Power supply integrated system and method of tethered unmanned aerial vehicle containing buck-boost conversion circuit
The tethered drone power supply integration system, which utilizes a Buck-Boost converter circuit and combines two sets of cables for power supply and intelligent adjustment technology, solves the problems of high power loss and unstable power supply in tethered drone power supply systems, and achieves precise control of rotor power supply and system stability.
Patent Information
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Applications(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- WEIZE CHUANGLI (NANJING) EMERGENCY EQUIPMENT TECHNOLOGY CO LTD
- Filing Date
- 2026-03-23
- Publication Date
- 2026-06-05
AI Technical Summary
The power supply system of tethered drones suffers from high power loss, low safety, and the inability to provide timely feedback and precise control over the power demand of each rotor, which can lead to rotor tilting or drone crashes.
The tethered drone power supply integrated system adopts a Buck-Boost converter circuit, which supplies power through two sets of high-power cable groups and a low-power cable group. Combined with the Boost boost board and Buck-Boost voltage regulation and current distribution board, it achieves precise control and real-time monitoring. The power supply is adjusted by the algorithms of the control motherboard and the airborne motherboard, and a redundancy switching mechanism is set up to ensure stable power supply.
It reduces power loss, improves the safety and accuracy of power supply, enables precise power supply control for each rotor, reduces the risk of drone crashes, and ensures the stability and flexibility of the power supply system.
Smart Images

Figure CN122159470A_ABST
Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] This invention belongs to the field of tethered drone technology, and in particular relates to a tethered drone power supply integration system and method containing a Buck-Boost converter circuit. Background Technology
[0002] Tethered drones are powered by mains electricity or batteries via power cables ranging from tens to hundreds of meters long, enabling 24-hour continuous operation. Because the power cables use DC power, the voltage is typically above 100V, with current controlled between 3-6A. Due to the DC power supply and the long cable length, power loss is significant. While boosting the voltage to reduce current can decrease power loss, excessively high voltage can lead to breakdown or leakage, reducing safety. The voltage boosting process at the output power board also results in significant losses. After the boosted power enters the onboard power regulation unit, it undergoes a substantial voltage drop to meet the rotor's power requirements (20-30V), creating a high boost and high drop cycle, increasing Buck-Boost and Boost power losses.
[0003] For tethered cable power supply, most systems use a single set of transmission lines to deliver power. Using two sets of transmission lines would allow for a reduction in transmission voltage to meet power requirements when current fluctuations are small. Furthermore, the power supply requirements and status of tethered drones cannot be promptly communicated to the ground power supply unit. Power transmission must be controlled remotely to adapt to the onboard power supply adjustment unit's needs, making it impossible to provide timely feedback and adjust power supply accordingly.
[0004] Existing tethered drones have high requirements for power supply adjustment for each rotor. Manual adjustment is required for different remote-controlled drones. If there is a deviation in power supply, it will cause the rotor to tilt and the drone to crash. Therefore, adaptive adjustment and precise control of the power supply for each rotor is crucial. Thus, a Buck-Boost voltage regulation and current shunt board that can precisely control the power supply for each rotor is needed to achieve precise control of voltage and current regulation. Summary of the Invention
[0005] The purpose of this invention is to provide a tethered drone power supply integration system and method with a Buck-Boost converter circuit. By setting up two sets of high-power cable groups for power supply, the transmission voltage is reduced, thereby reducing risk. It can also reduce the intensity of Boost and Buck-Boost voltage regulation to reduce losses. By using feedback information to adjust the power supply of the ground power supply unit in a timely manner, the power supply can be precisely controlled and adjusted. This solves the problems of existing power supply anomalies not being able to be fed back in a timely manner and the difficulty in accurately supplying power to each rotor.
[0006] To solve the above-mentioned technical problems, the present invention is achieved through the following technical solution: This invention is a tethered unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) power supply integrated system containing a Buck-Boost converter circuit, comprising a ground power supply unit, a tether cable, and an airborne power supply regulation unit; The ground power supply unit includes a mains power module, a battery pack, a control motherboard, a multi-output power board, and a boost converter board. The mains power module includes a mains power interface and a mains AC-DC circuit board. The battery pack includes a main battery and a secondary battery. After the mains power interface is connected to the mains power, it is connected to the multi-output power board through the mains AC-DC circuit board. The output terminal of the main battery is connected to the multi-output power board. The control motherboard is electrically connected to the multi-output power board. The secondary battery supplies power to the control motherboard. The tethering cable contains two sets of high-power cable groups, two sets of low-power cable groups, and a control signal line group. The output terminal of the multi-output power supply board is electrically connected to the two sets of high-power cable groups via a Boost converter board, and the output terminal of the multi-output power supply board is directly electrically connected to the two sets of low-power cable groups. The airborne power supply regulation unit includes a Buck-Boost voltage regulation shunt board, an electronic speed controller assembly, an airborne battery, and an airborne motherboard. The Buck-Boost voltage regulation shunt board includes a main Buck-Boost topology and multiple secondary Buck-Boost topologies. The output terminal of the main Buck-Boost topology is electrically connected to the input terminals of the multiple secondary Buck-Boost topologies. The output terminal of each secondary Buck-Boost topology is electrically connected to the input terminal of an electronic speed controller. The output terminal of each electronic speed controller supplies power to the rotor motors of the UAV. Two sets of high-power cable groups are connected in parallel at the input terminal of the main Buck-Boost topology and then electrically connected to the input terminal. One set of low-power cable groups supplies power to the airborne motherboard, and another set of low-power cable groups charges the airborne battery. The airborne battery serves as a backup power source for the airborne motherboard. The airborne motherboard and the control motherboard are electrically connected by a control signal line group.
