The study introduces a novel deployable solar power system for small rotary-wing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), inspired by origami. The primary goal is to overcome the short flight duration of small drones by enabling autonomous, sustainable charging.

The system features a large-area solar panel that utilizes a special hinge structure to achieve high compression ratios for storage and stable deployment. This allows the panel to be stowed compactly during flight to minimize aerodynamic drag, and then radially deployed after landing to convert to a solar charging mode.