Estimation of Hovering Flight Time of Battery-Powered Multicopters

The estimation of hovering flight time of multicopters using the battery power propulsion system is important for the development and design of the aircraft and its operation. For a given operational weight, the maximum possible battery weight can be decided using both a conventional energy density method and a new Peukert law. In the present study, the hovering flight time is predicted using both methods. The specific data of multicopters in the published literatures were employed for the computation of the hovering flight time. The results were validated with the measured data. The effect of figure of merit of propeller, battery discharging process on the hovering flight time was evaluated, Finally, the effect of the battery cell and package connection types on the hovering time was investigated. It was found that the combination of serial battery cell connections and parallel package connection is the bast in the endurance maximization aspect. As the cell number increases in a package, the hovering flight time is increased. There exists the max. battery ratio for the given takeoff gross weight.