A Study on Fuel Cell Electric Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

Abstract

This study focused on fuel cell electric unmanned aerial vehicle (FC-EUAV) in order to find solutions to problems such as the short-lived and limited long flight endurance of unmanned aerial vehicles operating with fossil fuels harmful to the environment and battery-powered unmanned aerial vehicles. Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell, Li-ion battery, and supercapacitor triple hybrid power system provides power to FC-EUAV system. DC/DC converters are used to fix the variable output currents and voltages of these technologies. An electronic control unit is employed to manage the energy flow of the system with an appropriate control strategy. System performance has been analyzed in various flight scenarios. The results show how efficient the FC-EUAV system is for long endurance flights and different payloads.