Electro Permanent Magnet

The Army Research Lab (ARL) has been working on wireless charging methods for drones and needs a way to easily attach and detach their drones from the charging point without taking too much power and space on the drone. Electropermanent magnets can be turned on and off but do not require constant power in the on stage which would be too strenuous on the drone. The ARL tasked UCI with developing a way to magnetically connect the drone to the charge surface quickly and have found EPMs to be the most viable option for this. Working with Professor Camilo Velez, we designed and fabricated a design of electro-permanent magnets (EPMs) within a metal casing that will allow for quick attachments and releases from the charge points. This prototype can produce a 60N normal holding force.