[0007] The present invention is further configured such that the Boost boost board is provided with two Boost topology circuits with the same voltage regulation capability, the multi-output power supply board outputs two sets of (38-48)V (5-8)A main power supply, each set of the main power supply is electrically connected to the input terminal of one Boost topology circuit, and the voltages of the 110-120V power supplies output by the two Boost topology circuits are equal and the error is less than 1V; The control motherboard calculates the voltage difference between the output terminals of the two Boost topologies using an algorithm, and dynamically adjusts the PWM duty cycle of the two Boost topologies to reduce the voltage difference between their output terminals.
[0008] The present invention is further configured such that a first electronic control switch is provided on the circuit of the AC-DC power supply board connected to the multi-output power supply board, a second electronic control switch is provided on the circuit of the main battery connected to the multi-output power supply board, and a third electronic control switch is provided on the wiring between the airborne battery and the input terminal of the main Buck-Boost topology circuit. Select either the first or second power switch on the remote control to turn it on; When the mains power supply is available, the first electronic control switch is turned on. When the mains power supply is abnormal, the control motherboard will receive the power supply abnormality data fed back by the airborne motherboard, and start the first electronic control switch to turn on and the second electronic control switch to turn on. When the main battery supplies power, the second electronic control switch is turned on. When the main battery supplies power abnormally, the control motherboard will receive power supply abnormality data fed back by the airborne motherboard, start the second electronic control switch to turn on, and at the same time start the third electronic control switch to turn on, so that the airborne battery supplies power.
[0009] The present invention is further configured such that the airborne motherboard calculates the output voltage and current of the main Buck-Boost topology and multiple sub-Buck-Boost topologies through an algorithm, so as to realize real-time monitoring of the output power of the main Buck-Boost topology and sub-Buck-Boost topologies; When the airborne mainboard receives a control command for each rotor, it calculates the total power required by all rotors. The airborne mainboard then feeds back the demand information to the control mainboard to adjust the output power of the two high-power cable groups to meet the power requirements of all rotors for normal operation.
[0010] The present invention is further configured such that the number of sub-Buck-Boost topologies is one more than the number of rotors; The output power of the main Buck-Boost topology is 1.1 to 1.15 times the sum of the output power of the secondary Buck-Boost topologies corresponding to all rotors; If the sum of the output power of all rotor corresponding sub-Buck-Boost topologies is less than 10%, the airborne mainboard will not be activated to feed back the demand information to the control mainboard. If the sum of the output power of all rotors corresponding to the sub-Buck-Boost topologies is adjusted to more than 10%, the onboard motherboard will be activated to feed back the demand information to the control motherboard.
[0011] The present invention is further configured such that the electronic speed controller is a dual-channel integrated ESC with redundancy switching function, and the dual-channel integrated ESC performs equal time period switching, wherein the equal time period is once every 60 seconds.
[0012] The present invention is further configured such that the electronic speed controller assembly is embedded on one side of the Buck-Boost voltage regulating shunt plate, the main Buck-Boost topology and multiple secondary Buck-Boost topologies on the Buck-Boost voltage regulating shunt plate are encapsulated with sealant, the input end of the main Buck-Boost topology is provided with an input interface, and the output end of each electronic speed controller is provided with an output interface.
[0013] The present invention is further configured such that the control signal line group includes multiple core wires and core wire insulation sheaths. Each core wire includes a copper core wire, a first insulating varnish layer, a copper powder layer, and a second insulating varnish layer. The diameter of the copper core wire is 0.3-0.4 mm. The copper core wire is coated with a 0.05-0.08 mm first insulating varnish layer, and the first insulating varnish layer is coated with a 0.10-0.15 mm copper powder layer. Then, the copper powder layer is coated with a 0.03-0.05 mm wear-resistant second insulating varnish layer. The multiple core wires are twisted together and then wrapped with core wire insulation sheaths. The two sets of high-power cable groups each include four high-power cables. Each high-power cable includes a thick conductive copper core and a first sheath. The diameter of the thick conductive copper core is 1.5-2.0 mm, and the thickness of the first sheath is 0.3-0.5 mm. The two sets of low-power cable groups each include four low-power cables. Each low-power cable includes a thin conductive copper core and a second sheath. The diameter of the thin conductive copper core is 0.5-0.8 mm, and the thickness of the second sheath is 0.2-0.3 mm. The tethered cable is wrapped with an outer sheath of 1-2 mm, and the overall diameter of the tethered cable is 6-10 mm.
