Vibration energy harvesting on a drone quadcopter based on piezoelectric structures

The aim of this publication is to conclude on the interest of vibratory energy harvesting on classic quadcopter drone for autonomous applications (battery charging in real time, autonomous sensors), monitoring or even vibration control applications. A complete dynamic analysis allows to quantify the amount of electrical power that is possible to produce during the hovering flight of a quadcopter drone. These results have been obtained by substitution of the inert parts of the drone by piezoelectric components. For that purpose, different types of piezoelectric structures have been tested, including some commercial transducers (DuraAct from Piezoelectric Instrument and Murata buzzers) and some home-made such as a piezoelectric paint. Our original piezoelectric smart arms have been able to scavenge up to 5.35 mW during a stationary flight which remains quite enough to supply low-consumption sensors for monitoring applications.