Apologies if someone else has already posted this interesting news story:
Wireless charging hotspots lets drones fly forever through in-air recharges
Wireless charging hotspots lets drones fly forever through in-air recharges
If your suggesting it won’t happen with our toy grade drones then yes, I can’t see it any time soon either. Seemingly it has well and truly happened through- the technology has been demonstrated to work. 10C charge rate.Uhmmm sorry if I sound sceptical, remote wireless charging....? no way, however happy to be proved wrong.
Waylander
They don’t land to charge so my guess is the answer to that question is an assumed obvious no.Would the batteries need to be cooled down before excepting a charge.
They don’t land to charge so my guess is the answer to that question is an assumed obvious no.
This isn’t a DJI drone. Nothing was said about the battery chemistry or what means might be employed to keep temperatures down. We know it is charging in flight however and might safely assume it isn’t running two seperate batteries to allow cool down before changing so the safe assumption is the battery doesn’t need to cool before charging.Yes I read it was an-in-air recharge, but the DJI manual states the batteries will only accept a charge when the temp is between 41 F and 104 F. My batteries typically go to 123 F and higher while flying.
The article claims a charge rate of 10C, this is possible with silicon dominant anode cells. In theory the cells could be charged to 75% capacity (from zero SOC) in 5 minutes. The operating temperature range (charge and discharge) is also significantly greater than for current graphite anode LiION tech. Silicon-dominant anodes also give 50% more capacity than current LiION for the same weight.Hi All
As I said earlier, I'm sceptical of the claim of in flight recharging.
Relate the charging of a battery to the gas tank on your car, with some precautions you could continually pump gas into the fuel tank with the engine running, ad-infinitum, but you would need to pump gas into the tank at a rate that matches or exceeds the fuel which is constantly being used.
A battery is similar to that, you can put charge into a battery whilst drawing current from it, but the charge current must exceed the current that is being consumed, I'm not saying that it is not possible, but as "With The Birds" own post, there will be cooling issues with the battery as well as the charging device, OK lots of air flow from the props and heat sinks could take care of that, but as he says what about the chemical reactions in the LiPo battery, I'm no expert, perhaps they have dealt with it.
My point is that the rate of charge must exceed the total current consumed by the drone, but batteries unlike fuel tanks can't take a fast refill ( like F1 race cars used to do, dump a full fuel load in a few seconds ) it takes time to charge a battery, so what will you do, ? hover near the charger for 40 minutes, whats the point...?
Maybe I'm missing something....
Waylander
Hi All
As I said earlier, I'm sceptical of the claim of in flight recharging.
Relate the charging of a battery to the gas tank on your car, with some precautions you could continually pump gas into the fuel tank with the engine running, ad-infinitum, but you would need to pump gas into the tank at a rate that matches or exceeds the fuel which is constantly being used.
A battery is similar to that, you can put charge into a battery whilst drawing current from it, but the charge current must exceed the current that is being consumed, I'm not saying that it is not possible, but as "With The Birds" own post, there will be cooling issues with the battery as well as the charging device, OK lots of air flow from the props and heat sinks could take care of that, but as he says what about the chemical reactions in the LiPo battery, I'm no expert, perhaps they have dealt with it.
My point is that the rate of charge must exceed the total current consumed by the drone, but batteries unlike fuel tanks can't take a fast refill ( like F1 race cars used to do, dump a full fuel load in a few seconds ) it takes time to charge a battery, so what will you do, ? hover near the charger for 40 minutes, whats the point...?
Maybe I'm missing something....
Waylander
The company apparently have a video on their website that’s two hours in length showing a drone continually in the air (including in-air recharging). Yes, in this day and age anything can be faked with CGI, but surely you’re not suggesting this? I’ve seen a shorter video that seemingly shows in-air recharging.
To repeat: the company have this system for sale.....now. So it must work?
You honestly admit that “you’re no expert” - whereas the company is run by Russian applied physicists, who presumably are experts.
The company apparently have a video on their website that’s two hours in length showing a drone continually in the air (including in-air recharging). Yes, in this day and age anything can be faked with CGI, but surely you’re not suggesting this? I’ve seen a shorter video that seemingly shows in-air recharging.
To repeat: the company have this system for sale.....now. So it must work?
You honestly admit that “you’re no expert” - whereas the company is run by Russian applied physicists, who presumably are experts.
Yes I see what they say and yes I understand that this is a developmental device, but what I am finding difficult to grasp is this:-
they have a 26' wide charging loop in which the drone(s) must hover to recharge.
With an output of 12KW the grid could charge 12 - 13 drones ( if each drone consumed 1500 watts during charging ), in such a small space.. to what end, ? and how long does it take to charge, somebody help me out with this, :- "What would you use such a system for...? " Doh..
Waylander
We can easily accept the developers claims on those numbers. 28 minutes flight could be achieved with less than 800wh giving ample margin for a 10C charge rate.I think you misread the article. The power transmission to the drone during charging peaks at 12 kW, while the drone is using 1.55 kW to hover.
I think you misread the article. The power transmission to the drone during charging peaks at 12 kW, while the drone is using 1.55 kW to hover.
Ah....yes Sar104 you are correct, I did miss read it, I thought it said that 12 Kw was available through the grid, and the drone consumed 1550 W during charging, that's still a lot of power consumed.
What I don't get ( forgive me if I missed something ) is WHY...? whats the point of consuming 1.55 KW just to hover, thats 1.5 bars on an electric heater, or the current consumed by a small electric kettle.
What the article does not say is how long it takes to charge the drone..
The science apart, why do it... why not land in the grid and charge up quicker.
Please some one tell me what it is I am missing, this is not an experimental concept, it's on sale, but I can't for the life in me see why you would want to spend $120 K for such a system... I understand "Near Field", charging systems, and how useful they are for many everyday devices, phones, toothbrushes etc, but this I don't get.. someone clue me in please....
Waylander
Ah....yes Sar104 you are correct, I did miss read it, I thought it said that 12 Kw was available through the grid, and the drone consumed 1550 W during charging, that's still a lot of power consumed.
What I don't get ( forgive me if I missed something ) is WHY...? whats the point of consuming 1.55 KW just to hover, thats 1.5 bars on an electric heater, or the current consumed by a small electric kettle.
What the article does not say is how long it takes to charge the drone..
The science apart, why do it... why not land in the grid and charge up quicker.
Please some one tell me what it is I am missing, this is not an experimental concept, it's on sale, but I can't for the life in me see why you would want to spend $120 K for such a system... I understand "Near Field", charging systems, and how useful they are for many everyday devices, phones, toothbrushes etc, but this I don't get.. someone clue me in please....
Waylander