufacture a pair of circular magnetic connectors to ensure a precise orientation-agnostic electrical connection between the ground station and the charging tether. Moreover, we supply the ground station with an electromagnet that largely increases the tolerance to localization and control errors during the docking maneuver, while still guaranteeing smooth un-docking once the charging process is completed. We demonstrate AutoCharge on a perpetual 10 hours quadrotor flight experiment and show that the docking and un-docking performance is solidly repeatable, enabling perpetual quadrotor flight missions.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85167783774&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85167783774&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1109/ICRA48891.2023.10161503
DO - 10.1109/ICRA48891.2023.10161503
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:85167783774
T3 - Proceedings - IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation
SP - 5400
EP - 5406
BT - Proceedings - ICRA 2023
PB - Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
Y2 - 29 May 2023 through 2 June 2023
ER -