Endurance Enhancement of Aerial Vehicle Energy
Transmitters Using Conical Corrugated Horn
Antenna
Archiman Lahiry
School of Engineering, Design and Built Environment,
Western Sydney University,
Kingswood, NSW 2747, Sydney, Australia,
archiman.lahiry87@gmail.com
Vo Nguyen Quoc Bao
Wireless Communication Laboratory,
Posts and Telecommunications Institute of Technology,
Dakao Ward, Ho Chi Minh City, 71007, Vietnam,
baovnq@ptithcm.edu.vn
Abstract—A corrugated horn antenna is proposed for
the unmanned aerial vehicle energy transmitter (UAV-
ET) application. Firstly, the proposed antenna can be
manufactured using polylactic acid (PLA) 3-dimensional
(3-D) printing with copper conductive paint coating, which
is lightweight and cost-effective compared to metal 3-D
printing. Secondly, the results confirm that the sidelobe level
of the antenna is below -30 dB, and radiation efficiency is
above 99 % throughout the operating frequency band. Also,
the proposed antenna increases the UAV-ET wireless power
transfer (WPT) time by 47.5 % and 4.5 % compared to UAV-
ETs equipped with a dipole array and a slotted waveguide
array respectively. Furthermore, the mass production of
the antenna is easy because of its design simplicity which is
highly desirable for the large swarm of UAV-ETs to increase
the wireless power transfer coverage for charging ground
sensors.
Index Terms—Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, Energy Trans-
mitters, Power Amplifiers, Antenna, Wireless Power Trans-
fer
I. I NTRODUCTION
The unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) enabled wireless
power transfer (WPT) [1]-[6] is capturing the attention
of researchers because of its advantages such as no
requirements of wires, the ability to reach in tough
terrains, high mobility, and improved flexibility of WPT
coverage. The UAVs utilize lithium-ion batteries [7]-[8]
Khoa N. Le
School of Engineering, Design and Built Environment,
Western Sydney University,
Kingswood, NSW 2747, Sydney, Australia,
K.Le@westernsydney.edu.au
Vivian W.Y. Tam
School of Engineering, Design and Built Environment,
Western Sydney University,
Kingswood, NSW 2747, Sydney, Australia,
V.Tam@westernsydney.edu.au
as the power source, and UAV’s endurance depends upon
the battery’s capacity [7]-[9] and the UAV’s overall power
consumption [6, 8].
The works [1]-[5] studied the UAV-enabled wireless
power transfer to charge the Internet of Things (IoT)
sensors, where hardware imperfections of the UAV energy
transmitter’s (UAV-ET’s) communication system were
ignored in [1]-[5], and in Lahiry et al. [6] the effects
of entire UAV-ET communication system hardware im-
perfections were studied. Firstly, the works on UAV-ETs
[6], and UAV base stations [11, 12] suggest that higher
antenna array or antenna losses, and poor power amplifier
(PA) power added efficiency (PAE) η reduces the hovering
time of UAVs. Also, in [6] the the results show that
antenna array or antenna beam-width greater than 40◦
reduces the WPT time of UAV-ET’s.
A. Motivation
This work is motivated by several existing problems.
Firstly, the antenna arrays for UAV-ETs [6] need complex
feed network components such as power dividers that
increase the antenna array loss. Secondly, the antenna
arrays have additional losses because of mutual coupling
[6], and this can further increase the losses. The results in
prior works [6], [11, 12] confirm that higher antenna array
losses decrease the endurance of UAVs. Also, the antenna
array or antenna design must be simple for effortless
manufacturing. In addition, the antenna array or antenna
for UAV-ETs must have a low side lobe level to minimize
interference levels. Furthermore, UAV-ET antenna array
or antenna beam-widths [6] must be within the range
of 30◦ to 40◦ for good UAV-ET coverage and enhanced
energy efficiency.
B. Contribution
The contribution of the work is summarized as follows:
1) The proposed corrugated conical horn antenna in-
creases the UAV-ET wireless power transfer (WPT)
time by 47.5 % and 4.5 % compared to UAV-ETs
equipped with dipole array [6] and slotted wave-
guide array [6] respectively.
2) The proposed corrugated horn antenna has a side-
lobe level below -30 dB throughout the operating
frequency band, which is desirable for minimizing
interference [21] caused by UAV-ETs.
3) The corrugated horn antenna design is simple
and can be manufactured easily using polylactic
acid (PLA) 3D printing with copper conductive
paint coating [23], which is a cost-effective and
lightweight alternative compared to metal 3D print-
ing.
4) The feed network of the proposed antenna is simple
compared to the dipole antenna array [6] and slotted
waveguide array [6], which reduces antenna losses
significantly.
C. Organization
The remaining paper is organized as follows. Sec-
tion II discusses the design of the corrugated conical
horn antenna. Section III compares the WPT time of the
proposed antenna with existing antenna arrays. The paper
is concluded in Section IV.
D. Notations
The total radio-frequency (RF) power loss of antenna
array or antenna mounted on UAV-ET [6] is LA in dB
scale, η is power added efficiency(PAE) of  the RF power
GP
( 10 )
amplifier (PA) [13]-[17], Pσ = 10 η is the power
consumption in Watt scale of RF PA [13]-[17] for RF
power control, GP is total RF power gain [6] of PA to
compensate antenna loss LA and free space path loss
of radio wave, Pi = 0.05 Watt or Pi = 50 mW is
power delivered to PA, Ps = 22.5 mW is the power
consumption of each oscillator [18], Pm = 0.3 mW is
b
the power consumption of each mixer [18], Pā = 2 F(fms ) =
0.1 mW is the power consumed by b = 2 bit analog to
digital converter (ADC)
with Walden’s Figure of Merit
[24] Fm ≈ (4) 1010 ,
sampling
fs = 1
frequency
MBPS, Pd¯ = (1.5) 10−5 2b + (9) 10−12 (b) (fs ) =


