While the technology is still at an early stage, it may one day allow drones to fly indefinitely.

Scientists in China have demonstrated a wireless power transmission system that uses a ground-based microwave emitter to beam energy to an antenna array mounted on the aircraft’s underside. Importantly, they were able to do this while both the drone and charging system were in motion.

In tests, the car-mounted system kept fixed-wing drones in the air for up to 3.1 hours at an altitude of 15 metres (49 feet). The key challenge that the team overcame was maintaining alignment between the emitter and the drone during flight, wrote Song Liwei, the project’s leader.

    • sp3ctr4l@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
      41·
      6 hours ago

      We don’t even have automated battery replacement working on the ground, while stationary.

      Building aircraft with a whole bunch of their body and mass that significantly changes, in flight, is extremely expensive and difficult.

      Its why the V22 Osprey is widely regarded as a death trap, why we stopped building swing wing F-14s.

      … Have you ever tried to uh, remove your car’s rear seats, while on the highway, at 60 mph, and then also installed new seats, from a neaby car travelling alongside you?

      Ok now do that with aircraft, at 15k feet, going 600 mph.

      Yeah I’m sure that’ll be about as efficient as Elon Musk’s approach to designing the Starship+HeavyBooster.

      • zaphod@sopuli.xyzEnglish
        1·
        6 hours ago

        Yeah I’m sure that’ll be about as efficient as Elon Musk’s approach to designing the Starship+HeavyBooster.

        Compared to microwave energy transmission which has even worse efficiency.

        Ok now do that with aircraft, at 15k feet, going 600 mph.

        This is about drones. At 5 km distance and close to mach 1 you can absolutely forget any microwave based charging systems.