An empirical study on generic multicopter energy consumption profiles

Unmanned Micro-aerial vehicles (MAVs) enjoy high popularity in various application fields. They are capable of flying autonomously, following the instructions received from a controlling ground entity. One physical limitation of all mobile robotic vehicles is the restricted energy storage capacity they are able to carry. All processes in a robotic system, prominently in-air movements, consume energy and are thereby defining the overall operation time limit. This paper presents results of an analysis of the energy consumption in various discrete movement states of a multicopter, measured for two different systems. Findings regarding a systematic relation between system and movement parameters and the energy consumption levels are discussed. Furthermore, a generic energy consumption profile model is presented and validated.