0.078 mW is the power consumed by b = 2 bit digital
to analog converter (DAC) [18] with sampling frequency
fs = 1 MBPS, Pl̄ = 10 mW is power consumption of
low noise amplifier (LNA) [25], Pα = 0 Watt is the
power consumption of passive antenna array or antenna
with a fixed radiation pattern, Hu is the propulsion power
consumption for hovering the UAV-ET approximated in
3, Pζ = 10−6 Watt is power consumption of barometric
altimeter [27] for UAV-ET altitude ha monitoring, and
PG = 245 mW is power consumption of global position-
ing system (GPS) [22] for UAV-ET position monitoring.
The azimuth half-power beam-width is ΘH , elevation
half-power beam-width ΦH , ground wireless energy re-
ceiver (WER) sensitivity is Pς ≈ −80 dBm or Pς ≈ −110
dB [6], sensitivity enhancement constant is CO = 6 dBm
or CO = −24 dB [6], h is UAV-ET antenna height above
the cluster of ground wireless energy receivers (WERs),
and ha is the altitude of UAV-ET above sea level.
II. C ORRUGATED HORN ANTENNA DESIGN
Figure 1 illustrates the Solidworks model of the pro-
posed corrugated conical horn antenna which can be
manufactured using polylactic acid (PLA) 3D printing
[23] with conductive copper paint, which is a highly cost-
effective technique for antenna manufacturing. Also, PLA
[23] parts are lightweight which is ideal for UAV-ET
applications.
(a) (b)
Figure 1. Solid-works model of the corrugated horn antenna (a) 3-D
CAD model of antenna. (b) Dimensions of the antenna.
Figure 2a illustrates the E-field of the antenna, and
Figure 2b illustrates the surface current of the antenna.
The radiation pattern plot in Figure 3 confirms that the
sidelobe level of the antenna is below -30 dB throughout
the band and the half power beamwidths are between 33◦
 (a) (b)
Figure 2. CST-Microwave simulation of the corrugated antenna. (a)
E-field. (b) Surface current.
Figure 5. The radiation efficiency of the corrugated horn antenna.

to 35◦ , which are ideal for UAV-ET application [6]. Also,

the voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR) of the antenna
is below 1.9 throughout the frequency band and radiation
efficiency of the antenna is above 99% throughout the
frequency band as illustrated in Figure 4 and Figure 5
respectively.
III. W IRELESS POWER TRANSFER TIME COMPARISON
The WPT time1 enhancement percentage of the pro-
posed corrugated horn antenna versus the existing UAV-
ET antenna arrays [6] summarized in Table I is

TC − TE

WT = 100 , (1)
TE
where TC is the WPT time of UAV-ET equipped with
the corrugated horn antenna, and TE is the WPT time of
UAV-ET equipped with antenna arrays proposed in [6].
The parameters TC and TE can be calculated by using the
methods explained in Appendix A. Also, the half power
beam-widths of the dipole array [6] is ΘH ≈ ΦH ≈
19◦ , the half power beam-widths of the slotted waveguide
array [6] is ΘH ≈ ΦH ≈ 28◦ , and the half power beam-
widths of the corrugated horn antenna is ΘH ≈ ΦH ≈
33◦ .

