Students at the Technion developed a means of refueling from a UAV (miniature pilotless aircraft) to the UAV

Each refueling will be enough for an additional 36 hours in the air

Students

 In the picture: the refueling tube with the wings and the camera at the end.

In the Faculty of Aeronautics and Space Engineering at the Technion, they succeeded in developing a means of refueling from UAV to UAV. The project will be presented at the annual Israeli conference for aviation and space, which will open on Wednesday this week in Tel Aviv and the Technion.
Ten students worked on the project, which lasted a year, under the direction of Professor Benny Landkoff and Robert Tsikle. In the first semester, the students focused on conducting surveys, at the end of which they decided to focus on the development of refueling means and not on the development of a refueling UAV. They developed a special algorithm, by means of which a camera located at the end of the refueling pipe operates. The camera focuses on a small red lamp that indicates its target, calculates the error between the pipe and the refueling opening and gives instructions to the vanes that guide the refueling pipe towards the opening. The camera can order not only the direction of the pipe but also its extension if necessary, from six to 12 meters.
Today there is no similar system on the market and the idea of ​​the technical system sparked interest at a conference on aerial refueling, where it was presented. This is a completely independent system, operated by a computer located in the refueling UAV, which carries 400 kilograms of fuel and is capable of refueling one additional UAV. The aerial refueling of the UAV will allow it to stay in the air for an additional 36 hours, between refueling and refueling.