Findings from a new IDTechEx report, Electric Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) 2013-2023, state that the total market value for electric unmanned aerial vehicles will reach over $1billion dollars by 2023.
This report includes hybrid and pure electric powertrains and electrics being used or considered for UAVs and the new missions made possible by electrification. UAVs survey military threats but also the melting ice caps and natural disasters. They can carry ordnance but also drop aid.
IDTechEx finds many benefits of such powertrains but also notes they are not just incremental improvements, because most of the mechanical, electric and electronics parts are changing radically. This applies to UAVs for civil as well as military use.
Electric power makes possible the use of wheel power for take-off because electric motors can give maximum torque from stationary; and it gives the near silent operation valued in military and civil applications. For long range UAVs where batteries are inadequate and hybrid powertrains are necessary, there can still be silent take-off and landing. Only electrics can give us new forms of UAVs, such as intelligently swarming robot flies. There is also work on unmanned aircraft harvesting power from winds at altitude using kites and beaming it to earth.
At the small end, the DeFly Micro is intended for searching buildings in danger of collapse after disasters.
Lithium-ion polymer batteries have been used in UAVs as have laminar batteries and we can expect other advances such as flexible solar power and other smart skin plus structural components. Here we shall see the new developments of ultra-light electric traction motors.
Collaborative missions between all sizes of electrically powered UAV will be commonplace, initially in military applications. Both electrically-driven UAV airships (eg using photovoltaics, some with fuel cells and batteries) and fixed wing aircraft can be involved. In the USA, Extreme Capacitor sees the ‘fit and forget’ benefit of traction supercapacitors, which are improving faster than batteries, will lead to them being adopted in electric aircraft including UAVs. The 3D printing being developed by Warwick University in the UK, that incorporates ink printed circuit patterns and components, will also be relevant.
It is with UAVs that we see many of the most radical actual and prospective advances in disruptive EV technology. In 2013, an example of this was the work at Georgia Tech on plasma leading edges to reduce drag. This will first appear on UAV, both VTOL and fixed wing, then later on manned aircraft, wind turbines and so on if successful. Many advances in UAV technology will also leverage electrics, including mini range extenders such as mini turbines being developed by Bladon Jets in the UK, rotary combustion engines in the USA and free piston engines in Germany that inherently produce electricity without need for a shaft to a generator.