[0014] The power supply method for the tethered drone power supply with Buck-Boost converter circuit is as follows: The power supply is provided using the aforementioned integrated power supply system for the tethered drone with Buck-Boost converter circuit. S1: Connect the tether cable to the power supply interface of the drone to complete the connection; S2: The main battery or AC power module supplies power to the multi-output power board. The two output terminals of the multi-output power board are connected to a Boost converter. The Boost converter adjusts the voltage of the two power supplies to be less than 1V different. The two power supplies are transmitted through two sets of high-power cables. The multi-output power board then transmits two low-voltage power supplies from two sets of low-power cables. The output terminals of the two sets of high-power cables are connected in parallel and electrically connected to the input terminal of the main Buck-Boost topology. One set of low-power cables supplies power to the onboard motherboard, and the other set of low-power cables charges the onboard battery through the onboard motherboard. S3: The main Buck-Boost topology output terminal is electrically connected to the input terminals of multiple secondary Buck-Boost topologies. The voltage output of the secondary Buck-Boost topologies of multiple docking rotors is equal. Each rotor motor has an electronic speed controller connected to the output terminal of the secondary Buck-Boost topology. The electronic speed controller is used to control the motor speed. S4: The auxiliary battery supplies power to the control board. The control board is used to control the operation of the multi-output power supply board and the Boost boost board to regulate the voltage and current of the output power. The airborne main board is used to control the operation of the main Buck-Boost topology, multiple auxiliary Buck-Boost topologies and electronic speed controller group. The airborne main board transmits monitoring data to the control board through the control signal line group to coordinate the power supply of the multi-output power supply board. S5: When the ground power supply unit fails to supply power, the airborne motherboard activates the airborne battery to supply power to the main Buck-Boost topology input to stabilize the drone.
[0015] The present invention has the following beneficial effects: 1. This invention sets up two power supply modes in the ground power supply unit: mains power and battery power, so that it can switch in case of power failure. The multi-output power board can supply power to the UAV rotor and also supply two sets of low voltage and current power to ensure the charging of the airborne battery and the power supply to the airborne motherboard. In this way, the power supply of the airborne motherboard is independent of the rotor power supply. The airborne motherboard is less affected by small changes in voltage and current, and does not need precise control. This reduces the voltage regulation steps and ensures that the Buck-Boost voltage regulation and shunt board voltage regulation power supply is only for rotor power supply. Then, the airborne motherboard can precisely control the power supply to each rotor, making the power supply adjustment more precise.
[0016] 2. The airborne motherboard of this invention can monitor and adjust the power supply of each rotor in real time, and feed back the monitoring data and power adjustment requirements to the control motherboard. The control motherboard can accurately receive the adjustment information to adjust the output of the multi-output power board and the adjustment of the Boost boost board to achieve optimal power supply and timely control of power demand.
[0017] Of course, any product implementing this invention does not necessarily need to achieve all of the advantages described above at the same time. Attached Figure Description
[0018] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention, the accompanying drawings used in the description of the embodiments will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present invention. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative effort.
[0019] Figure 1This is an integrated power supply system for tethered drones containing a Buck-Boost converter circuit.
[0020] Figure 2 This is a cross-sectional structural diagram of the tethered cable.
[0021] 1. Core wire; 2. Core wire insulation sheath; 3. Thick conductive copper core; 4. First sheath; 5. Thin conductive copper core; 6. Second sheath; 7. Outer sheath. Detailed Implementation
[0022] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present invention, and not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of the present invention.
[0023] Please see Figure 1-2 The present invention is a tethered unmanned aerial vehicle power supply integrated system containing a Buck-Boost converter circuit, including a ground power supply unit, a tether cable and an airborne power supply regulation unit; The ground power supply unit includes a mains power module, a battery pack, a control motherboard, a multi-output power board, and a boost converter board. The mains power module includes a mains power interface and a mains AC-DC circuit board. The battery pack includes a main battery and a secondary battery. After the mains power interface is connected to the mains power, it is connected to the multi-output power board through the mains AC-DC circuit board. The output terminal of the main battery is connected to the multi-output power board. The control motherboard is electrically connected to the multi-output power board. The secondary battery supplies power to the control motherboard. The control board has a charging port, which can be connected to a charging cable to charge the main and auxiliary batteries. Charging under AC power will cause power instability; therefore, the AC power supply here is independent.
