Towards Long-term Autonomy for UAS

In this work, we present a generic, modular and scalable "Replenishing Store" for Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS). The "Replenishing Store" is aimed at enabling UAS have Long-term autonomy, such that they can be used flexibly for multiple missions 24/7. The Replenishing Store is essentially a docking station composed of a base station, a charging module, a mission-specific swapping module and modular interfaces with the UAS. The electromechanical and software interfaces between the UAS and the docking station have been developed to be generic, such that they can be used for commercial as well as custom-made UAS. Moreover, both the charging and the swapping modules have been developed to be robust by design against pose errors during landing. The applicability of the developed "Replenishing Store" has been successfully demonstrated in a security-related application scenario.