A video caught my eye on fb but it wasn't what I expected -
The video shows a quadrocopter with some coils around the outsides of the motor arms flying over an array of coils, inducing a current on the stationary coil to power a small LED light.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=iE9hwguNQyg
Then I watched this video that shows wireless power transfer - used to charge electric toothbrushes for example.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1UT4NuygmQ&feature=related
The video clearly shows that there is a narrow band that the receiver has to be in for it to power the LED.
I'm thinking if there were a long-range version of this that could also track the multicopter, if it were kept in line-of-site, it might be able to power the multicopter, saving about 1.5Kgs in batteries.
Replies
Very short range, very low amounts of power actually transferred, and would put out illegal amounts of radio noise. There's a reason we're not driving around in electric cars powered by cables running under the roads. It's been proposed countless times, it's just not workable.