Renewable UAV energy via blade rotation

A computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium having program instructions embodied therewith, the program instructions executable by a user device to cause the computer device to:

• obtain data from a database, the data defining an optimum charging location on a surface of a host vehicle of a particular vehicle type for charging a battery of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), wherein the charging location is one of multiple possible charging locations on the surface of the host vehicle, and wherein the optimum charging location is determined based on the particular vehicle type;
• monitor a distance from a current location of the UAV to a destination of the UAV while the UAV is docked on the host vehicle and charging a battery using wind-induced rotation of a rotor of the UAV;
• determine, based on the monitoring, the UAV is moving away from a destination while the UAV is docked on the host vehicle;
• and
• undock the UAV from the host vehicle based on the determining the UAV is moving away from the destination.

An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) system, comprising:

• a processor, a computer readable memory, and a computer readable storage medium;
• a rechargeable battery;
• a propulsion system comprising a motor and a rotor;
• a generator configured to recharge the battery using wind-induced rotation of the rotor;
• program instructions to determining an optimum charging location on a surface of a host vehicle to recharge the battery of the UAV, wherein the optimum charging location is selected from a plurality of possible charging locations on the surface of a host vehicle based on a type of the host vehicle;
• and
• program instructions to determine an optimum blade pitch of the rotor for recharging the battery when the UAV is docked on the host vehicle, and the host vehicle is in motion,
• wherein the program instructions are stored on the computer readable storage medium for execution by the processor via the computer readable memory.