Predicting the RUL of Li-Ion Batteries in UAVs Using Machine Learning Techniques

Abstract

Over the past decade, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have begun to be increasingly used due to their untapped potential. Li-ion batteries are the most used to power electrically operated UAVs for their advantages, such as high energy density and the high number of operating cycles. Therefore, it is necessary to estimate the Remaining Useful Life (RUL) and the prediction of the Li-ion batteries’ capacity to prevent the UAVs’ loss of autonomy, which can cause accidents or material losses. In this paper, the authors propose a method of prediction of the RUL for Li-ion batteries using a data-driven approach. To maximize the performance of the process, the performance of three machine learning models, Support Vector Machine for Regression (SVMR), Multiple Linear Regression (MLR), and Random Forest (RF), were compared to estimate the RUL of Li-ion batteries. The method can be implemented within UAVs’ Predictive Maintenance (PdM) systems.