导航

ACTA AERONAUTICAET ASTRONAUTICA SINICA ›› 2020, Vol. 41 ›› Issue (3): 623474-623474.doi: 10.7527/S1000-6893.2019.23474

• Special Column of New Energy Flight Vehicle Technology • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Review of development of light and small scale solar/hydrogen powered unmanned aerial vehicles

LIU Li1, CAO Xiao1, ZHANG Xiaohui2, HE Yuntao1   

  1. 1. School of Aerospace Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China;
    2. School of Electromechanical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China
  • Received:2019-09-09 Revised:2019-12-16 Online:2020-03-15 Published:2019-12-13

Abstract: Light and small scale Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have a wide range of applications in military and civilian fields. Electric UAVs have become a research hotspot with the features of low vibration, pollution-free and emission-free advantages. To improve the endurance of UAVs, the solar energy and hydrogen energy with clean and high energy density have become the most feasible technical approaches. In this paper, the development history of light and small scale solar and hydrogen powered UAVs are summarized. The related key technologies are combed through. The conceptual design methods of the solar and hydrogen powered UAVs and the development of energy powered systems are discussed. The development trend of this kind of UAVs in the future is given, and the development challenges are forecasted.

Key words: electric UAVs, solar powered UAVs, fuel cell UAVs, conceptual design, hybrid power system, energy management

CLC Number: