THE 10th INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON ADVANCED TOPICS IN ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING
March 23-25, 2017
Bucharest, Romania
Powering Aerial Surveillance Drones
Cristina Gabriela Sărăcin, Ioan Dragoș Deaconu Member IEEE, Aurel Ionuț Chirilă, Member IEEE,
University POLITEHNICA of Bucharest
cristina.saracin@upb.ro, dragos.deaconu@gmail.com, aurel.chirila@gmail.com
Abstract- The presented article analyzes, adopts and develops
new solutions with regard to the aerial electric supply solutions
for operational surveillance drones. This article proposes a
number of innovative new usages and original solutions for
continuously operating surveillance drones on a predefined path
or around a predefined perimeter and, afterwards, steps are
discussed which have to be followed to provide ingredients and
end-to-end systems in order to transform this project into reality
i.e. the aerial electric supply of surveillance drones.
Keywords: surveillance drone, mobile electric platform
I. INTRODUCTION
As in 2015, drones (radio-controlled unmanned aircrafts)
are the hottest consumer product of 2016. Last year, a true
revolution occurred in terms of the hardware and software
used in both the manufacturing process and in controlling
drones. This has made these devices easier to maneuver, able
to fly more, be safer and able to obtain video footage and
high-resolution photos at a professional level.
The commercial drones’ space is projected to become a
multi-billion dollar industry over the next ten years. Business
Insider Intelligence published a report in January 2014 that
predicts “there will be $98.2 billion in total cumulative drone
spending over the next 10 years, with $11.8 billion of that
spending falling into in the commercial space” [1].
The surveillance of maximum security areas using
professional drones is a very hot topic this year also. For
example, railway and land transport security is using, among
others, cutting-edge technical solutions such as the using of
drones for aerial surveillance. The aerial video surveillance
enables authorities to have access to real-time monitoring of
various sites and serves to detect and limit different types of
incidents which would otherwise adversely impact the
integrity and availability of their systems. For instance,
French rail operators are banking on drones to help save them
€30 million a year in stolen cables and SNCF is currently
testing the use of the unmanned aircraft as their latest tactic to
fight the chronic problem of cable theft [2]. Another
significant example could be Deutsche Bahn, Germany's
national railway, with plans to employ drones to prevent
graffiti. The company said in a press release that “more than
14,000 cases of graffiti were discovered in 2012, resulting in
more than 7 million euros in damages” [3].
However, video surveillance by drones can be also used for
industrial perimeter security, work site inspection, oil & gas
pipeline inspection, power grid or nuclear plants inspection or
border security patrol, in areas such as the border between the
ISBN: 978-1-5090-5160-1/17/$31.00 ©2017 IEEE 237
United States of America and Mexico. On this border, drug
trafficking and illegal immigration still constitute huge
challenges. This is also increasingly the case for Western
Europe, where waves of immigrants from Syria and
Afghanistan continue to arrive both by sea and land.
The main drawback faced today in using drones for
surveillance is the limited autonomy/flight time and the
lengthy recharging time of the batteries. Thus, the powering
aerial surveillance drones solution (PASD), allows them
nearly continuous operation and significantly decreases
downtime due to batteries recharging.
The drones’ flight autonomy increase is an issue of great
importance, both nationally and internationally, and
contributes to the technological progress vs. surveillance
drone applications.
The PASD project presents a significant socio-economic
relevance by offering an affordable solution to discourage
theft, vandalism, sabotage or other nefarious activities that
can result in substantial financial losses and/or loss of lives.
The proposed project differs from the existing surveillance
technology based on drones at maximum security zones by
providing close to zero downtime. The final aim is to address
the issue of the drones’ operational downtime due to
recharging, and optimize this process.
The continuous operational supply enhances the freedom of
movement of the drone by ensuring a dynamic and mobile
charging station on a preset defined route.
In other words, the drone will still be able to fly freely in
areas adjacent to the power line and return to it when the
drone’s battery is close to being drained, with the option that
a backup drone would replace the one charging its batteries.
This article will analyze, develop and adopt new solutions
with regard to the operational supply solutions for
surveillance drones.
II. AERIAL ELECTRIC SUPPLY SOLUTIONS VS.
OPERATIONAL SURVEILLANCE DRONES
From the beginning, we would like to underline again the
base concept and the original idea of this proposed project -
the operational distance of the surveillance drones can be
significantly increased by their transportation to the incident
area (as close as possible) or, on a predefined route with their
batteries fully charged.
Additionally, in case of two operational drones working in
tandem, the surveillance and action time in the area will be
double.
A. Cableway and pantograph solutions
In figure 1 and 2 are presented the two proposed solutions
to power the drone’s engines and to charge or keep its battery
loaded. As it can be observed, these proposed solutions are
almost similar. The base idea consists in attaching an electro-
mechanic coupling (pantograph) to a drone and the drone’s
engines and its battery to be powered thru it.
The electric power source for these solutions can be
continuous or alternate voltage. In case of continuous voltage,
a 12-14VDC source can be used and in case of alternate
voltage 230V, 110V or 24VAC can be used.
Also, in case of a voltage higher than the drone’s battery
voltage, the drone’s battery has to be loaded thru the
pantograph and the voltage adapter’s device. This voltage
adapter has to present two outputs: one capable to charge the
drone’s battery and one capable to run the drone’s engines at
the same time.
Fig. 1. Cableway solution
Fig. 2. Pantograph solution
The pro and con arguments of these two solutions are the
following:
1) Pro:
- easy to put in practice solution versus the power cables
installation and suitable for small area perimeters or straight
short distances;
- these options are suitable for 12-14V DC power lines
along on short distance (1-3 kilometers);
- they are also suitable for alternative power lines and in
this case, these power lines can be hooked-up to possible
existing electrified fences or lighting systems installed along
the perimeter’s fence;
- the power lines can accommodate more drones and one or
two aerial docking stations are enough for all drones (one at
each end of the power lines).
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2) Con:
- the drone is in the flight mode even when it is hanging on
by the power lines;
- difficult implementation with regard to the voltage
adapter, in that it has to be simultaneously a charger for the
drone’s battery and a power source for the drone’s engines;
- the drone is not safe in case of storms and strong winds;
- the drone’s control is limited to the drone’s distance
control capabilities;
- it is not suitable to transport the drone on long distance
control areas or along wide perimeters due to the drone’s
limited control range.
B. Mobile electric platform (MEP) solution - two operational
drones docked on a remote controlled mobile electric platform
The second option consists in the design of a mobile
electric platform capable to transport two drones and to
charge their batteries at the same time [9]. The MEP will be
equipped with remote controlled electric engines, back-up
battery in case of power failure, thermal cameras and GSM
communication in case of long distance patrol routes; while
the drones will be transported on the MEP, they will be
protected with a retractable remote controlled windshield.
The proposed MEP prototype is presented in figure 3.
Fig. 3. Mobile Electric Platform solution
1) Pro:
- the MEP can simultaneously transport two operational
drones and protect them with its thermal cameras and the
retractable remote controlled windshield.
- the MEP is the best solution in case of long distance
surveillance routes;
- the MEP can be powered through brush collectors or its
metallic wheels.
2) Con:
- very complex and sophisticated MEP capable to charge
the drones’ batteries, to carry the drones along with a long
distance remote control unit for MEP.
Regarding the charging of the drones’ batteries, two
methods can be distinguished here:
a. The battery can be charged thru a metallic landing gear
of the drone; in other words, the landing gear can make the
connection between the power lines and the voltage adapter
device hook-up to the drone’s battery.
 b. QI charger i.e. inductive charger similar with the new
technology chargers used to charge cellphones [13].
And, in both cases, the metallic drones’ landing platform
can be provided with slight magnets capable to resolve the
drones’ stability problem on the platform.
C. Aerial power supply source options
Until the long-range wireless power transmission will be
achieved by a few different technological approaches,
including focused electromagnetic fields (such as
microwaves) and lasers [11], the proposed aerial electric
supply of surveillance drones can be one of the most feasible
and realistic solution at this moment.
Others solutions and approaches in regard to the flight
autonomy increase are describe below.
