A Bedfordshire engineering startup says they have solved one of the most stubborn constraints in unmanned aviation, such as drones. The weight and bulk of the battery.
The Structural Battery Company (The SB Co.) says its technology has the potential to help paramedics responding to incidents, farmers’ crop management, armed forces welfare operations and crews tackling wildfires, such as those currently raging in the UK, France, Spain, and Canada.
Founded by John Moffat, The SB Co., headquartered at Cranfield Technology Park, near Bedford, has developed a product called Drone Spine.
The high-voltage structural battery backbone powers a heavy-lift drone and is a part of its load-bearing frame, extending its range and carrying capacity by up to 50%.
Moffat, founder of The SB Co., said: “Our Drone Spine innovation will save lives by enabling medical supplies to get to critically ill or injured patients in remote locations far quicker than ever before.
“It will dramatically improve firefighters’ ability to extinguish wildfires by enabling drones to carry more flame-retardant materials further and enabling them to make more trips in between battery recharges.”
The problems of the past
Where conventional uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs) carry batteries as discrete, inert components, which The SB Co says occupy space and add dead weight, ‘drone spine’ integrates energy storage directly into the aircraft’s structure.
Crossbeams that hold the airframe together also become the power source, doing two jobs at once.
By eliminating the need for a standalone battery housing, designers recover weight and internal volume that can be redeployed to carrying larger payloads and add propulsion.
Technology of the future
In February last year, The SB Co., in partnership with ISS Aerospace and Marshall Aerospace, and with funding from the UK Government’s Defence and Security Accelerator, demonstrated drone spines’ oven-ready effectiveness.
The team embedded a 400-volt structural battery, created by The SB Co., into the frame of a 600kg heavy-lift drone, cutting its mass by 45%, and freeing up capacity for greater payload and range.
The unmanned craft carried a 220kg load more than 100 kilometres, proving that ‘drone spine’ battery technology can deliver performance previously reserved for crewed aircraft.
Moffat, founder of The SB Co., explained how drones are becoming an increasing core component for emergency services and modern military warfare operations.
He said: “Heavy-lift drones with improved battery capability could also be used by armed forces to deliver humanitarian aid and frontline supplies, as well as many other things we haven’t yet even thought of.”
