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Unmanned Aerial Vehicle-Based Wireless Charging of Sensor Networks

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Wireless Power Transfer Algorithms, Technologies and Applications in Ad Hoc Communication Networks

Abstract

Sensor networks deployed in remote and hard to access locations often require regular maintenance to replace or charge batteries as solar panels are sometimes impractical. In this chapter, we develop an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) that can fly to remote locations to charge sensors using magnetic resonant wireless power transfer. We discuss the challenges of using UAVs to charge sensors wirelessly. We then present the design of a lightweight system that can be carried by a UAV as well as design a localization sensor and algorithm to allow the UAV to precisely align itself with the receiver by sensing the induced field. We also develop a number of algorithms to address the question of which sensors should be charged given a network of sensors. Finally, we experimentally verify algorithms that leverage the sensor network’s ability to adapt internal communication and energy consumption patterns to optimize UAV-based wireless charging.

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Acknowledgements

This work was partially supported by NSF 1217400, NSF 1217428, and USDA-NIFA 2013-67021-20947.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nebraska Intelligent MoBile Unmanned Systems (NIMBUS) Lab, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, 68588, USA

    Carrick Detweiler, Jinfu Leng & Andrew Mittleider

  2. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of the Pacific, Stockton, 95211, USA

    Michael Eiskamp, Jennifer Johnson & Elizabeth Basha

  3. Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA

    Brent Griffin

Authors
  1. Carrick Detweiler
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  2. Michael Eiskamp
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  3. Brent Griffin
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  4. Jennifer Johnson
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  5. Jinfu Leng
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  6. Andrew Mittleider
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  7. Elizabeth Basha
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Carrick Detweiler .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Computer Engineering and Informatics, University of Patras and Computer Technology Institute and Press “Diophantus” (CTI), Patras, Greece

    Sotiris Nikoletseas

  2. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York, USA

    Yuanyuan Yang

  3. School of Engineering and Physical Sciences, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

    Apostolos Georgiadis

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Detweiler, C. et al. (2016). Unmanned Aerial Vehicle-Based Wireless Charging of Sensor Networks. In: Nikoletseas, S., Yang, Y., Georgiadis, A. (eds) Wireless Power Transfer Algorithms, Technologies and Applications in Ad Hoc Communication Networks. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-46810-5_17

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-46810-5_17

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-46809-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-46810-5

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