Near-field Wireless Power Transfer Technology for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles: A Systematical Review

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) technology has seen a significant boost over the past ten years and has been widely adopted in entertainment, rescue, intelligent transportation, no-touch delivery, environmental monitoring, and other real-world applications. However, the ranging limitation due to the shortage of battery energy capacity remains a major issue hindering further development of UAVs. Wireless power transfer (WPT) technology is a new technology of great potentials in improving the endurance of UAVs. The integration of WPT into UAV not only activates the recharging of UAVs batteries but also enables UAVs to recharge other devices. Moreover, wireless charging technology allows the device to be fully enclosed and suitable for harsh weather conditions. In this article, we present a comprehensive review in regard to the state-of-the-art of near-field WPT technologies for UAV charging, including technologies characteristics, design issues, as well as multiple case studies. A comparative analysis of existing technologies is also presented, associated with key future research discussions of WPT for UAVs.