A New In-Flight Recharging System Goals to Overcome Electrical Drones’ Largest Limitation—Battery Life
by DRONELIFE Workers Author Ian J. McNab
The web, GPS, and microwave ovens had been all the results of army analysis, and now, that ingenuity could be used to make drones that by no means should land. The U.S. Military Fight Capabilities Growth Command Military Analysis Laboratory, based mostly in Adelphi, Maryland, lately obtained a patent for a brand new drone tethering system, (serial #US2024286773) designed to increase drone capabilities by creating new recharging methods utilizing different UAVs.
The system is designed to ultimately enable for in-flight recharging of UAVs utilizing a central “power bank” drone that might cost up a number of flight mates, equally to how an air refueling aircraft like a KC-135 Stratotanker can restock fight planes, extending their mission timelines and making them extra survivable in mid-air.
The complete textual content of the summary reads as follows, describing “(a) powered drone tether and deployment system including a plurality of drone coupling/decoupling mechanisms which enable the coupling/decoupling thereto of rechargeable drones in flight. A lead drone may carry the drone tether so as to extend the tether from a base station supplying power thereto such that one or more rechargeable drones may attach to coupling/decoupling mechanisms for charging, and then detach from the coupling/decoupling mechanisms to perform independent flight tasks.”
Principally, the concept is to make drones fly longer, eradicating one of many largest challenges of electrical flight- battery life. The US army has clearly been focused on extending efficient flight size of UAVs, investing in or whitelisting many long-range drones As most drones are electrically powered, they wrestle over lengthy distances, the place gasoline, diesel, or aircraft-fuel powered UAVs can fly additional.
Nonetheless, if they might cost whereas in flight, the potential for electrically powered drones for use in long run, mounted positions for functions like surveillance or communications might exponentially enhance, giving the US army extra flexibility in dynamic working environments. A drone might be a movable watch tower, or a very versatile communications antenna system that might be remotely piloted to the place its wanted and left there to be robotically recharged by UAV.
Whereas we’re in all probability nonetheless a number of years off from seeing the tether imaginative and prescient absolutely realized, the long run vary of drones might be massively elevated in the event that they didn’t should land to recharge, making this an thrilling promise of issues to return.
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Ian McNabb is a workers author based mostly in Boston, MA. His pursuits embrace geopolitics, rising applied sciences, environmental sustainability, and Boston Faculty sports activities.
Miriam McNabb is the Editor-in-Chief of DRONELIFE and CEO of JobForDrones, an expert drone companies market, and a fascinated observer of the rising drone trade and the regulatory atmosphere for drones. Miriam has penned over 3,000 articles targeted on the business drone area and is a global speaker and acknowledged determine within the trade. Miriam has a level from the College of Chicago and over 20 years of expertise in excessive tech gross sales and advertising for brand new applied sciences.
For drone trade consulting or writing, Electronic mail Miriam.
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