Landing a drone to recharge might become obsolete in the near future. Drones require constant refueling in order for flight sustainability. Most commercial drones max out at thirty minutes. Mini-drones have an even smaller battery life of just fifteen minutes. The larger drones get, the more power they require. Charging heavy drones can take a while and yet result in
A wireless tech company called the Global Energy Transmission (GET) launched an innovative solution to wireless drone charging which could revolutionize flight time of UAVs. With their technology, drones might never have to land to recharge again. William Kallman described how his company has found a way to use an electromagnetic field to keep drones in the air indefinitely. According to Kallman, GET has managed to create a ‘Power Cloud’ that can recharge a drone in its flight.
The system comprises a ground-based power station with a frame of wires positioned in a roughly circular shape. When turned on, this creates an electromagnetic field in the air near the station. The specially customized drones have antennas equipped onboard and when these drones fly into this power cloud, they recharge themselves.
The Power Cloud technology looks promising as a charge of 8 minutes gives the drone 30 minutes of flight time. The technology is still developing further and currently, the set-up comprising a GET power station and two specially customized drones (each capable of carrying a payload of 7 Kg) cost $120,000.
The technology might be expensive and not necessarily accessible by the everyday consumer but it is a surely promising aspect in the area of package delivery, search and rescue and other industrial applications.
Watch GET demonstrate this fascinating technology:
