Design of a flexible high performance quadcopter platform breaking the MAV endurance record with laser power beaming

In this paper we present the design of a highly flexible quadcopter platform and the software tools used in an example experiment to show unlimited flight time of an MAV with laser power beaming. We describe the mechanical design as well as the flight control system architecture which are focused on easy adaption to a wide variety of experiments. The paper also includes size, payload and flight time considerations and explains the tools to adapt the vehicle to the specific application. The design of a position control system implemented on the microprocessor hardware using a specially developed framework for MATLAB/Simulink is described as well. The robustness of the overall system and the presented position control structure is proven by the result of the 12∶27 h continuous flight with a 1 kg MAV.