Mechanical Engineering students at Embry‑Riddle Aeronautical University teamed up to retrofit a fixed-wing drone with a hydrogen fuel cell system — a technically complex and ambitious undertaking.
Category Archives: Research
High-Powered Lasers can Wirelessly Charge Drones Mid-Flight
Chinese researchers have revealed a new technology that could soon enable drones to charge mid-flight using high-powered lasers. Continue reading
US Army and Auriga Space to Develop Low-Cost Electromagnetic Weapons Against Drone Swarms
Auriga Space and the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Armaments Center (DEVCOM AC) have signed a three-year Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) to advance electromagnetic (EM) accelerators as a lower-cost, high-cadence solution to counter Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS). Continue reading
How to Make an Invisible Drone
In a paper presented last week at Robotics Science and Systems 2026 in Sydney, roboticists from Northwestern University, Evanston, Ill., demonstrated a drone called Phantom Twist that is essentially invisible to humans, being an order of magnitude more difficult to see in flight than a typical quadrotor. Continue reading
China’s 800-Cycle Lithium-Sulfur Battery Could Double Drone Flight Time
Chinese researchers have developed a new approach to significantly enhance the performance of lithium-sulfur batteries, a breakthrough that could one day enable drones to fly much farther on a single charge. Continue reading
Killer Drone Downs Intruder Drones with Metal Chains
Researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have developed a new concept for drone defence: Thin chains are fired at incoming drones, entangled in their rotors, and bring them down in a controlled manner. Simulations and initial field tests demonstrate the basic functionality of this approach. Continue reading
Otto Aerospace Laminar-Flow Aircraft Flight Test Advances DARPA Research
Otto Aerospace has announced the successful completion of a flight-test campaign for its unmanned drone aircraft designed around its proven laminar-flow technology, which dramatically reduces aerodynamic drag by maintaining smooth, uninterrupted airflow over an aircraft’s surfaces. Continue reading
Pierce Aerospace Selected to Build Remote ID Network for NASA
Pierce Aerospace, a pioneer in Remote ID technologies, announced that it has been selected by Metis Technology to deploy Remote ID sensors throughout the Silicon Valley and San Francisco Bay Area. Continue reading