[0024] When mains power is available, it should be used first. When mains power is abnormal, it can be switched to mains battery power. However, when mains power is not used, it is generally not plugged in to switch effectively.
[0025] The AC power needs to be converted to DC power by the AC-DC circuit board, and the voltage and current of the converted DC power should be similar to those of the main battery power supply to facilitate switching. The Boost converter board will not withstand large voltage and current changes, and only minor adjustments are needed during switching.
[0026] The auxiliary battery (small battery) mainly supplies power to the control board to ensure that it can still receive information when the power supply is abnormal, and there is no need to regulate the power supply through the main battery.
[0027] The tethering cable contains two sets of high-power cable groups, two sets of low-power cable groups, and a control signal line group. The output terminal of the multi-output power supply board is electrically connected to the two sets of high-power cable groups via a Boost converter board, and the output terminal of the multi-output power supply board is directly electrically connected to the two sets of low-power cable groups. The two sets of high-power cable groups are mainly used to transmit two sets of high-voltage power supplies with a very small voltage difference (110-120V, but much smaller than the voltage of 200V or more provided by a traditional single cable). The current of each high-power cable group can be controlled at 1.5-2.5A to provide 300-500W of power. If the total power supply is to be increased, the current can be appropriately increased to a maximum of 3.5A. The voltage of each high-power cable group is significantly reduced, which improves the safety of power transmission and also reduces the voltage entering the drone (which is safer). The current is also appropriately reduced during transmission to reduce DC power loss during transmission.
[0028] The Boost converter can ensure that two power supplies achieve the same or similar output voltage, so as to ensure the safety of parallel connection when connected to the main Buck-Boost topology input terminal (current sharing resistors can be added at the output terminal to further reduce the risk of parallel connection, which can be designed according to needs). For example, the safety is relatively high when a 112V 2.0A power supply is connected in parallel with a 111.8V 2.05A power supply.
[0029] The airborne power supply regulation unit includes a Buck-Boost voltage regulation shunt board, an electronic speed controller assembly, an airborne battery, and an airborne motherboard. The Buck-Boost voltage regulation shunt board includes a main Buck-Boost topology and multiple secondary Buck-Boost topologies. The output terminal of the main Buck-Boost topology is electrically connected to the input terminals of the multiple secondary Buck-Boost topologies. The output terminal of each secondary Buck-Boost topology is electrically connected to the input terminal of an electronic speed controller. The output terminal of each electronic speed controller supplies power to the rotor motors of the UAV. Two sets of high-power cable groups are connected in parallel at the input terminal of the main Buck-Boost topology and then electrically connected to the input terminal. One set of low-power cable groups supplies power to the airborne motherboard, and another set of low-power cable groups charges the airborne battery. The airborne battery serves as a backup power source for the airborne motherboard. The airborne motherboard and the control motherboard are electrically connected by a control signal line group.
[0030] The main Buck-Boost topology steps down the voltage of two power supplies (e.g., 112V 2.0A and 111.8V 2.05A) in parallel to 48V 4.6 (approximate value). The output is then distributed through multiple secondary Buck-Boost topologies (22-23V and 2.0-2.5A for each of the four rotors). Since the secondary Buck-Boost topologies independently control the duty cycle (ensuring that the voltage of each rotor is similar and the difference is less than 0.5V), the power supply is adjusted. The power is then precisely controlled and regulated (by the duty cycle of the power switching transistors) by an electronic speed controller.
[0031] An additional Buck-Boost topology can be set up to transfer excess power to the onboard motherboard to charge the onboard battery.
[0032] The onboard battery is charged using a separate low-power cable group (which requires conversion charging via the onboard motherboard). Once fully charged, the charging is disconnected, and the onboard motherboard is powered by another low-power cable group. However, if the power supply to the onboard motherboard's low-power cable group is abnormal, the onboard battery will switch power supply in a timely manner.
[0033] The airborne mainboard and the control mainboard use control signal lines for signal feedback.
[0034] The Boost boost board has two Boost topology circuits with the same voltage regulation capability. The multi-output power supply board outputs two sets of (38-48)V (5-8)A main power supplies. Each set of main power supplies is electrically connected to the input terminal of a Boost topology circuit. The voltages of the 110-120V power supplies output by the two Boost topology circuits are equal and the error is less than 1V. The control motherboard calculates the voltage difference between the output terminals of the two Boost topologies using an algorithm, and dynamically adjusts the PWM duty cycle of the two Boost topologies to reduce the voltage difference between their output terminals.
[0035] It is safer for drones to use batteries with a lower output voltage. Ideally, the voltage should be below 50V. The multi-output power board outputs two sets of (38-48)V (5-8)A main power supplies, which are the two sets of untransformed battery power supplies. The two sets of low-power cable sets transmit power of about 12V 5A (power after battery transformation), which is relatively safe for powering the onboard motherboard and for charging.
