STUDY ON OPEN CONTACT SYSTEMS WITH FLAT PARALLEL ELECTRODES FOR AERIAL ROBOTS CHARGING PLATFORMS

The authors of this paper proposed the design of a charging platform for aerial robots (ARs), the advantages of which are the simplicity of implementation, non-requirement of precision landing ARs on the platform and the possibility of servicing several robots simultaneously. The platform comprises a row of flat parallel open electrodes lying in the same plane and separated by thin dielectric spacers. One half of platform electrodes are connected with positive pole of the charging power source and another half – with negative one, and their polarities are interlaced. The AR has several on-board electrodes in its support stanchions, and their contact points are located at the vertices of a regular polygon. Geometric analysis of the on-board electrodes' positions on the platform has been carried out. Practical recommendations have been given for configuring electrodes that can lead to 100% probability of correct contacting. Simulations with the help of the special software were carried out and the probability of correct contacting after landing for different number of contact points under uncertainty of their coordinates was estimated.