The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) — the defense department's mad science wing — is helping build the next generation of in-flight charging tech that will use a self-focusing beam of radio waves to juice up swarms of drones mid-flight. DARPA is one agency that has its hands in some well-known inventions such as GPS, ARPANET (the internet's predecessor), the BigDog robot from BostonDynamics, the onion routing tech behind the Tor browser, the humble computer mouse, and of course, drones itself.
Interestingly, the Siri virtual assistant that currently lives on Apple devices also started its life as a DARPA project. Earlier this year, the agency awarded contracts towards its Manta Ray program that aims to build long-range autonomous unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) and also successfully demonstrated airborne recovery as part of its Gremlins project. Coming to the latest DARPA endeavor, in-flight charging for drones is nothing new and has been around for the past few years. However, the Electric Sky partnership brings something truly game-changing to the table.
As part of its Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program, DARPA has awarded $225,000 to a startup named Electric Sky for developing what it calls Whisper Bean technology. The fundamental idea behind the tech is a self-focusing beam of radio waves that intensifies as it gets closer to the receiver installed on a drone. The tech is said to be particularly effective for the power-hungry phases such as takeoff and climb. In addition, the tech allows drone designers to enhance flight safety, bring down the ground turnaround times and also lessen the peak loads on batteries.
Taking Drone Tech To The Next Level
Electric Sky aims to boost its wireless power transmission system so that it can be adopted for powering a swarm of drones — also known as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles or UAVs — for DARPA. The company currently focuses on building and testing a lab-bench demonstrator that operates at short distances before it makes the jump to more power-hungry scenarios for long-range drone flights. Of course, Electric Sky is not the only player in the wireless drone charging game, but its tech offers a considerable advantage — delivering kilowatts of focused charging in almost any weather. But more than just drones, the whisper beam tech is said to be an efficient solution for any type of electric aircraft out there, assuming it can be scaled up.
Electic Sky is already exploring electric power and propulsion tech for aircraft and flight vehicles that come in all sizes. "It's a myth that long-distance power transmission is impossible," Electric Sky Co-Founder Jeff Greason was quoted as saying. "It's just never been economical. This new method reduces the cost of the ground transmitter and the size of the vehicle's onboard receiver." It is unclear what drones powered by the whisper beam will be used for, but given DARPA's focus, they will likely find their way to advanced warfare in some form. However, Electric Sky's innovation can also prove to be extremely useful in scenarios like delivering critical medical supplies.