This Drone Can Fly Forever Without a Battery
One of the biggest limitations to advancements in drones is the battery. If we want a drone to fly longer and farther, we have to give it a bigger battery. But then, the drone becomes heavy and it subsequently reduces the drone’s flight time. This conundrum is like the chicken and egg theory about which comes first. The only solution to this is a drone powered by a source far from it. Finally, a researcher has cracked the issue of using wireless power to keep a drone flying.
Dr. Samer Aldhaher, of the Imperial College London, seems to finally solved the drone’s power source problem by creating a lightweight battery-less drone hovering in place. This drone is powered only by the wireless power transmitter beneath it. Dr.Aldhaher’s demo solves the problem of having batteries aboard a drone and is another wonderful step towards ditching batteries altogether.
The wireless power drone technology is still in its nascent stage so don’t expect this particular quadcopter to make a cross-country flight without batteries in tow. This tech demo only has the drone flying about five inches above its wireless power base, with minor side-to-side movements.
For such a technology to work over great distance, it will require extensive infrastructure. While many believe that wireless power technology is the future of tech, it is still in its infancy.
