Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs)

Experimental Fuel Cell Power System Expands UAV Flight Capabilities

'Recent flights of the Spider-Lion fuel-cell-powered unmanned aerial vehicle have shed light on the potential for deploying fuel-cell technologies in the future. Researchers at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory designed the Spider-Lion, and while the aircraft itself is not intended as a tactical device, it will serve as a high-impact research platform for testing fuelcell technology. The two successful flights mark the first time a fuel-cell-powered unmanned aerial vehicle has flown for several hours.

Using a fuel cell instead of a battery on a small aircraft-under about 10 pounds-enables longer flight times and greater distance coverage. The U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), Washington, D.C., is working to develop a longendurance, persistent surveillance unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that can operate for up to 24 hours, which is a longer period of time than current capabilities allow. Small aircraft with traditional engines can fly for approximately eight hours, and battery-powered vehicles can fly for about one hour. Because batteries cannot deliver the required amount of sustained power to keep aircraft in the air for significant durations and because electric-powered UAVs have many advantages over unmanned vehicles that use combustion engines, researchers began looking for a power source that could both achieve longer flight times and take advantage of nontraditional power sources.'

Read more at Fuel Cell Today - Experimental Fuel Cell Power System Expands Flight Capabilities

Posted by Darren at March 22, 2006 09:59 PM | More from UAV News |