Comprehensive Design and Experimental Validation of Tethered Fixed-Wing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

The limited battery capacity currently restricts the flight duration of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Additionally, tethered rotorcraft UAVs suffer from low efficiency, and deploying tethered balloons presents significant challenges. Consequently, tethered fixed-wing UAVs exhibit highly promising...

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Main Authors: Changjin Yan, Jinchuan Yang, Donghui Zhang, Shu Zhang, Taihua Zhang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-02-01
Series:Aerospace
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2226-4310/12/2/150
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author Changjin Yan
Jinchuan Yang
Donghui Zhang
Shu Zhang
Taihua Zhang
author_facet Changjin Yan
Jinchuan Yang
Donghui Zhang
Shu Zhang
Taihua Zhang
author_sort Changjin Yan
collection DOAJ
description The limited battery capacity currently restricts the flight duration of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Additionally, tethered rotorcraft UAVs suffer from low efficiency, and deploying tethered balloons presents significant challenges. Consequently, tethered fixed-wing UAVs exhibit highly promising development prospects. This study designs and constructs both simulation and physical models of a tethered fixed-wing UAV system. With the utilization of methods such as system identification and trust region algorithms, a comprehensive simulation model was developed, and its accuracy was rigorously validated. Furthermore, the feasibility of the system was confirmed through the integration of UAV hardware with a constructed power supply system, incorporating open source flight control software. The results demonstrate that the tethered fixed-wing UAV system is both feasible and reliable, offering rapid deployment capabilities and commendable flight stability. These findings highlight the potential of tethered fixed-wing UAVs as efficient and stable platforms for various applications, laying the groundwork for future research focused on developing more robust and adaptive control systems tailored to the specific challenges posed by tethered operations.
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issn 2226-4310
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publishDate 2025-02-01
publisher MDPI AG
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series Aerospace
spelling doaj-art-9060c8d8fa4b4e20a9760cac7839dc792025-08-20T03:11:03ZengMDPI AGAerospace2226-43102025-02-0112215010.3390/aerospace12020150Comprehensive Design and Experimental Validation of Tethered Fixed-Wing Unmanned Aerial VehiclesChangjin Yan0Jinchuan Yang1Donghui Zhang2Shu Zhang3Taihua Zhang4Aerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100045, ChinaQilu Aerospace Information Research Institute, Jinan 250101, ChinaAerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100045, ChinaAerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100045, ChinaQilu Aerospace Information Research Institute, Jinan 250101, ChinaThe limited battery capacity currently restricts the flight duration of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Additionally, tethered rotorcraft UAVs suffer from low efficiency, and deploying tethered balloons presents significant challenges. Consequently, tethered fixed-wing UAVs exhibit highly promising development prospects. This study designs and constructs both simulation and physical models of a tethered fixed-wing UAV system. With the utilization of methods such as system identification and trust region algorithms, a comprehensive simulation model was developed, and its accuracy was rigorously validated. Furthermore, the feasibility of the system was confirmed through the integration of UAV hardware with a constructed power supply system, incorporating open source flight control software. The results demonstrate that the tethered fixed-wing UAV system is both feasible and reliable, offering rapid deployment capabilities and commendable flight stability. These findings highlight the potential of tethered fixed-wing UAVs as efficient and stable platforms for various applications, laying the groundwork for future research focused on developing more robust and adaptive control systems tailored to the specific challenges posed by tethered operations.https://www.mdpi.com/2226-4310/12/2/150simulation modelsystem identificationflight testpower supply
spellingShingle Changjin Yan
Jinchuan Yang
Donghui Zhang
Shu Zhang
Taihua Zhang
Comprehensive Design and Experimental Validation of Tethered Fixed-Wing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
Aerospace
simulation model
system identification
flight test
power supply
title Comprehensive Design and Experimental Validation of Tethered Fixed-Wing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
title_full Comprehensive Design and Experimental Validation of Tethered Fixed-Wing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
title_fullStr Comprehensive Design and Experimental Validation of Tethered Fixed-Wing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
title_full_unstemmed Comprehensive Design and Experimental Validation of Tethered Fixed-Wing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
title_short Comprehensive Design and Experimental Validation of Tethered Fixed-Wing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
title_sort comprehensive design and experimental validation of tethered fixed wing unmanned aerial vehicles
topic simulation model
system identification
flight test
power supply
url https://www.mdpi.com/2226-4310/12/2/150
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AT donghuizhang comprehensivedesignandexperimentalvalidationoftetheredfixedwingunmannedaerialvehicles
AT shuzhang comprehensivedesignandexperimentalvalidationoftetheredfixedwingunmannedaerialvehicles
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