The 6 known ways to power a drone

Drones are becoming an integral part of our lives. They can do many things, and will be able to do more once equipped with artificial intelligence. But one issue remains – their short battery lives. So far, here are the 6 known ways to power your drone.

1. Batteries

Most drones we see are powered by lithium-polymer batteries (LiPos) which only last for for about 20 minutes, depending on your load.

Using this as your power source means that you will have to bring your drone down to replace or recharge the battery quite often. LiPos work on the principle of intercalation and de-intercalation of lithium-ions from a positive electrode material and a negative electrode material, with liquid electrolyte providing a conductive medium. To prevent the electrodes from touching each other directly, a microporous separator is placed in between, which allows only the ions, and not the electrode particles, to migrate from one side to another.

2. Solar power

Drones powered with solar power usually have solar cells attached to their wings. They utilize solar power to fly when the sun is up, while simultaneously storing power in the battery for flying without sunlight as a source of backup power.

This power source is ideal if your drone is meant to stay in the air indefinitely. The most recent breakthrough is an 81-hour flight by Atlantik Solar!

3. Hydro fuel cell

Intelligent Energy has been researching and developing a hydrogen fuel cell for use in the aerospace, automotive, consumer electronics and distributed power & generation markets.

Last March, they successfully demonstrated their hydrogen-powered drone. This fuel cell can take your drone for a spin for about two hours, while the traditional LiPo battery can only last for about 20 minutes. They also claim that the refuelling process is done almost instantly, while a LiPo battery takes a relatively long time to bring itself to full charge.

4. Combustion engine

5.Tethered

6.Laser transmitter