[0036] The control board uses an algorithm to calculate the voltage difference between the output terminals of the two Boost topology circuits, and adjusts the two sets of power supply voltages output by the Boost boost board in real time to be close (with an error of 1V, and even ±0.5V through precise calculation).
[0037] The AC-DC circuit board connected to the multi-output power board is equipped with a first electronic control switch, the main battery connected to the multi-output power board is equipped with a second electronic control switch, and the wiring between the onboard battery and the input terminal of the main Buck-Boost topology circuit is equipped with a third electronic control switch. Select either the first or second power switch on the remote control to turn it on; When the mains power supply is available, the first electronic control switch is turned on. When the mains power supply is abnormal, the control motherboard will receive the power supply abnormality data fed back by the airborne motherboard, and start the first electronic control switch to turn on and the second electronic control switch to turn on. When the main battery supplies power, the second electronic control switch is turned on. When the main battery supplies power abnormally, the control motherboard will receive power supply abnormality data fed back by the airborne motherboard, start the second electronic control switch to turn on, and at the same time start the third electronic control switch to turn on, so that the airborne battery supplies power.
[0038] The first, second, and third electronic control switches can intelligently switch power supplies so that power can be switched instantly in the event of a power outage without affecting rotor operation.
[0039] The airborne motherboard uses an algorithm to calculate the output voltage and current of the main Buck-Boost topology and multiple sub-Buck-Boost topologies in order to monitor the output power of the main Buck-Boost topology and sub-Buck-Boost topologies in real time. When the airborne mainboard receives a control command for each rotor, it calculates the total power required by all rotors. The airborne mainboard then feeds back the demand information to the control mainboard to adjust the output power of the two high-power cable groups to meet the power requirements of all rotors for normal operation.
[0040] The main Buck-Boost topology outputs power greater than the sum of the power requirements of all rotors (approximately 10% higher). This ensures that when fine-tuning the power of each rotor, the initial power supply (ground power) does not need adjustment. Only when the adjustment is significant does feedback to the control board be required to adjust the output power of the multi-output power board. The excess power from the main Buck-Boost topology is sent to the onboard motherboard and then used to charge the onboard battery. When the onboard battery is fully charged, the charging of the onboard battery via the low-power cable group and the power supply to the onboard motherboard via another low-power cable group are disconnected, and the onboard battery power supply to the onboard motherboard is activated. When the onboard battery charge drops below 20%, the low-power cable group is immediately activated to power the onboard motherboard and to charge the onboard battery.
[0041] The number of sub-Buck-Boost topologies is one more than the number of rotors; The output power of the main Buck-Boost topology is 1.1 to 1.15 times the sum of the output power of the secondary Buck-Boost topologies corresponding to all rotors; If the sum of the output power of all rotor corresponding sub-Buck-Boost topologies is less than 10%, the airborne mainboard will not be activated to feed back the demand information to the control mainboard. If the sum of the output power of all rotors corresponding to the sub-Buck-Boost topologies is adjusted to more than 10%, the onboard motherboard will be activated to feed back the demand information to the control motherboard.
[0042] Based on a margin of 10% or less, the initial power supply can be adjusted without changing the rotor power. It also ensures normal power supply even during voltage regulation losses.
[0043] The electronic speed controller is a dual-channel integrated ESC with redundancy switching function. The dual-channel integrated ESC switches at equal time intervals, with each equal time interval switching once every 60 seconds.
[0044] Dual-channel integrated ESCs can switch power supplies to reduce the problem of high operating temperature and decreased adjustment accuracy during long-term operation. They also ensure that if one ESC fails, the other can continue operating and issue a warning signal (via a warning module).
[0045] The electronic speed controller assembly is embedded on one side of the Buck-Boost voltage regulating shunt. The main Buck-Boost topology and multiple secondary Buck-Boost topologies on the Buck-Boost voltage regulating shunt are encapsulated with sealant. The input terminal of the main Buck-Boost topology is provided with an input interface, and the output terminal of each electronic speed controller is provided with an output interface.
[0046] Encapsulated with sealant, it offers enhanced safety, is less prone to water and dust ingress, and provides higher control precision. The plug-in interface design facilitates installation and subsequent disassembly, maintenance, or replacement.
