Drones Need Mid-Air Re-fueling

Currently most drones manage to fly for 15-30 minutes , before their onboard batteries run down

But there are many uses where drones need to keep flying for hours , eg :

·         Monitoring highways / pipelines

·         Rescuing persons lost at sea

A more glamorous application could be, drones  “ following / chasing “ our MPs / MLAs [ or film stars ? ] , as suggested in my following blog :

#    CCTV grabs ( through  Skydio R1  drones ? ) /  Skype Video Calls

{ Source : https://myblogepage.blogspot.com/2018/02/artificial-intelligence-to-fix-mp-mla.html   /  22  Feb  2018  }

Just learned that Skydio R1 is about to be commercially launched in a few weeks. Read :

https://medium.com/the-new-york-times/the-autonomous-selfie-drone-is-here-is-society-ready-for-it-e90f0f7d1571  

Highlights :

Skydio’s  basic goal was a drone that requires no pilot.

When you launch the R1 using a smartphone app, you have your subject stand in front of the drone, then tap that person on the screen — now it’s locked on.

You can also select one of several “cinematic modes,” which specify the direction from which the drone will try to record its subject. ( It can even predict your path and stay ahead of you to shoot a selfie from the front.)

the R1 gets 16 minutes per flight, compared with around 20 for competing drones (but it will ship with two batteries, allowing for another flight after a quick swap out).

What happens when dozens or hundreds of runners and bikers and skiers and hikers and tourists begin setting out their own self-flying GoPros to record themselves ? 

Colin Snow, a drone industry analyst, pointed out to me that federal regulations require users to keep drones in their line of sight — and a drone that follows you is technically not in your line of sight.


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My  Take  :

Obviously, Skydio R1 is ideal for “ autonomous flying “ ( uncontrolled by an operator )

But how to overcome its limitation of battery lasting only 16 minutes ?

Answer : 

Mid-air “ re-charging “ of batteries, much the same way, fighter jets get mid-air refueling !

We already have mobile phones getting recharged “ wirelessly “ , using charging pads ( some , not even needing contact ! )

I have no doubt that the Chinese drone ( manufacturing ) giant , DJI  will someday soon, come up with this technology

{  Indian Drone Manufacturers take note of the potential of such an innovation !  }

And as far as the “ regulation “ ( India Drone Policy ),

*Drones must only be flown during daylight and maintain full visual line of sight at all times “   

I have suggested a solution at :

Drone – a – Charya  

07  Sept  2018

www.hemenparekh.in / blogs