End-to-end Implementation of Millimeter-wave Remote Power Beaming for Small Unmanned Systems
Abstract
End-to-end Implementation of Millimeter-wave Remote Power Beaming for Small Unmanned SystemsThe recent decade has seen a surge in the use of unmanned vehicles in both military and commercial applications. In particular, battery-powered small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), also known as drones, have been increasingly developed for various purposes owing to the advancement of lightweight batteries and electronics. However, battery-powered drones still have a limited flight time that is typically less than 30 minutes. In order for a drone to operate for a duration longer than its typical flight time, its battery must be recharged by halting its flight and landing whenever necessary. Having to halt the operation and land for recharging imposes limits on the types of operations that can be carried out. A way to overcome such a limitation is to utilize power beaming, which can be thought of as a subset of wirelesspower transfer (WPT), where energy is transferred to a desired receiver in the form of radiated waves through a directed beam at the receiver. Depending on the distance, frequency and transmitter size, power beaming can take place either in the Fresnel or far-field region. Unlike near-field WPT (i.e. inductive coupling) whose range is limited to a few meters, power beaming enables energy transfer at much longer distances.The objective of this research effort is to investigate and develop a millimeter-wave (mmWave) wireless power beaming technology for battery-powered, small unmanned systems (i.e. UAVs). This effort builds upon the results of our previously funded program by ONR Global (N6209-19-2049), where we have investigated the important components (transmit beamformer, metamaterial-based receiving structure and compact rectifier) that make up a mmWave wireless power beaming system. The results from the previous program have proven the feasibility and merit further development of the technology. Therefore, in this effort we propose to perform a detailed study on the practical system aspect and to push the envelope for each system component for better power transferefficiency, as well as to implement a lab-scale end-to-end system for testing and validation. A suitably developed mmWave WPT system would enable remote charging of UAVs airborne at range, eliminating the need for landing to recharge.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Sep 11, 2023
- Source ID
- N000142312648
Entities
People
- Sun K. Hong
Organizations
- Office of Naval Research
- Soongsil University
- United States Navy