Design of Tethered UAV Power Supply System with Dynamic Output Voltage Regulation Based on Virtual Compensation Algorithm

Abstract

With the rapid development of the low-altitude economy, tethered Unmanned Aerial Vehicles(UAV) have been widely adopted due to their advantages of long endurance, stable hovering, and low-latency data transmission. Traditional open-loop power supply control suffers from low voltage compensation accuracy and poor controllability of the airborne terminal voltage. This paper proposes a closed-loop power supply system that combines voltage feedback with a virtual compensation algorithm to enhance the dynamic stability and control accuracy of the high-voltage power supply. The system employs dual STM32F103C8T6 microcontrollers as its core and consists of airborne and ground units. The airborne unit collects voltage data and transmits it in real time via LoRa modules. Based on feedforward compensation, Proportional–Integral (PI) control, and an improved virtual compensation algorithm, the ground unit adjusts the high-voltage power supply through a Controller Area Network (CAN) bus and displays data via an Organic Light-Emitting Diode (OLED) screen. Additionally, a protective chassis is included for hardware protection. Test results show: Under ground power supply adjustable voltage from 350V to 450V and monitored in real time, experiments were conducted under 0-20 amperes load using 5Ω, 11.4Ω, and 16.4Ω cables. The results showed that the average deviation between the voltage measured by the high-precision voltage detector and the displayed drone voltage was 0.051 V. Regarding dynamic testing, the experiments simulated voltage responses to abrupt load transients. When the load suddenly increases or decreases, the output voltage will undergo a sudden change. However, the maximum change is only 3.26% of the original voltage, and it can return to the set voltage within 7 seconds, demonstrating high reliability. Facing the core requirements of power supply and intelligent perception for medium and high-end equipment, this achievement significantly improves the performance of high-voltage power supply and provides a technical paradigm for high reliable power supply for intelligent manufacturing. It not only reflects the cutting-edge development of mechatronics integration，but also lays a solid foundation for technical iteration and engineering application in related fields.