Real-time estimation of cruise duration for electric-powered Micro-UAVs

Micro UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) have been widely applied in many fields, such as military reconnaissance, emergency rescue and environmental monitoring, due to their outstanding flexibility and maneuverability. Accurate estimation of cruise duration is an important information for Micro UAVs to complete tasks successfully. Micro UAVs will meet a variety of flight conditions during the complex tasks. Thus, a real-time estimation algorithm for electric-powered micro-UAVs has been proposed, which is based on the online prediction of battery state of charge (SOC). The key factors affecting the cruise duration are analyzed. Then, find out the relation between flight conditions and battery´s current and voltage by the effects of flight conditions or speed on cruise duration, so that the cruise duration is achieved on the basis of estimated battery state of charge. The proposed algorithm has been tested on a self-made micro-quadrotor-UAV platform, and the results shows its feasibility and effectiveness.