[0047] The control signal line group includes multiple core wires 1 and core wire insulation sheath 2. Each core wire 1 includes a copper core wire, a first insulating varnish layer, a copper powder layer, and a second insulating varnish layer. The diameter of the copper core wire is 0.3-0.4 mm. The copper core wire is coated with a 0.05-0.08 mm first insulating varnish layer, and the first insulating varnish layer is coated with a 0.10-0.15 mm copper powder layer. Then, the copper powder layer is coated with a 0.03-0.05 mm wear-resistant second insulating varnish layer. The multiple core wires 1 are twisted together and then wrapped with the core wire insulation sheath 2. The two sets of high-power cable groups each include four high-power cables. Each high-power cable includes a thick conductive copper core 3 and a first sheath 4. The diameter of the thick conductive copper core 3 is 1.5-2.0 mm, and the thickness of the first sheath 4 is 0.3-0.5 mm. The two sets of low-power cable groups each include four low-power cables. Each low-power cable includes a thin conductive copper core 5 and a second sheath 6. The diameter of the thin conductive copper core 5 is 0.5-0.8 mm, and the thickness of the second sheath 6 is 0.2-0.3 mm. The tethered cable is wrapped with an outer sheath 7 of 1-2 mm, and the overall diameter of the tethered cable is 6-10 mm.
[0048] like Figure 2 This is a cross-sectional diagram of the tethered cable. The control signal line group is not for high-frequency monitoring. The interference signal generated by each core wire 1 is not very strong. The copper core wire is used to transmit signals. The first insulating varnish layer serves as insulation, and the copper powder layer serves to shield the interference signal. The second insulating varnish layer is sprayed to reduce wear on the copper powder layer. The core wire 1 can be simply twisted (or not twisted and directly wrapped with the core wire insulation sheath 2).
[0049] The four high-power cables are looped together to form a gap in the middle for arranging the control signal wire group. The core wire insulation sheath 2 has a good insulation effect, and with the addition of the first sheath 4, the thick conductive copper core 3 will not conduct electricity to the core wire 1. Furthermore, the first sheath 4 makes it impossible for the thick conductive copper cores 3 to conduct electricity between each other.
[0050] The thinner low-power cable can be just placed in the gap between the outer sides of two adjacent high-power cables, which is close to a circle as shown in the figure. Then, the outer sheath 7 is used to wrap the insulation and make it easy to pull without breaking the cable.
[0051] The power supply method for the tethered drone power supply with Buck-Boost converter circuit is as follows: The power supply is provided using the aforementioned integrated power supply system for the tethered drone with Buck-Boost converter circuit. S1: Connect the tether cable to the power supply interface of the drone to complete the connection; S2: The main battery or AC power module supplies power to the multi-output power board. The two output terminals of the multi-output power board are connected to a Boost converter. The Boost converter adjusts the voltage of the two power supplies to be less than 1V different. The two power supplies are transmitted through two sets of high-power cables. The multi-output power board then transmits two low-voltage power supplies from two sets of low-power cables. The output terminals of the two sets of high-power cables are connected in parallel and electrically connected to the input terminal of the main Buck-Boost topology. One set of low-power cables supplies power to the onboard motherboard, and the other set of low-power cables charges the onboard battery through the onboard motherboard. S3: The main Buck-Boost topology output terminal is electrically connected to the input terminals of multiple secondary Buck-Boost topologies. The voltage output of the secondary Buck-Boost topologies of multiple docking rotors is equal. Each rotor motor has an electronic speed controller connected to the output terminal of the secondary Buck-Boost topology. The electronic speed controller is used to control the motor speed. S4: The auxiliary battery supplies power to the control board. The control board is used to control the operation of the multi-output power supply board and the Boost boost board to regulate the voltage and current of the output power. The airborne main board is used to control the operation of the main Buck-Boost topology, multiple auxiliary Buck-Boost topologies and electronic speed controller group. The airborne main board transmits monitoring data to the control board through the control signal line group to coordinate the power supply of the multi-output power supply board. S5: When the ground power supply unit fails to supply power, the airborne motherboard activates the airborne battery to supply power to the main Buck-Boost topology input to stabilize the drone.
[0052] Before powering on and flying, first determine the main power source, switch to AC power or main battery power, and then connect the tethered cable to the drone. Place the drone on the ground and control it using a mobile device (wireless tablet). Control the drone to its designated flight position, lock onto the position, and ensure adequate power supply to guarantee stable high-altitude flight. The onboard motherboard collects rotor power parameters in real time and uses onboard monitoring to monitor the environment, fine-tuning rotor power to maintain stability. When the onboard motherboard receives a control signal, it calculates the power demand, analyzes whether feedback to the control motherboard is needed, and if so, analyzes the power demand adjustment, adjusts the power delivery capacity of the multi-output power board, and adjusts the Boost converter to rebalance the output voltage.
[0053] The main Buck-Boost topology first performs a small voltage reduction (about half, down to around 50V), then distributes the voltage to multiple secondary Buck-Boost topologies. These secondary Buck-Boost topologies then precisely regulate the voltage to output the power required by each rotor, allowing for accurate adjustment and smaller adjustment errors.
[0054] It can also monitor and switch power supply abnormalities in a timely manner. With the transmission signal of the control signal line group, it can promptly report and switch between mains power and main battery power when the drone's power supply is abnormal. When both mains power and main battery power are unavailable, it will switch to the onboard battery power supply (the voltage and current may not be normal), but it can ensure that the drone will not crash, but will fall slowly or maintain balance (for a short time).
