Power and endurance modelling of battery-powered rotorcraft

This paper characterises the power consumption of electric rotorcraft and derives an endurance estimation model for such aircraft powered by LiPo batteries. Theoretical analysis is backed by experimental flight tests using a popular commercial quadrotor. Experiments on Commercial Off-The-Shelf Lithium-Polymer batteries, which are the technology dominating the multi-rotor Unmanned Aerial Vehicle market, are carried out to determine battery run-time and specific energy/capacity models, whilst investigating the battery variability. These battery models are combined with the rotorcraft power model to provide an endurance estimation model, accounting for both battery variability as well as the electric propulsion system effects, which is experimentally validated through flight tests.