Assistant Professor of Engineering Charles Thangaraj will lead collaborative project funded by an Innovation Voucher from the Rhode Island Commerce Corporation.
BRISTOL, R.I. – The capabilities of autonomous vehicles, both in the air and underwater, is revolutionizing our ability to work in remote locations. Whether it’s capturing data from the ocean floor, collecting photos from high above or delivering supplies to faraway places, autonomous vehicles are increasingly getting the job done. That is, at least, until they run out of power.
Now, that might be changing. A Roger Williams University engineering expert is teaming up with a local renewable-energy solar firm on a project funded by the Rhode Island Commerce Corporation to design a custom wireless charging system to power drones and autonomous underwater vehicles in remote locations.
Assistant Professor of Engineering Charles Thangaraj has been enlisted by PowerDocks of Newport, a builder of floating solar-energy platforms for the marine industry, to engineer a wireless charging system into their off-grid docking stations. The $29,554 Innovation Voucher awarded last month will fund the research and development of wireless renewable-energy charging stations for land, underwater and surface-water uses for unmanned air vehicles and autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs). Researchers will investigate both solar and wind options for generating the electricity that will be stored for charging autonomous vehicles.
“Drones and AUVs run on battery power, and sometimes operate far from civilization, deep in the mountains and forests, or undersea, where it’s not easy to get to them or get them out of the water to plug them in for a charge,” Thangaraj says. “With a wireless charging system, the vehicle can dock and charge itself, allowing for longer periods of continuous operation in the field.”
Thangaraj will lead a team of engineering students to conduct the research and design at HawkWorks, the University’s 5,600-square-foot fabrication facility located in downtown Bristol. The project will begin next year.