[0055] In the description of this specification, references to terms such as "an embodiment," "example," "specific example," etc., indicate that a specific feature, structure, material, or characteristic described in connection with that embodiment or example is included in at least one embodiment or example of the invention. In this specification, illustrative expressions of the above terms do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment or example. Furthermore, the specific features, structures, materials, or characteristics described may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments or examples.
[0056] The preferred embodiments of the present invention disclosed above are merely illustrative of the invention. These preferred embodiments do not exhaustively describe all details, nor do they limit the invention to the specific implementations described. Clearly, many modifications and variations can be made based on the content of this specification. This specification selects and specifically describes these embodiments to better explain the principles and practical applications of the invention, thereby enabling those skilled in the art to better understand and utilize the invention. The invention is limited only by the claims and their full scope and equivalents.
Claims
1. A tethered unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) power supply integrated system containing a Buck-Boost converter circuit, characterized in that: Includes ground power supply unit, mooring cables, and airborne power supply regulation unit; The ground power supply unit includes a mains power module, a battery pack, a control motherboard, a multi-output power board, and a boost converter board. The mains power module includes a mains power interface and a mains AC-DC circuit board. The battery pack includes a main battery and a secondary battery. After the mains power interface is connected to the mains power, it is connected to the multi-output power board through the mains AC-DC circuit board. The output terminal of the main battery is connected to the multi-output power board. The control motherboard is electrically connected to the multi-output power board. The secondary battery supplies power to the control motherboard. The tethering cable contains two sets of high-power cable groups, two sets of low-power cable groups, and a control signal line group. The output terminal of the multi-output power supply board is electrically connected to the two sets of high-power cable groups via a Boost converter board, and the output terminal of the multi-output power supply board is directly electrically connected to the two sets of low-power cable groups. The airborne power supply regulation unit includes a Buck-Boost voltage regulation shunt board, an electronic speed controller assembly, an airborne battery, and an airborne motherboard. The Buck-Boost voltage regulation shunt board includes a main Buck-Boost topology and multiple secondary Buck-Boost topologies. The output terminal of the main Buck-Boost topology is electrically connected to the input terminals of the multiple secondary Buck-Boost topologies. The output terminal of each secondary Buck-Boost topology is electrically connected to the input terminal of an electronic speed controller. The output terminal of each electronic speed controller supplies power to the rotor motors of the UAV. Two sets of high-power cable groups are connected in parallel at the input terminal of the main Buck-Boost topology and then electrically connected to the input terminal. One set of low-power cable groups supplies power to the airborne motherboard, and another set of low-power cable groups charges the airborne battery. The airborne battery serves as a backup power source for the airborne motherboard. The airborne motherboard and the control motherboard are electrically connected by a control signal line group.
2. The tethered UAV power supply integration system with Buck-Boost converter circuit according to claim 1, characterized in that, The Boost boost board has two Boost topology circuits with the same voltage regulation capability. The multi-output power supply board outputs two sets of (38-48)V (5-8)A main power supplies. Each set of main power supplies is electrically connected to the input terminal of a Boost topology circuit. The voltages of the 110-120V power supplies output by the two Boost topology circuits are equal and the error is less than 1V. The control motherboard calculates the voltage difference between the output terminals of the two Boost topologies using an algorithm, and dynamically adjusts the PWM duty cycle of the two Boost topologies to reduce the voltage difference between their output terminals.
3. The tethered UAV power supply integration system with Buck-Boost converter circuit according to claim 1, characterized in that, The AC-DC circuit board connected to the multi-output power board is equipped with a first electronic control switch, the main battery connected to the multi-output power board is equipped with a second electronic control switch, and the wiring between the onboard battery and the input terminal of the main Buck-Boost topology circuit is equipped with a third electronic control switch. Select either the first or second power switch on the remote control to turn it on; When the mains power supply is available, the first electronic control switch is turned on. When the mains power supply is abnormal, the control motherboard will receive the power supply abnormality data fed back by the airborne motherboard, and start the first electronic control switch to turn on and the second electronic control switch to turn on. When the main battery supplies power, the second electronic control switch is turned on. When the main battery supplies power abnormally, the control motherboard will receive power supply abnormality data fed back by the airborne motherboard, start the second electronic control switch to turn on, and at the same time start the third electronic control switch to turn on, so that the airborne battery supplies power.
4. The tethered UAV power supply integration system with Buck-Boost converter circuit according to claim 1, characterized in that, The airborne motherboard uses an algorithm to calculate the output voltage and current of the main Buck-Boost topology and multiple sub-Buck-Boost topologies in order to monitor the output power of the main Buck-Boost topology and sub-Buck-Boost topologies in real time. When the airborne mainboard receives a control command for each rotor, it calculates the total power required by all rotors. The airborne mainboard then feeds back the demand information to the control mainboard to adjust the output power of the two high-power cable groups to meet the power requirements of all rotors for normal operation.
