Where do quadcopters fly? Technology Roadmap

    No one will argue that multicopter is not only a hobby for modelers. In addition to entertainment, they can find many useful applications in various fields. But in general, they are able to perform only two main functions:
    • data collection and transmission
    • cargo transportation

    image

    When networking or swarm multi-copters, these functions can be performed very efficiently.
    For example, coordinated efforts will allow the transportation of goods that cannot be lifted by one device. Or another example, a distributed swarm can simultaneously collect information and transmit it according to the principle of peer-2-peer networks.
    It is interesting what awaits them in the future. I will try to answer this question using data for unmanned aerial vehicles.


    Drone perspective


    Here are two reports showing the prospects for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and unmanned aerial systems (UAVs):

    For reference: BPS = UAV + ground control station

    According to these reports, in addition to military and scientific, the following areas of commercial and civilian applications are promising:
    1. precision farming
    2. public safety
    3. forest fire fighting
    4. agricultural monitoring
    5. emergency management
    6. inspection of linear infrastructure (power lines, pipelines)
    7. strengthening law enforcement
    8. telecommunications
    9. weather monitoring
    10. aerial video and mapping
    11. television, cinema (shooting reports, movie scenes)
    12. environmental monitoring
    13. exploration of oil and gas reserves
    14. freight transportation

    The first 2 areas cover about 90% of all known US radar markets. The total expected economic effect in 2015 for the United States will amount to $ 2,276 million and more than 23 thousand new jobs.
    The graphs below show the numbers until 2025.
    image
    Total costs and economic effect.

    image
    Growth in the number of jobs.

    It is very important to achieve such growth in solving issues of state regulation and insurance when using airspace and ensuring flight safety.
    But besides government regulation and insurance, a number of technologies will be required. What technologies are needed?

    The Department of Defense and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration cite the following research areas:
    • Interaction and modularity - development of interaction interfaces between modules (sensors, controllers, etc.) to reduce development time
    • Communication systems - increasing range, bandwidth and noise immunity
    • Cybersecurity - increasing the security of DSS from threats of unauthorized access and disclosure of information
    • Continuous improvement - the improvement of such characteristics as dimensions, weight, power, cooling, reliability, controllability, survivability, etc.
    • Autonomy and cognitive behavior - reducing the cost of manual control of a person
    • Armament is a purely military application
    • Landing sensors - collecting information and performing other tasks on the surface
    • Meteorology - gathering information for accurate weather prediction
    • High-performance computing - increasing the number of sensors and the amount of information collected requires increasing computing efficiency
    • Collision avoidance - technologies to avoid collisions, both in the air and on the ground
    • Remote monitoring and control - changing tasks during the flight, managing UAV groups
    • Range and duration of the flight - it’s clear what I mean
    • Flight operations - accurate UAV positioning relative to each other during operation
    • Vertical flights - vertical movement for research at high altitudes
    • Docking - on the ground and in the air with cargo, other UAVs, etc.
    • Management in case of unforeseen situations - minimizing the consequences of UAV accidents and other situations

    Anyone can try their hand at developing these technologies.
    Here are examples of the results.



    I was interested in the topic of increasing the range and duration of flight for multicopter, as one of the highest priorities.

    Two solutions for increasing range and flight duration


    I bring up for discussion two solutions to increase the range and duration of flights of multicopter.
    I ask knowledgeable residents to take part and suggest answers to questions.

    Copter + wing

    Combine the quadcopter with the wing and get a new kind of VTOL. No ailerons and other moving parts (except for propellers).
    image
    This solution is obvious, but so far I have not been able to find evidence that it was successfully implemented in this form.

    Questions for discussion:
    Why? What are the disadvantages of this solution?

    Here are the most successful examples of similar solutions:





    and this windmill


    Ground infrastructure

    More extensive topic. As they say, is in the air. The meaning of the solution is to organize a network of gas stations. Ideally, automatic.
    Here the situation is better. There are specific designs. Take and do.
    Here are examples of work on this topic:
    • Automatic Battery Replacement System for UAVs: Analysis and Design. Koji AO Suzuki Paulo Kemper F. James R. Morrison. Received: February 15, 2011 / Accepted: April 3, 2011
    • UAV Consumable Replenishment: Design Concepts for Automated Service Stations. Paulo Kemper F.1 ∙ Koji AO Suzuki2 ∙ James R. Morrison3 *

    image
    image

    But there is a problem with the organization of a network of such stations with a fairly dense coverage of territories.

    Questions for discussion:
    What prevents the organization of such a network, for example, in one of the districts of the Moscow Region by volunteers?
    What technical tasks should be solved?
    Maybe someone already tried an autonomous non-stop flight to transport something to a friend or neighbor?
    What should be the range, height, trajectory between network nodes in accordance with the technical capabilities and standards of the regulators?
    Is automatic landing implemented to recharge or replace the battery?

    First you need to understand how far a reliable autonomous flight is possible from all points of view (technical, regulatory, legislative).
    Then put the coordinates of the volunteers on the map and understand the coverage areas and the distances between them.
    If the zones overlap, then you can move on. Define the fueling procedure. Well and so on.
    It is clear that the task is difficult, but it is interesting that such a network works and starts transporting goods.
    I invite you to a discussion.
    As a result of the discussion, I plan to formulate criteria (quantitative and qualitative) for the feasibility of the described ideas. Ideally, I would like to receive TK.

    Not far away...


    Let's dream and compare this project with ARPANET. And after 30 years, imagine that this network (the name already exists - MatterNet) will encompass all continents, and even chains of drifting gas stations will be thrown across the oceans.
    image
    There are no borders and customs, mail does not exist. Parcels from ebay and aliexpress from China go on their own on a quadcopter.

    The comments on this post had enough ideas for implementation. As they say, the case is small.
    habrahabr.ru/post/181139

    Also popular now: