Heavy batteries have long limited how far drones can fly and how much they can carry. British engineering startup The Structural Battery Company (The SB Co.) believes the solution is to make the battery part of the aircraft itself.
The company has developed Drone Spine, a structural battery that doubles as the drone’s load-bearing backbone.
Instead of carrying battery packs as separate components, the system stores electrical energy directly inside the airframe’s crossbeams.
By combining the aircraft’s structure and power source, Drone Spine frees up weight and internal space for larger payloads or additional propulsion systems.
Drone Spine structural battery
According to The SB Co., the design can increase both range and payload capacity by up to 50 percent.
Beyond military applications, Drone Spine-equipped drones could also support emergency medical deliveries, wildfire response, agriculture, and even small satellite deployment.
“The real-life benefits of this are transformative, not least to armed forces involved in conflicts,”
said John Moffat, chief executive officer of The SB Co.
“With drones increasingly becoming a core component of modern warfare, armed forces equipped with longer-range, heavier-payload uncrewed systems raise the cost of conflict for potential adversaries before a shot is fired, hopefully making wars less likely.”
Proof in Flight
The company said the system has already been tested to demonstrate its capabilities in real-world conditions.
During the demonstration, engineers integrated a 400-volt structural battery into the frame of a 600-kilogram (1,323-pound) heavy-lift drone, reducing the aircraft’s mass by 45 percent.
The drone then carried a 220-kilogram (485-pound) payload over 100 kilometers (62 miles), demonstrating capabilities the company said have traditionally been associated with manned aircraft.
The project was carried out with ISS Aerospace and Marshall Aerospace and received funding from the UK government’s Defence and Security Accelerator.
Source: NextGenDefense