Drones charge ahead - Princeton Engineering

Drone flying over a field on a partly sunny day.

Working with Assistant Professor Minjie Chen, Princeton University undergraduate researchers are developing a system that would allow drones to automatically recharge their batteries at solar-powered charging stations (the stations are also designed to work for cellular phones.)

The work, aimed at extended drones’ operation time, is part of the Andlinger Center’s effort to find sustainable alternatives for resource-intensive tasks. The project is supported in part by the Peter B. Lewis Fund for Student Innovation in Energy and the Environment and the Dede T. Bartlett P03 Fund for Student Research in Energy and the Environment, both managed by the Andlinger Center.

The students working on the research project are Abdulghafar Al Tair, Alex Ju and Fida Newaj.

(Video by Aaron Nathans, Office of Engineering Communications, with footage from the Power Electronics Lab at Princeton University.)