ABSTR ACT
The aim of this paper is to explore bioinspired
vertiport designs—a hub for drones’ vertical takeoff
and landing (VTOL) and servicing, also referred to
as a nesting station, docking station, hangar, or
landing station—for drone swarms tasked with specific
missions. The vertiport system design is inspired
by tree structures, with branches represented by
capsules that house drones. Solar panels mounted
on actuators at the top of the vertiport adjust their
orientation to maximize sun exposure, supplying
power to the vertiport’s isolated grid for continuous
energy day and night. A weather station located
at the top transmits data to a computing system,
ensuring environmental safety for drone operations.
The vertiport’s key components include capsules that
open and close during drone launch and landing.
Each capsule is equipped with charging contacts for
the drones, AprilTags to facilitate precise landing, and
a mechanism to center the drone within the capsule
upon closure. Designed to protect the drones from
environmental conditions, these capsules feature
robust structures capable of withstanding harsh
weather, ensuring the drones are safeguarded inside.
This design highlights the potential of bioinspired
approaches in creating efficient vertiport systems.
KEYWORDS: AprilTags, bioinspiration, drones, vertiports,
precision landing
1. Introduction
Orphaned, abandoned, or inactive wells are natural oil and gas
wells that have been decommissioned or left unmanaged by
fossil fuel extraction companies due to low production capacity
or lack of economic viability. Once a well is declared aban-
doned, the extraction company deactivates it. While these wells
no longer produce oil or gas, they continue to emit methane
into the environment. Methane, a flammable natural gas, is
harmful to both the environment and human health and is a
significant contributor to global warming due to its impact on
the ozone layer [1].
Methane emissions from orphaned wells occur because
many of these wells are left unplugged after being aban-
doned plugging wells is an expensive process. It is estimated
that across the United States, there are approximately 2.15
million unplugged orphaned wells still releasing methane
and carbon dioxide, with an annual emission rate equiva-
lent to 7.11 million metric tons. This amount of greenhouse
gas is comparable to the emissions produced by 1.54 million
vehicles running for a year [2]. To address this issue, the US
Department of the Interior allocated US$4.7 billion in January
2022 to plug orphaned wells across the country [3]. However,
climate-focused think tanks estimate that fully plugging all
documented orphaned wells in the US could cost around
US$280 billion [4]. Given the high cost of the plugging process,
it would be more efficient to prioritize wells that are emitting
methane at the highest rates. To do this effectively, we must
first identify which wells are the largest emitters at each site.
This task is challenging because many orphaned wells are
located in remote areas that are difficult for humans to access
and can be hazardous to their health. Therefore, developing an
automated process that can autonomously survey these sites
and detect wells with high methane emission rates without
human intervention would be highly effective. In this paper,
we propose a method to identify orphaned wells with high
methane emissions using a drone vertiport concept. Inspired
by nature, this concept combines an autonomous vertiport
system with a drone swarm [5].
The drone vertiport system supports the detection of
methane emissions from orphaned wells by serving as a
storage, charging, and landing hub for drones equipped with
sensing tools. It also offers a valuable solution for enabling
maintenance tasks in smart cities, towns, and villages [6–11].
While the emphasis of this work is on the design and function-
ality of the bioinspired vertiport system, the methane detection
BIOINSPIRED VERTIPORT SYSTEM DESIGN FOR
SUPPORTING DRONE SWARMS IN METHANE
GAS DETECTION FROM ORPHANED WELLS
FAHAD MANNAN†, LOGAN MOORE†, JORGE QUIROGA‡, ARTHUR WIETHARN†,
SIHUA SHAO§, XIANG SUN††, AND MOSTAFA HASSANALIAN*†
ME
|
TECHPAPER
*Corresponding author: mostafa.hassanalian@nmt.edu
† Department of Mechanical Engineering, New Mexico Tech, Socorro, NM 87801
‡ Department of Electrical Engineering, New Mexico Tech, Socorro, NM 87801
§ Department of Electrical Engineering, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO
80401
†† Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of New
Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131
Materials Evaluation 83 (4): 36–50
https://doi.org/10.32548/2025.me-04484
©2025 American Society for Nondestructive Testing
36
M AT E R I A L S E V A L U AT I O N • A P R I L 2 0 2 5

task itself is carried out by drones equipped with appropriate
sensing technologies. The vertiport facilitates these missions by
providing a reliable infrastructure for drone storage, charging,
and precise landing in remote or challenging environments.
The concepts of smart cities and drone vertiports are closely
related, as various maintenance operations in smart cities can
be carried out using the autonomous drone vertiport system,
reducing the need for human involvement, saving time, and
lowering costs. This system is fully autonomous and powered
by solar energy. The vertiports are designed to resemble
tree-like structures, inspired by nature, where the drones are
housed in capsules that function like tree branches, providing
protection and maintenance for the drones [12].