Figure 3. The radiation pattern of the corrugated horn antenna in Table I

azimuth and elevation planes. S UMMARY OF LOSSES OF ANTENNA ARRAY OR ANTENNA AT 30
GH Z

Antenna array or antenna

Works Loss (dB)
type
[6] Dipole antenna array LA = 4.35 dB
Slotted wave-guide antenna
[6] LA = 0.72 dB
array
This Corrugated conical horn LA = 0.002
work antenna dB

IV. C ONCLUSION
The proposed corrugated antenna has multiple advan-
tages which makes it ideal for UAV-ET applications.
Firstly, it is suitable for mass production for the swarm
Figure 4. The return loss S11 and voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR)
of the corrugated horn antenna. 1
The WPT time is the duration the UAV-ET hovers over the
cluster of ground energy receivers for wireless charging of the energy
receivers.
  
4πh
where GP = Pς + CO + 20 log10 λ cos tan +
( (
−1 ( Rh )))
3 + LA − Pi , and Θ2H ≈ Φ2H ≈ tan−1 R
h .
The propulsion power consumption for hovering of
UAV-ETs u from equation (12.13) in [19] is
3
[Fu ] 2 1
Hu = K √ + C̄D ρSA[Su ]3 + PT̄
2ρA 8
3 (3)
[Wu ] 2 1 3
= K√ + C̄D ρSA[Su ] + PT̄ ,
2ρA 8
√
NP (4 2)
Figure 6. The WPT time comparison with existing work [6] at 30
where K =  √2C  is induced power factor due to tip
T
5 1− NB
GHz.
losses from equation 3.108 and 3.116 [20], Fu is the thrust
generated by propellers in Newtons, Wu = 84.5 Newtons
is the weight of UAV-ET, for hovering Fu = Wu , NP = 4
is number of propellers, NB = 2 is number of blades,
2
RP = 0.5 m is radius of each
r propeller, A = NP π(RP )
Wu

is total disc area, Su = πρCNPT R2 is tip speed of each

propeller, S = NπR is rotor solidity, θ = 20◦ is pitch,
 c̄
B

c̄ = 0.01 is mean chord for blade width W = 10 mm,

Figure 7. The WPT enhancement time in percentage WT compared
to existing antenna arrays [6] using 1 at 30 GHz.
of UAV-ETs because of its simple design. Secondly, the
use of polylactic acid (PLA) 3D printing with copper
conductive paint coating makes the antenna cost-effective
and lightweight. Also, the results show that the proposed
corrugated horn antenna increases the wireless power
transfer time of UAV-ET. Furthermore, the low sidelobe
level of the proposed antenna reduces the interference
caused by UAV-ETs.
A PPENDIX A
H OVERING TIME CALCULATION OF UAV-ET
The total power consumption of UAV-ET [6] to hover
over the cluster of ground wireless energy receivers
(WERs) for wireless power transfer is
CT = 0.0154 is thrust coefficient, C̄D = C̄D0 + C̄Lα θ2
is given in [19] equation 12.12, C̄D0 = 0.025 is mean zero
lift drag coefficient, C̄Lα = 0.07 is mean lift curve slope,
and PT̄ = 80 Watts is additional power loss [19]. The air
density [26] is
  
− gM ha
− Lh a
ρ = ρ0 e RT0 T0
, (4)
where ha is altitude of UAV-ET in meters above the
sea level, ρ0 is sea level standard atmospheric pressure
101325 Pa, L is temperature lapse rate 0.0065 K/m, g is
9.8 m/s2 , M is molar mass of dry air 0.0289 kg/mol, and
T0 is sea level standard temperature, 288.15 K.
The steps for lithium-ion battery discharge time [8]
calculation of UAV-ET for WPT while hovering over the
cluster of WERs are as follows. In step one, specify the
time increment ∆t = 1 second, where w = 0, 1, 2, 3, . . . ,
and time w∆t. In step two, calculate the voltage drop of
the battery in each step
Vw+1 = VO − x (QO − Qw ) ,
 
where x = VνOK−V
QO , VO = 24.5 volts is rated full charge
r

2 2 voltage, Vr = 22.2 volts is linearly reduced standard

X X 2b (fs )
Pu = Ps + Pm + Pα + Pl̄ + voltage, QO = 16 Ah is nominal battery capacity, Qw
Fm is discharge capacity, and νK = 0.7 is the fraction
s=1 m=1
 
+ (1.5) 10−5 2b + (9) 10−12 (b) (fs )



(2) of nominal capacity. In step three, calculate the current
GP
! drawn from the Lithium Ion battery
10( 10 ) 
Pu

+ + Hu + Pζ + PG , iw+1 = ,
η Vw+1
where Pu is the UAV-ET’s total power consumption
while hovering for WPT. In step four,Pcalculate Qw+1 =
(iw+1 )(1−Cp ) (tO )(1−Cp ) (QO )(Cp ) − w+1
h=1 ih ∆t, where
Cp = 1.5 is Peukert’s coefficient, and t0 = 12 minutes
is rated discharge time. Finally, step two to step four are
repeated until Qw+1 ≈(1 − νK )QO , where νK = 0.7 to
obtain WPT time of UAV-ET.
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