Project Summary
Small, unmanned quadcopters have been quickly gaining popularity over the last few years because of a wide range of recreational and research-related applications, such as aerial photography, navigation, and surveillance. However, the full adoption of quadcopters in industrial applications has been severely limited due to the short battery lives, and therefore flight times, of currently available quadcopters.
Because of the high potential for long-term use of quadcopters in commercial applications, our team is sponsored by DJI to modify a Matrice 100 (M100) quadcopter such that it can achieve unlimited hover at a height of at least 100 feet above ground level (AGL). Our ME 102B group, the Hot Quads, have designed the mechanical and electrical accessories and interface needed to accomplish these goals. In order to achieve this, the battery will need to be removed from the M100 and a powered tether will need to be attached in its place. By connecting to the existing power grid and converting the 120V AC signal into 22V DC for use by the M100, we will allow the quadcopter to hover indefinitely wherever there is an existing power grid.