Figure 4 depicts the latest surveillance drone produced by a
French company, Drone Volt Company. It is presented as the
ideal tool for industrial applications where safety is essential
and its “unlimited” flight duration is given by its Elistair
“wired power station”. The micro tether’s length varies
between 40 and 100m, it has tension control and the power
station generates between 1500 and 2500W [4].
Fig. 4. Z18 UF powered in flight thru a micro tether [4]
Another already made solution versus flight autonomy
increase is proposed by H3Dynamics with their “dronebox”
presented in figure 5.
Fig. 5. Dronebox from H3Dynamics
This automated box has sliding solar panels as box cover
doors and a lift system to host the drone inside of the box; it
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is capable to provide electric power to the wireless inductive
drone’s charger and it can send the info collected by drone,
while the drone’s battery is charging [5].
D. Aerial docking station (ADS)
The design of the proposed prototype of the drones’ aerial
docking station is presented in figure 6. This prototype will
include all ADS components such as docking platform and its
supporting pillar, solar panels used to charge the local UPS
(back-up battery capable to charge the MEP back-up battery
in case of power failure), local thermal cameras and GSM
module used to control the MEP and the drones in case of
long distance communication [6] [7] [8].
Figure 6 presents the scheme of the proposed ADS section.
Fig.6. ADS capable to host the mobile electric platform and fast charge the
MEP and the drones’ batteries
The ADS can be also equipped with automatic gates that have
the role to protect the MEP and its drones inside of it in case
of bad weather.
E. The electric poles used to sustain the power cables
The design of the power line routes (electric poles and
cables) has to be defined function of the type of the voltage
used (alternative or continuous) and according to the type of
the area supposed to be surveyed i.e. border areas, railways,
oil and gas pipelines, maximum security perimeters (nuclear
plants, military bases, ports, embassies, detention centers,
etc.). Figure 7 presents a proposed four drones’ network with
four aerial docking stations [12].
Fig.7. Surveillance drones’ route

Fig. 7. Power line poles
The design of the power line routes (poles and cables) also
has to take into consideration the distance between poles, the
weight of the MEP and the power cables. In addition, the
power cables will be stiffened thanks to special power cables
(such as Lapp cables) and spacers are supposed to be installed
between these two power cables.
In case of the surveillance of railways, the power poles can
be attached to the already existing railway electric poles (on
top or on exterior side).
Another option, in case of border fences or electrified
fences would be to use to install the power poles on the
existing fencing infrastructure.
The particulars regarding the prototypes and the materials
used in the project, as well as detailed calculations of power,
weight and cost will constitute the subject of a future paper.
III. CONCLUSIONS
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles have been used for military
applications for many years. However, the potential video
surveillance applications are extremely exciting, especially in
the public safety market. For example, a number of police
forces have shown interest in using them to extend their
surveillance networks to the skies. In the United Kingdom,
forces in Cambria, Kent, Lincolnshire, Dorset, Devon, and
Cornwall have already stated that they are trialing drones.
Similarly, the Tokyo police are launching a police unit
capable of defending citizens from drone attacks, a threat
which will become increasingly likely as drones become
more common. [14]
Few military drone versions can stay in air for hours or
days at a time, and their high-tech cameras can scan huge
areas, or alternatively, zoom in on a newspaper text from
20,000 meters.
But, this huge flight autonomy raises enormous costs and
they can be justified in military-purposes or where an electric
network installation is not feasible.
As for the civilian security environment, a terrestrial solution
with regard to the operational drones’ aerial electric supply can
be more realistic in terms of the funds invested in it.
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And, last but not least, the civilian field of application
could also have another benefit. The new generations of
drones are finding immense popularity in areas like
environmental monitoring, wildlife protection, coastal
surveillance, precision agriculture, cattle rising, rescue
operations or landmine detection in countries such as
Vietnam, Korea or Afghanistan [10].
After all, an electric network capable of aerial supply of the
operational drones along open fields, ocean coast or mountain
paths can also serve in endless applications and fulfill numerous
domestic purposes such as lost tourists recovery from mountains
or sea shore and natural habitat preservation [15].
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