A Study on Flight Time Enhancement of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) Using Supercapacitor-Based Hybrid Electric Propulsion System (HEPS)

This composition portrays the verification of applied research for increment in the flight time of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) utilizing a hybrid electric propulsion system (HEPS) comprised of a solar cell, lithium-ion polymer battery, and supercapacitor bank. The implementation of a hybrid power supply comprised of both lithium polymer batteries having high specific energy (Wh/kg) and supercapacitors with high specific power (W/kg) with the additional option of solar charging was funded to be the optimal approach. High thrust requirements can be fulfilled by solar charging and a lithium polymer battery working in parallel with a proper conversion unit. The rapid charging potential of the supercapacitor helps to fulfill the power requirements of the UAV during flight time. Real-time experiments with special consideration were conducted to examine the increase in flight time of the UAV with the proposed HEPS. Very small and lightweight voltage regulation circuits were used to reduce the payload of the UAV and avoid unnecessary power consumption to achieve extra thrust. Simulations (MATLAB/Simulink) and experimental analysis were performed for a Phantom II DJI under different operating conditions. The effectiveness of the proposed HEPS was also validated.