Tethered quadcopters are used for extended flight operations where the power to the system is provided via a tether connected to an external power source. In this work, we consider a system of multiple quadcopters powered by a single tether. We study the design factors that influence the power requirements, such as the electrical resistance of the tether, input voltage, and quadcopters' positions. We present an analysis to predict the required power to be supplied to a series of N tethered quadcopters, with respect to the thrust of each quadcopter which guarantees electrical safety and helps in design optimization. We find that there is a critical boundary of thrusts that cannot be exceeded due to fundamental electrical limitations. We compare the power consumption for one tethered quadcopter and two tethered quadcopters and show that for large quadcopters far enough from the anchor point, a two-quadcopter system consumes lesser power. We show that, for a representative use case of firefighting, a tethered system with two quadcopters consumes 26% less power than a corresponding system with one quadcopter. Finally, we present experiments demonstrating the use of a two-quadcopter tethered system as compared to a one-quadcopter tethered system in a cluttered environment, such as passing through a window and grasping an object over an obstacle.
翻译:用于延长飞行操作, 将电源通过连接外部电源的系绳向系统提供电源。 在这项工作中, 我们考虑一个由多个四角板组成的系统, 由单个系绳提供电源。 我们研究影响电力需求的设计因素, 如系绳的电阻、 输入电压和四角板的方位。 我们进行分析, 以预测向一系列N 系电源四角板提供电源所需的电源, 即每个保证电气安全并帮助设计优化的四角板的推力。 我们发现, 由于基本的电力限制, 多四角板的推力无法超过。 我们比较了影响电源要求的设计因素, 例如, 系绳系的电阻力, 输入电压电压电压, 和四角板的电压。 我们进行分析, 以预测为代表的消防用途, 由两个四角板制的系统消耗的电源比一个平流的系统少26 % 。 最后, 我们用一个平流的系统比一个平流的平流系统, 演示一个平流的平流系统 。