On December 29, 2022, the reporter learned from Northwestern Polytechnical University that Professor Li Xuelong and his team from the School of Artificial Intelligence, Optics and Electronics of the University have made a breakthrough in the research of optical UAV. They have successfully realized the all-time intelligent visual tracking and autonomous long-range energy replenishment of UAV by making use of the intelligent information transmission processing and high energy laser technology. It has kicked off the exploration of unlimited range UAVs in China, realized the cross-integration of opto-electronic and intelligent disciplines, which is one of the typical applications of "on-site security".
With the gradual opening of low-altitude airspace in China, low-altitude aircrafts such as rotary-wing UAVs and fixed-wing UAVs are widely used, and play an important role in disaster early warning, intelligent rescue and other on-site security missions. However, most UAVs have flight durations of less than one hour, making it difficult to play a role in complex and time-consuming missions.
The research, conducted by Professor Li Xuelong and his team, uses high-energy lasers to remotely power UAVs and carries a special airborne photoelectric conversion module on the UAV to convert luminous energy into electricity. The research combines intelligent signal transmission and processing technology, realizes the autonomy of remote energy supply, and makes UAVs have unlimited range capability. According to the research team, the optical UAV has three main technical advantages: intelligence, self-adaptation and safety.
With the continuous expansion of the UAV application scenarios, the achievements made by the scientific research team of Northwestern Polytechnical University will provide new development and application ideas for the UAV industry. "First, UAVs may fly higher and farther. With the help of high-power laser beam power supply, UAVs can achieve super-range cruise, and the freedom and possibility of their mission implementation will be greatly improved. Second, the organization of UAV clusters will be more convenient. Through autonomous land-to-air, one-to-many wireless charging, the advantages and efficiency of UAV cluster coordination will be further amplified." said Zhao Bin, an associate professor and member of the team.
