EXPERIMENTS INVOLVING A MICROWAVE BEAM TO POWER AND POSITION A HELICOPTER

This paper describes two different experiments involving a microwave beam and a helicopter. The first experiment utilized a CW microwave beam to supply a small helicopter with all of the power that it needed for its propulsion. The second experiment utilized an unmodulated CW microwave beam for supplying a position reference to the helicopter with respect to roll, pitch, yaw, and horizontal translation. The second experiment also involved the construction of a fully articulated helicopter and a complete control system carried on board the helicopter. The paper also attempts to relate the small scale experiments and the present state of component technology to practical, full scale microwave-powered helicopter systems that can operate at altitudes of up to 50 000 feet. Copyright © 1969 by The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.