Drone Landing Performance in Windy Conditions: Comparing the Vertical and Horizontal Landing Approaches with the EAGLES Port

Abstract

Drone docking stations promote efficient operations of drones, but they usually support only one vehicle, and are accessible primarily through vertical landing. These limitations hinder multi-drone operations and result in challenges for fast, precise docking, particularly under severe wind conditions. This study assesses the EAGLES port, which uses a horizontal landing approach to address these challenges, and makes a performance comparison between horizontal and vertical landing through analysis of wind tunnel data. Results show that horizontal landing decreases the average landing duration by 35.58%, and can achieve 59.67% faster docking compared to vertical landing in optimal conditions. The system also provides near-zero position error at docking, and supports multiple drones. These advantages stem from improved flight stability, quicker alignment with landing targets, and a 2.8 times higher average velocity compared to vertical landing. These results indicate that vertical landing is better suited for missions with wider landing zones and where delays in landing have mild consequences, whereas horizontal landing excels in scenarios where rapid accurate landings are critical.