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About

Steven Dobbs is an emerging researcher and engineer whose work centers on advancing unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technology, with particular expertise in autonomous battery management systems, power regeneration, and extended-endurance UAV design. Based at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, Dobbs has led and contributed to innovative student engineering projects that tackle one of the most persistent challenges in electric UAV operation: limited flight time. His most notable contributions include the development of a fully autonomous battery swapping system for small-scale UAVs, detailed across multiple publications, which employs a rotating battery chamber mechanism to seamlessly store, manage, and distribute lithium-polymer batteries without human intervention — a significant step toward practical long-duration drone missions. His work on the BANSHEE UAV platform and airplane-quadcopter hybrid designs further demonstrates his commitment to integrating structural batteries and in-flight power regeneration to maximize endurance and minimize weight. With citations accumulating across publications from 2022 to 2025, Dobbs' research is gaining meaningful traction within the UAV engineering community. His contributions represent an important bridge between academic prototyping and real-world autonomous aerial systems, making his work particularly valuable for students and researchers exploring the future of sustainable, long-endurance drone technology.