Concept of Modular, Self-Supporting Cable for Powering the Hovering Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

Hovering unmanned aerial vehicles or drones can function as distant platforms for mounted sensors, as signal transceivers, or for other purposes. However, they must be tethered. The tether functions as a power cable that connects a tethered drone with a ground power unit. In this article, we developed a concept in which a power cable is of modular structure, consisting of mutually identical modules. Each module has motorised propellers and is capable of preserving itself in a given, hovering position. We formulated an equation for electric current that, for a given set of parameters, makes hovering of a drone with such a modular cable possible. The developed concept does not show significant improvement in maximum height reached by the drone. The underlying causes are extracted from a set of assumptions that define the concept