PC World: Hydrogen Fuel cell keeps drones in flight for hours, not minutes
Martyn Williams | IDG News Service | Dec 15, 2015
A British company says it may have a solution to one of the most frustrating issues of drone flying: short battery life.
In tests, a DJI Matrice 100 drone fitted with a hydrogen fuel cell from Intelligent Energy was able to stay in flight for more than an hoursignificantly longer than the 20 minutes available with its standard battery.
A DJI drone with Intelligent Energy fuel cell and tank attached. Credit: Intelligent Energy
Hydrogen fuel cells convert hydrogen gas into electricity through a chemical process that has water vapor as its only by-product. The fresh fuel comes in cartridges, and because swapping out a cartridge takes a matter of seconds, the drone can be back up in the air quickly when it gets low on fuel.
Theres an obvious barrier in battery life, and we saw an obvious need to increase that, said Julian Hughes, head of the companys consumer electronics division, in an interview...snip
Full Article: http://www.pcworld.com/article/3015217/consumer-electronics/fuel-cell-keeps-drones-in-flight-for-hours-not-minutes.html
Intelligent Energy: http://www.intelligent-energy.com/
How it's Made: Hydrogen Fuel Cell