Power Supply System Analysis for Tethered Drones Application

This article presents the results of research involving the comparison of energy consumption of a multirotor battery-powered drone and a drone supplied by a cable from a base station located on the ground. It is worth mentioning that an original solution of a drone power supply system was involved in the research. The supply system uses an electric cable, a system of voltage converters connected to a portable generator and a battery system constituting a local energy storage. As part of the field experiments, the energy demand of drones as a function of their takeoff mass was determined. The tests were carried out by measuring the average current consumed by the device, instantaneous currents and power that was supplied to multi-rotor platforms. The results of the analysis were also analyzed and the possible reasons for slight discrepancies in the results obtained were indicated.