The rest of the paper is organized as follows: Section 2
explores the role of drones in smart cities and their potential
applications. Section 3 discusses the design of drone vertiports,
including considerations for support systems. Section 4 focuses
on the structural analysis of the drone vertiport. Section 5
examines power supply solutions for the drone vertiport.
Section 6 delves into the integration of drones with vertiports,
including precision landing techniques. Section 7 outlines
future work and development areas. Finally, Section 8 presents
the conclusions.
2. Smart Cities and Drones
The rising interest in drones for urban operations has led to
significant investments due to their versatility and efficiency in
tasks like traffic monitoring, parcel delivery, and farmland irri-
gation [13–22]. In smart cities, drones assist with surveillance,
emergency responses, and firefighting, while in towns and
villages, they are used for crop irrigation and livestock monitor-
ing, showcasing their adaptability to diverse environments [6].
Beyond agriculture and recreational markets, drones are
now employed in industrial site evaluations, hazard identi-
fication, structural health monitoring, wildlife surveys, and
atmospheric analysis, emphasizing their role in environmental
monitoring [23–27]. Additionally, drones carrying emergency
equipment, such as defibrillators and fire-extinguishing can-
isters, have proven effective in lifesaving and first-responder
operations [28, 29].
Drones are increasingly being integrated into goods
delivery systems, with companies like Alphabet and Amazon
leading the way. Regulatory frameworks such as the US
FAA’s Part 135 Air Carrier Certification and UTM (Unmanned
Aircraft System Traffic Management) framework are critical
for ensuring safe and efficient operations in urban airspaces
[30–36]. While these regulations primarily focus on drone
operations in populated areas, they also emphasize the
importance of reliable infrastructure, such as vertiports, to
support autonomous drone missions. Our vertiport design
aligns with these regulatory requirements by providing a
robust and safe system for drone storage, charging, and
precise landing, enabling compliance with emerging urban
airspace management standards.
2.1. Drone Support and Vertiports
Recent advancements in wired and wireless charging systems
have enabled drones to recharge autonomously. Wired
systems, such as contact-based charging pads, and wireless
methods, including inductive power transfer and resonant
coupling, eliminate the need for manual intervention [37–39].
Nesting stations like SkyX’s xStation and Volatus Aerospace’s
AeriePort extend drone range by providing temporary housing,
charging, and telemetry for operations spanning hundreds
of miles. These stations also mitigate the impact of adverse
weather and GPS limitations by guiding drones to safe loca-
tions [40, 41].
The current state of drone infrastructure is largely focused
on singular hangars, which are designed to support individual
drones. While effective for limited operations, these designs
lack scalability and efficiency, especially in high-traffic environ-
ments such as smart cities or remote locations requiring large-
scale drone deployments. In this paper, we aim to address this
limitation by developing a bioinspired vertiport system capable
of supporting multiple drones simultaneously. This approach
not only optimizes space utilization but also enhances the
operational efficiency of autonomous drone systems. Urban
environments, however, require innovative solutions due to
limited real estate and high drone traffic. Approaches like
resonant wireless power systems and high-powered lasers
have shown potential but are still in developmental stages [42,
43]. Companies like Amazon and DJI have proposed using
existing urban infrastructure, such as lampposts and rooftops,
for drone docking and charging, enabling scalable operations
in densely populated areas [44–45]. Independent companies
like SkyX, Volatus Aerospace, Matternet, Heisha, Hextronics,
and Skycharge are also developing autonomous charging
stations that serve both housing and communication purposes.
Additionally, the development of larger, multi-drone hubs
could provide significant benefits in smart cities by optimizing
space and supporting high-volume operations [46–50].
2.2. Bioinspired Drone Vertiports
Nature offers innovative inspirations for drone vertiport
designs, such as blooming flowers, bird nests, and paper wasp
nests, to address challenges like environmental protection,
modularity, and scalability [12]. Flower-inspired designs use
petal-like capsules to encapsulate drones, providing protec-
tion from the elements and interference. Similarly, water lilies
inspire floating vertiports like FlyOnE’s Lilypad Elevate™, which
could serve coastal or aquatic operations, although these
open-top designs may be less effective at protecting drones
from harsh weather conditions [51, 52]. Mobile stations inspired
by carrion beetles can combine drones with unmanned
ground vehicles (UGVs) for tasks like delivering packages or
accessing challenging terrains, but their open structure may
also expose drones to environmental elements [53]. Bird nest–
inspired designs elevate drones above ground-level activity,
making them ideal for urban recharging hubs while provid-
ing some degree of weather protection. In contrast, paper
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