Novel Design of Conical-Shaped Wireless Charger for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

Ashraf Ali (), Omar Saraereh and Andrew Ware
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Ashraf Ali: Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, The Hashemite University, Zarqa 13133, Jordan
Omar Saraereh: Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, The Hashemite University, Zarqa 13133, Jordan
Andrew Ware: Faculty of Computing, Engineering and Sciences, University of South Wales, Pontypridd CF37 1DL, UK

Energies, 2025, vol. 18, issue 18, 1-18

Abstract: This work presents a novel wireless charging system for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), which employs conical-shaped coils that also function as landing gear. By integrating electromagnetic simulation, circuit modeling, and system-level evaluation, we introduce an innovative coil design that enhances wireless power transfer (WPT) efficiency while reducing misalignment sensitivity. The conical geometry naturally facilitates mechanical alignment upon drone landing, thereby improving inductive coupling. High-frequency simulations were carried out to optimize the coil parameters and evaluate the link efficiency at 6.78 MHz, an ISM-designated frequency. Our experimental testing confirmed that the proposed conical coil achieves high power transfer efficiency (up to 94%) under practical conditions, validating the effectiveness of the geometry. The characteristics of the designed coil make it highly suitable for use with Class EF amplifiers operating in the same frequency range; however, detailed amplifier hardware implementation and efficiency characterization were beyond the scope of this study and are reserved for future work. The results demonstrate the potential of the proposed system for deployment in UAV field applications such as surveillance, delivery, and remote sensing.

Keywords: wireless charging; drones; UAVs; conical coil; power transfer (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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