Study and analysis of the performance of a swing-wing UAV considering the presence of a photovoltaic system in its structure

• Grant number: 24/17552-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: December 01, 2024
• End date: November 30, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Electrical Engineering - Electrical, Magnetic and Electronic Circuits
• Principal Investigator: Antonio Marcos Cossi
• Grantee: Matheus Correa Francisco
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Engenharia (FEIS). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Ilha Solteira. Ilha Solteira , SP, Brazil

Abstract

This IC work will be carried out to study the application of a photovoltaic system in bio-inspired UAVs (flapping wing aerial vehicles), with tests via software simulations and, depending on the application, on the bench. The photovoltaic cells used will be installed in the UAV structure. The integration of a photovoltaic system in UAVs, especially flapping wing UAVs, can considerably affect flight performance. Thus, the objective is to integrate a photovoltaic system in a flapping wing UAV and evaluate how this integration influences flight performance: flight time, energy efficiency, kinematic analysis, flight dynamics, among others. It should be noted that this CI work is a complement to the work developed by the student himself through FAPESP Process 2023/05376-0, in which a fixed-wing UAV was used, and is part of the FAPESP research project 2022/03128-7, of which the advisor is a member, and which has as its main objective the development of bio-inspired UAVs (inspired by animals in nature). The mobile wing structure to be used in the bench tests will be better analyzed and described in the CI project, as it is a stage of the ongoing FAPESP project 2022/03128-7.