Multicopters are among the most versatile mobile robots. Their applications range from inspection and mapping tasks to providing vital reconnaissance in disaster zones and to package delivery. The range, endurance, and speed a multirotor vehicle can achieve while performing its task is a decisive factor not only for vehicle design and mission planning, but also for policy makers deciding on the rules and regulations for aerial robots. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this work proposes the first approach to estimate the range, endurance, and optimal flight speed for a wide variety of multicopters. This advance is made possible by combining a state-of-the-art first-principles aerodynamic multicopter model based on blade-element-momentum theory with an electric-motor model and a graybox battery model. This model predicts the cell voltage with only 1.3% relative error (43.1 mV), even if the battery is subjected to non-constant discharge rates. Our approach is validated with real-world experiments on a test bench as well as with flights at speeds up to 65 km/h in one of the world's largest motion-capture systems. We also present an accurate pen-and-paper algorithm to estimate the range, endurance and optimal speed of multicopters to help future researchers build drones with maximal range and endurance, ensuring that future multirotor vehicles are even more versatile.

翻译：多旋翼飞行器是最具多功能性的移动机器人之一，其应用涵盖巡检测绘、灾区关键侦察以及包裹投递等领域。多旋翼飞行器在执行任务时能够实现的航程、续航和速度不仅是飞行器设计与任务规划的关键因素，也直接影响决策者制定空中机器人相关法规。据作者所知，本文首次提出一种适用于多种多旋翼飞行器的航程、续航与最优飞行速度估算方法。该突破通过融合基于叶素动量理论的最先进气动第一性原理多旋翼模型、电动机模型及灰箱电池模型实现。即便电池承受非恒定放电率，该模型预测的电池单元电压相对误差仅为1.3%（43.1毫伏）。本方法经实验台架实际测试及全球最大运动捕捉系统中最高时速达65公里/小时的飞行验证。此外，我们提出一种精确的笔算算法用于估算多旋翼飞行器的航程、续航与最优速度，以帮助未来研究者建造具备最大航程与续航能力的无人机，确保未来多旋翼飞行器具备更强的多功能性。