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This paper aims to describe the mechanical aspects of unmanned Mothership Plane and Sensing Drones. The presented conceptual system shows the idea and possible way of designing different sizes and objective systems based on experience gained during the SAE Aero Design Competition.

The UAS is based on a SAE Aero Design Competition designed and manufactured Mothership Plane converted to a high endurance platform modified to launch up to six small copters. The process of designing and converting the Mothership is described. The methodology of selecting and planning either the structure or hardware of the drones is presented.

A key finding is that the presented conception of mothership plane deploying in flight a group of small sensing multirotors is achievable. Moreover, the modular build of the system provides the possibility to adapt currently existing unmanned aircrafts to be converted to the described mothership plane.

To conduct flight tests and to study encountered problems. Presentation of the unmanned aerial system (UAS) concept that can be used to scan an area and create 3D maps for Search and Rescue missions as well as agriculture applications.

The paper describes the conceptual approach to design a UAS consisting of the mothership plane and the sensing drones. The paper highlights the potential solutions gained by using such a UAS. The focus is to present a technology and system that can perform real time observations in widespread and difficult to reach areas.

The purpose of this paper is to improve the efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) which present promising low-cost alternative to the conventional silicon solar cells mainly due to comparatively low manufacturing cost, ease of fabrication and relatively good efficiency. One of the undesirable factor in DSSCs is the electron recombination process that takes place at the transparent conductive oxide/electrolyte interface, on the side of photoelectrode. To reduce this effect in the structure of the solar cell, a TiO₂ blocking layer (BL) by atomic layer deposition (ALD) was deposited.

Scanning electron microscope, Raman and UV-Vis spectroscopy were used to evaluate the influence of BL on the photovoltaic properties. Electrical parameters of manufactured DSSCs with and without BL were characterized by measurements of current-voltage characteristics under standard AM 1.5 radiation.

The TiO₂ BL prevents the physical contact of fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) and the electrolyte and leads to increase in the cell’s overall efficiency, from 5.15 to 6.18%. Higher density of the BL, together with larger contact area and improved adherence between the TiO₂ layer and FTO surface provide more electron pathways from TiO₂ to FTO which facilitates electron transfer.

This paper demonstrates that the introduction of a BL into the photovoltaic device structure is an important step in technology of DSSCs to improve its efficiency. Moreover, the ALD is a powerful technique which allows for the highly reproducible growth of pinhole-free thin films with excellent thickness accuracy and conformality at low temperature.