Autonomous Overhead Powerline Recharging for Uninterrupted Drone Operations [video]

Re:Autonomous Overhead Powerline Recharging for Uninterrupte... by rkagerer on Friday April 05, 2024 @06:49PM (#39948217)

I presume the current transformer is spec'd for a particular range of current/voltage. Would the drone need to assess if the line is a suitable one before (or after) connecting?

Also was a private power line used, or did the university ask the power company for permission before conducting their field tests?

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Re:Autonomous Overhead Powerline Recharging for Uninterrupte... by atenni on Friday April 05, 2024 @08:17PM (#39948833)

Looks like the tests were run on a private line belonging to an airport. From the associated PDF[0]:

> “Testing was conducted at the outdoor three-phase powerline setup at HCA Airport in Odense, Denmark at the disposal of the authors…”

[0]: https://findresearcher.sdu.dk/ws/portalfiles/portal/25601008...

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Re:Autonomous Overhead Powerline Recharging for Uninterrupte... by nhma on Saturday April 06, 2024 @02:13AM (#39950405)

The voltage of the powerline is not relevant since the charging principle is based on inductive coupling. So as long as you have a current above ~100A the harvester should work, irrespective of voltage. And high currents equal higher charging power.

To optimize charging time, the drone could perhaps analyze the magnetic fields to determine which line has the highest current to optimize charging time. But I would assume some sort of balancing is happening between the lines and phases.

The powerline used is a custom mockup with just 5V AC. But we have also landed on real powerlines. I think there's a video in the channel of the OP video.

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