TECH

American startup develops drone that sustains itself in the air without propellers

Florida-based startup Undefined Technologies continues to draw attention to the potential of elevator-less technology. In May, the Silent Ventus ion-powered drone was in the air for 2.5 minutes, and now it has two more minutes. The developers are full of optimism and hope to start selling in 2024.

The Silent Ventus drone does not need propellers to fly. It consists of two stacked grids of electrodes that create high voltage electric fields that ionize oxygen and nitrogen molecules in the air, releasing electrons and sending them downward to create an "ionic wind" that provides momentum.

This technology is already being used successfully in space, as well as in highly specialized projects on Earth, writes the New Atlas. However, in 2020, the American company Undefined Technologies said it had increased the thrust level of the ion propulsion system to an "unprecedented level", surpassing other modern ion propulsion systems by 150%.

Then the developers managed to fly the drone for just 25 seconds, and in a suspiciously confusing video, it showed just a few seconds of testing. At the same time, the noise level that the device emitted, according to the engineers, was no more than 90 dB – not as silently, more like a hair dryer.

Within two years, the company's engineers had increased airtime to 2.5 minutes (video shown in May shows 39 seconds of flight time), and noise had decreased to 85 dB. And now, according to Undefined, the prototype has hovered for 4.5 minutes, although we only showed 1 minute and 17 seconds. The noise level was even lower - 75 dB.

This progress is made by Chief Project Engineer Thomas Benda Jr. explained by the improvement in the chemical composition of the batteries, which started to provide a greater energy density.

Be that as it may, the company promises that by the end of 2023 the Silent Ventus will fly for 15 minutes and produce no more than 70 dB of noise. That's not to say this is an achievement considering conventional Wing quadcopters, for example, in 2019 buzzed so silently when flying at a height of 15 meters.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is working on the ANCILLARY program, a vertical take-off and landing aircraft for use in areas without air bases and other infrastructure, in difficult weather conditions, and even from the decks of ships without special equipment.

Source: Undefined Technologies