If this works via induction could you even eliminate the need for the drones to land?
Assuming flight conditions are good, there would be a region around the wire (line of charge) with an electric/magnetic field that the drones could use, any shielding notwithstanding.
As long as they can cover the liability when inevitably one of this sets off a wildfire in California that costs Billions. (I think it’s a cool idea if done right, they are after all trying to fix the problem of wildfires anyway which makes me hopeful)
> Removing battery swaps is the last step to deploy UAVs autonomously at scale.
I can't say, as a citizen, that I'm particularly excited about this.
> Autonomous drones can deliver over 20x the inspection coverage for the same cost.
And we have 20x the manpower to review this footage? I wonder if you're just generating a bunch of data that cannot be practically used.
"More coverage" isn't always the best answer. "Better informed coverage" is probably the problem to solve here. Aside from that what is the maintenance interval on those drones? How does that incorporate into this system?
I think this is solving the problem in the wrong direction.
We have done automated utility inspections for the past few years. Computer vision is not a problem any more. When we were starting we had to annotate thousands of images. Today some use cases require less than a 100. More interesting problems are pre-field planning, sagging, or BLOS compliance
The prototype in the linked video was first tested back in 2023, and since then a few startups have set their sights on the technology (e.g. Nomadic Drones and Voltair).
When working on the linked prototype we ran into some fundamental issues. Firstly, the recharging will only work with AC lines, and there's currently a lot of hype around UHVDC lines which are not compatible. Secondly, the AC lines must carry substantial current (ideally thousands of amps) for the recharging to not take forever. You can of course carry a much larger transformer on the drone to compensate, but this will in turn severely limit your flight time (ours was 1kg on a drone of 4.5kg and we could charge with 50W from 300A line current). You also have to account for significant daily fluctuations in the line current. It'll be interesting to see how the tech evolves, and I'll definitely be following these startups closely.
Could robo taxis steal the idea and get recharged w/o going back to base station? They can eject a rod similar to an E-train or how a military plane get refilled.
I'm surprised this isn't already happening in Ukraine. They could fly small surveillance drones deep in enemy territory, perch on a power line, and send back lots of data. Not just video, but also sound and triangulating signals. This would also be useful in fog by monitoring major roads where high altitude drones and satellites would be obstructed.
Maybe this is silly to complain about, but how would power companies charge these drone companies for electricity consumption? Seems… just so easy to steal?
Hopefully all of the perfect engineering candidates who previously worked in this specific space (autonomous line inspection at an industrial scale) live in San Francisco……………
Seems odd that this would be all in-person roles. Not the most apparent path to relevant talent.
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[ 3.4 ms ] story [ 55.7 ms ] threadAssuming flight conditions are good, there would be a region around the wire (line of charge) with an electric/magnetic field that the drones could use, any shielding notwithstanding.
I can't say, as a citizen, that I'm particularly excited about this.
> Autonomous drones can deliver over 20x the inspection coverage for the same cost.
And we have 20x the manpower to review this footage? I wonder if you're just generating a bunch of data that cannot be practically used.
"More coverage" isn't always the best answer. "Better informed coverage" is probably the problem to solve here. Aside from that what is the maintenance interval on those drones? How does that incorporate into this system?
I think this is solving the problem in the wrong direction.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-uekD6VTIQ has a video of their drone on a power line.
So ubiquitous surveillance, literally overhead, without any need to have a nearby/local charging/physical-management station/crew?
> After power companies, we will service rail, road, telecom, real estate and other inspection markets.
Oh?
> After building drones for the Air Force and DARPA, ...
Oh
Could robo taxis steal the idea and get recharged w/o going back to base station? They can eject a rod similar to an E-train or how a military plane get refilled.
So the limit isnt batteries, its fiber spools.
Is it harvesting energy from the magnetic field (via induction), or does it extracts its energy from the electric field instead?
And does the drone just happen to land on the power line for saving energy while doing so, or is the contact necessary somehow?
Do the drones need transformers? Won't those be heavy?
Don't the drones need a way to circulate the electricity? IE have a path to ground?
https://youtu.be/3VEkzweBJPM?si=_5hCR8AE1Ii3sI-l
Seems odd that this would be all in-person roles. Not the most apparent path to relevant talent.