Looks like Hydrogen fuel cells aren't the only game
in town.
Back in June 2015 Boeing has patented a system to
make Drones, specifically dirigibles, stay aloft for longer periods of time as
noted in the article “Boeing
just patented a drone that can fly forever”, published Jun. 5, 2015 by
Benjamin Zhang, BusinessInsider.
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Instead of using hydrogen fuel cells as is the idea
of Intelligent Energy’s as described in my blog article
entitled “Why
Intelligent Energy’s Drone Hydrogen Fuel Cell will make 2 Hour flights a
reality”, the idea is use conductive tethers.
The patent US9045218B2
titled AUTONOMOUS AIRCRAFT WITH DISCONNECTABLE TETHER was granted on Tuesday
June 2, 2015 is as shown below.
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So how exactly does this work?
How
the Boeing disconnectable Tether patent works – Charging Hydrogen Fuel cells
via solar possible
The battery-powered dirigibles or drones deploy a
retractable tether that connects to connect to a power source.
When fully charged, the drone automatically flies
off to complete its programmed task. Then another drone will slide in to also
be recharged in a similar manner.
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This is basically an all-electric refueling station
for fleets of drones mounted on a high enough elevation so that the drone can
recharge. It also implies that the drone has to have the ability to hover.
The drone would also have to be programmed to deploy
the tether when it has enough energy to remain hovering while drawing power to
recharge.
When this patent will become real is not clear, but
it'll help Boeing to market their dirigibles drones to the US Army as this will
make them easier to maintain and refuel. Still, Hydrogen fuel cells would be a
good look as well as Solar Recharging to maintain then in the sky indefinitely.
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