Energy harvesting from small unmmaned air vehicles

Small, unmanned air vehicles (UAV) are used for reconnaissance by the military. Many of these are all electric with batteries as the primary source of energy. This talk explores the idea of extending the battery life (or flight time) of an electric radio controlled plane by using several harvesting concepts combined into one aircraft. Piezoceramic based harvesting using fiber based piezoceramic composites are in integrated into the wings. A cantilever type actuator is integrated into the fuselage and solar panels are integrated into the upper surfaces. Experimental flight information combined with theoretical analysis concerning the optimal integration of material will be presented.