# Autonomous Drone Charging Station

> A solar-assisted, fully autonomous wired charging station that talks MAVLink. It was Mayfly's KOSGEB advanced-technology project; I designed the system architecture and wrote all the embedded firmware single-handedly.

URL: https://furkanisikay.com/projects/drone-sarj-istasyonu/

- Role: System architecture & embedded software (solo)
- Period: 2022 – 2023
- Status: Mayfly · KOSGEB Advanced Technology project
- Awards: KOSGEB-funded R&D
- Tech stack: STM32, C / C++, MAVLink, RFD900x, BMS, Güneş Enerjisi

## Highlights

- **600 W/h** solar output target
- **<60 dk** micro UAV charge
- **IP65** protection rating
- **3 km** communication range

## Overview

The biggest limit of rotary-wing UAVs is short flight time. This station lets drones land and charge by cable on their own, without human intervention. It was Mayfly's ~one-year, KOSGEB-funded advanced-technology R&D project.

## My Role

I designed the system architecture and wrote all of the STM32-based embedded firmware (C/C++) and the MAVLink communication single-handedly. This is where I first coded flawless MAVLink communication on an STM32 — my first professional step into industrial drone and MAVLink work.

## How It Works

The STM32 control board reads voltage/current sensors, drives step motors and relays, and communicates with the UAV over RFD900x using MAVLink. On the power side, a solar panel + grid backup is managed by a BMS for balanced charging. As the UAV approaches, the station's covers/panels open, the drone aligns and lands autonomously, and charges with no human intervention.

## Outputs & Engineering Targets

Target specs of the designed station: 600 W/h solar generation, grid backup, <50 kg, 1000×1000×1500 mm, 3 km comms range, <60 min charge for a micro UAV, IP65, portable by two people, compatible with different drone systems. In the first phase I experimentally verified that Li-Po cells can be charged this way with a 150 W panel and designed the balanced-charging (BMS) architecture. The project received significant KOSGEB funding.

## To build something like this

- Free discovery call: https://www.softivation.com/book-online
- E-mail: contact@furkanisikay.com
- Phone / WhatsApp: +90 850 242 21 60