Quadrotor capable of being airborne uninterruptedly made in MAI

The quadrotor capable of being airborne for the unlimited amount of time due to external cable power supply was created at Moscow Aviation Institute. It was made for video monitoring of the environment in cases where a long stay above the ground is required, including the no-fly zones. The patent is issued for individual design solutions.

Work on the project was carried out in department 301 "Automatic and intelligent control systems" of MAI under the leadership of its head Vladimir Chemodanov. Ilya Klimov, a graduate student of the department, and Alexey Myasnikov, a student of the Institute No. 2 "Aviation, Rocket Engines and Power Plants" participated in the creation.

– The power is 220 V. The cable length is 50 m, but it can be up to 100 m. Because of this, it is not an aircraft, because it has a permanent mechanical connection with the earth. To use it, you will not need a permission, – says Ilya Klimov. – The main idea of the project is to create a multirotor aircraft capable of being airborne for a long time. This eliminates the main drawback of such devices – limited flight time, about 30 minutes usually.

The development will be of interest for aviation enterprises (repair plants, design bureaus, etc.), airports, organizers of mass events, agricultural enterprises, construction companies, warehouse complexes and other companies that need continuous monitoring over a large area.

Ilya Klimov says that such systems are already on the market, but there are practically no ready-made commercial solutions. The uniqueness of the development is that all the electronics for providing the drone with electricity are on board – there is no need to use additional power supplies on the ground. A converter designed to work in conditions of increased vibrations was developed for the transmission of electricity.

– At the moment, the project has a potential customer, the terms of cooperation are being discussed now. The device was tested for carrying capacity, flight altitude and stability in the wind. It is planned to improve flight characteristics, modernize the conversion unit and refine the software, – explains the graduate student of MAI.