Descripción del proyecto
Mejora de las capacidades de los UAV en misiones más largas
Los vehículos aéreos no tripulados (UAV) electrónicos están progresando rápidamente. Su absorción por el mercado es lenta, principalmente por la limitada duración de los vuelos, puesto que deben recargarse frecuentemente. La manipulación y carga de los paquetes de baterías constituye un problema logístico para el despliegue a gran escala de UAV eléctricos. Por ello, en las misiones largas son más recomendables grandes plataformas aéreas o sistemas grandes de UAV alimentados con motores de combustión interna. Sin embargo, su coste y sus gastos de funcionamiento son elevados. El proyecto UAVEndure II, financiado con fondos europeos, propone un enfoque único basado en la combinación de ambas tecnologías. Busca mejorar las capacidades de los UAV eléctricos pequeños como alternativa a los costosos drones de gran tamaño.
Objetivo
UAV flight time is critical for several mission scenarios, as frequent recharging or refuelling limits the effective availability and
service time, as well as range. This has thus far prevented the use of fully electric unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), since
their performance scales unfavourably with the size/intensity of the UAV operation. Moreover, when small electric UAVs are
massively deployed, and particularly in time critical mission, the handling and charging of many battery packs becomes a
logistical problem. Thus, manned aerial platforms (helicopters and planes) or large (>25 kg) fixed-wing UAV systems,
powered by internal combustion engines (ICE) have been the preferred option for long endurance missions such as
monitoring and surveying. However, these large systems present high CAPEX and OPEX, mostly due to the oversized
nature of these systems.
The unique approach of UAVEndure II project is the combination of two technologies, namely small fixed-wing UAVs and
fuel-cell power generation at a downsized scale and price not attempted before. The rationale is to harvest all the benefits of
small electric UAVs, while having access to high endurance hitherto only possible with large aerial platforms propelled by
ICE.
Sky-Watch (SKY) and KraftWerk (KWT) have jointly developed the next generation fuel cell propulsion system for small
UAVs - ELJUN - to cover the needs of drone OEMs and end-users for increased flight range/time of small UAVs. ELJUN
provides 10x more flight range than LiPO battery. This is expected to further increase the usability of these small systems as
an alternative to larger, costlier drones, thus untapping wider access to the use of this technology in civil and governmental
applications. Thus, we expect ELJUN to become a new reference in the sector.
Ámbito científico
- engineering and technologyelectrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineeringelectronic engineeringroboticsautonomous robotsdrones
- engineering and technologymechanical engineeringvehicle engineeringaerospace engineeringaircraftrotorcraft
- engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringenergy and fuelsfuel cells
Palabras clave
Programa(s)
Convocatoria de propuestas
Consulte otros proyectos de esta convocatoriaConvocatoria de subcontratación
H2020-SMEInst-2018-2020-2
Régimen de financiación
SME-2 - SME instrument phase 2Coordinador
9530 Stovring
Dinamarca
Organización definida por ella misma como pequeña y mediana empresa (pyme) en el momento de la firma del acuerdo de subvención.