Northwest UAV has announced the completion of over 100 hours of rigorous flight testing with the NW-44 engine, setting a new altitude record for small normally aspirated unmanned propulsion systems in the process. Continue reading
Category Archives: Aircraft Propulsion & Energy
USAF Offers $2M Prize For Lightweight, Fuel-Efficient UAV Turbine
The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) is kicking off a competition to demonstrate a lightweight, fuel-efficient turboshaft engine for unmanned aircraft and other applications with a $2 million prize at stake. Continue reading
World’s First Fuel Cell Multirotor
EnergyOr Technologies Inc., a developer of advanced PEM fuel cell systems, recently demonstrated what are believed to be the world’s first fuel cell powered and longest ever duration multirotor VTOL UAV flights, flying for a record 2 hours, 12 minutes and 46 seconds. Continue reading
Hydrogen-Powered Hycopter has Two Hours Flight
Electrically powered quadcopters typically fly 15-20 minutes but Singapore-based Horizon Energy Systems’s (HES) CEO Taras Wankewycz is hoping that his team of fuel cell scientists and engineers will change all that.
P2 Quadcharger for Phantom 2
P-Squared Group, a designer and manufacturer of high-quality electronics products, has announced the launch of the P2 Quadcharger, a product that will allow owners and users of DJI’s Phantom 2 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to charge their batteries significantly faster and less expensively. Continue reading
Hydrogen Fuel Cell-Powered Quadcopter
Singapore-based Horizon Unmanned Systems (HUS) has launched a new hydrogen fuel cell-powered, multi-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV).
LiquidPiston Gets $1M DARPA Contract to Develop Heavy-Fueled, Rotary Combustion Engine Technologies
LiquidPiston, Inc., a developer of advanced combustion engine technology, has announced that the company has entered into an agreement with the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to advance the development of its highly efficient, power-dense rotary internal combustion engine for portable and small-engine applications. Continue reading
Docking System for Mid-Air Recharging
New Zealand-born Daniel Wilson, a researcher at the University of Sydney’s Australian Centre for Field Robotics, has developed a method to allow UAVs to dock and recharge in mid-air, much like military jets do. He believes his team’s successful UAV docking in November last year was a world first.