5. The tethered UAV power supply integration system with Buck-Boost converter circuit according to claim 4, characterized in that, The number of sub-Buck-Boost topologies is one more than the number of rotors; The output power of the main Buck-Boost topology is 1.1 to 1.15 times the sum of the output power of the secondary Buck-Boost topologies corresponding to all rotors; If the sum of the output power of all rotor corresponding sub-Buck-Boost topologies is less than 10%, the airborne mainboard will not be activated to feed back the demand information to the control mainboard. If the sum of the output power of all rotors corresponding to the sub-Buck-Boost topologies is adjusted to more than 10%, the onboard motherboard will be activated to feed back the demand information to the control motherboard.
6. The tethered UAV power supply integration system with Buck-Boost converter circuit according to claim 1, characterized in that, The electronic speed controller is a dual-channel integrated ESC with redundancy switching function. The dual-channel integrated ESC switches at equal time intervals, with each equal time interval switching once every 60 seconds.
7. The tethered UAV power supply integration system with Buck-Boost converter circuit according to claim 1, characterized in that, The electronic speed controller assembly is embedded on one side of the Buck-Boost voltage regulating shunt. The main Buck-Boost topology and multiple secondary Buck-Boost topologies on the Buck-Boost voltage regulating shunt are encapsulated with sealant. The input terminal of the main Buck-Boost topology is provided with an input interface, and the output terminal of each electronic speed controller is provided with an output interface.
8. The tethered UAV power supply integration system with Buck-Boost converter circuit according to claim 1, characterized in that, The control signal line group includes multiple core wires (1) and core wire insulation sheath (2). The core wire (1) includes a copper core wire, a first insulating varnish layer, a copper powder layer, and a second insulating varnish layer. The diameter of the copper core wire is 0.3-0.4 mm. The copper core wire is coated with a first insulating varnish layer of 0.05-0.08 mm. The first insulating varnish layer is coated with copper powder of 0.10-0.15 mm. The copper powder layer is then coated with a wear-resistant second insulating varnish layer of 0.03-0.05 mm. The multiple core wires (1) are twisted together and then wrapped with the core wire insulation sheath (2). The two sets of high-power cable groups include four high-power cables, each high-power cable including a thick conductive copper core (3) and a first sheath (4). The diameter of the thick conductive copper core (3) is 1.5-2.0 mm, and the thickness of the first sheath (4) is 0.3-0.5 mm. The two sets of low-power cable groups include four low-power cables, each low-power cable including a thin conductive copper core (5) and a second sheath (6). The diameter of the thin conductive copper core (5) is 0.5-0.8 mm, and the thickness of the second sheath (6) is 0.2-0.3 mm. The tethered cable is wrapped with an outer sheath of 1-2 mm (7), and the overall diameter of the tethered cable is 6-10 mm.
9. A power supply method for a tethered drone power supply containing a Buck-Boost converter circuit, characterized in that, The tethered UAV power supply integrated system with Buck-Boost converter circuit as described in any one of claims 1-8 is used for power supply, and the specific method is as follows: S1: Connect the tether cable to the power supply interface of the drone to complete the connection; S2: The main battery or AC power module supplies power to the multi-output power board. The two output terminals of the multi-output power board are connected to a Boost converter. The Boost converter adjusts the voltage of the two power supplies to be less than 1V different. The two power supplies are transmitted through two sets of high-power cables. The multi-output power board then transmits two low-voltage power supplies from two sets of low-power cables. The output terminals of the two sets of high-power cables are connected in parallel and electrically connected to the input terminal of the main Buck-Boost topology. One set of low-power cables supplies power to the onboard motherboard, and the other set of low-power cables charges the onboard battery through the onboard motherboard. S3: The main Buck-Boost topology output terminal is electrically connected to the input terminals of multiple secondary Buck-Boost topologies. The voltage output of the secondary Buck-Boost topologies of multiple docking rotors is equal. Each rotor motor has an electronic speed controller connected to the output terminal of the secondary Buck-Boost topology. The electronic speed controller is used to control the motor speed. S4: The auxiliary battery supplies power to the control board. The control board is used to control the operation of the multi-output power supply board and the Boost boost board to regulate the voltage and current of the output power. The airborne main board is used to control the operation of the main Buck-Boost topology, multiple auxiliary Buck-Boost topologies and electronic speed controller group. The airborne main board transmits monitoring data to the control board through the control signal line group to coordinate the power supply of the multi-output power supply board. S5: When the ground power supply unit fails to supply power, the airborne motherboard activates the airborne battery to supply power to the main Buck-Boost topology input to stabilize the drone.