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Need your UAV opinion - Connectorless charging capability

Posted by Sandie on April 3, 2015 at 10:30am

Hi flyers,

I need your opinion on a new technology we have developed for the UAV community. We have a connectorless charging runway mat that you can land your UAV on and charge it anywhere. All that would be needed to use this is a small receiver retrofit kit that attaches to your aircraft. We are working on an affordable price point for this type of technology. I would like to hear from everyone on their opinions and would you pay between $99-$199 for this? (see photo below for sample)

Thank you!

best, Sandie

connectorless, mat, power

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Comments

Kris Kitchen April 3, 2015 at 6:48pm

I am going to poke holes in this idea, to save time and energy.

1. Lipo? No way

2. LiFe, Yes please, (Solidstate battery would be cool too)

3. Repair, how often? Could you make the charger come to the drone instead?

4. Power source for the landing pad? Solar please!, storage!?, Elon Musk would know better than me

5. I like this idea, I love the price point, How do you prevent fires due to shorts and murphys law

6. Remove maintenance by humans and let bots do that work.
Acorn April 3, 2015 at 5:51pm

$100 - $200 sounds reasonable.
Acorn April 3, 2015 at 5:50pm

It would depend on how long it takes to charge and can more than one charge at a time. Flying clubs would have an interest.
Benjamin Pelletier April 3, 2015 at 2:12pm

Seems awfully expensive -- couldn't I do this myself with just a balance plug split out to four conductive balls on the landing gear, and then four pieces of aluminum foil running to the balance plug of the charger? The big problem though is that most people want to fly their drone for more than 1 battery's worth in a row, and in that case I think this product becomes nearly worthless.
Justice Bentz April 3, 2015 at 1:07pm

Yes.
Gabriel Sölvi Windels April 3, 2015 at 12:48pm

Seems useful in autonomous drone industries such as delivery and scouting.

It'll have to have a low weight and easy installation/integration. If those two are met I'd be willing to pay something like 115 $ for each drone being upgraded with the system depending on how fast it charges. Which'd be a major factor if you're going to be competing with battery swap mechanisms in near future.
James Slizewski April 3, 2015 at 12:45pm

Cool idea. Would it be fully automated? Example: I want to set my quad to take off at 10am every morning, do a lap around Skullcrusher mountain looking for escapees, then land on your charging mat to await the next morning. Can I set the mat to charge for a 5000 mAH 3 cell battery and fully automate that task? Because, to be frank, I sleep in some mornings and prisoners are taking advantage of me forgetting to charge the quad. I'd pay in that range to get some more automation.