Long-Duration Autonomy for Small Rotorcraft UAS including Recharging

This research proposes a fully autonomous small rotorcraft UAS for long-term observation missions that requires no human intervention. The system addresses two key technologies critical for such a system: full platform autonomy and vision-based precision landing for automated energy replenishment. Experimental results show up to 11 hours of fully autonomous operation in indoor and outdoor environments, demonstrating the system’s capability. This technology could revolutionize unmanned aerial vehicle surveillance and monitoring applications, enabling observations at precise locations over long periods of time without the need for human intervention.