University of Southern Denmark engineers have developed an innovative autonomous drone that can recharge itself using overhead power lines. It’s based on a Tarot 650 Sport carbon fiber drone frame using an electric quadcopter propulsion system that draws power from a 7,000-mAh lithium-polymer battery.
Hardware wise, it boasts a Raspberry Pi 4 B mini computer, a Pixhawk V6X autopilot module, a millimeter-wave radar unit and an RGB video camera. When the onboard software receives a low battery warning, the drone uses its camera and radar to spot the closest power line before activating its passively actuated power-line-gripper up top.
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The system is evaluated in an active outdoor three-phase power line environment. We demonstrate multiple contiguous hours of fully autonomous uninterrupted drone operations composed of several cycles of flying, landing, recharging, and takeoff, validating the capability of extended, essentially unlimited, operational endurance,” said the researchers.
[Source]
