- Email: [email protected]
HES multirotor drone, designed and built in US, has 3h flight time
NEWS / IN BRIEF
HES multirotor drone, designed and built in US, has 3 h flight time
Skycorp hydrogen fuel cell powered drone with advanced AI
S
E
ingapore-based HES Energy Systems – the energy storage technology unit of the H3 Dynamics Group – has announced the commercial launch of its Hycopter, an industrial-grade multirotor unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV, or drone) designed for large-scale industrial maintenance inspections. Short flight duration is one of the final frontiers in drone technology [see also the next two items]. Now, after many years of work on various UAV programmes and with leading aerospace institutions around the world, HES has merged its core technologies with a specially adapted multirotor design so that flight durations can extend to 3.5 h, instead of the typical 20–30 min when using lithiumion batteries. HES is currently capable of over 700 Wh/kg system-level specific energy, and is working to push this limit even further through a variety of novel technologies. The Hycopter hydrogen multirotor system is now able to keep precision cameras and other sensors in the air for much longer, opening up new commercial applications while reducing operational costs for service providers. The Hycopter was designed in Austin, Texas, where a local production base is being set up. The drone includes a new breakthrough 140 g (5 oz) pressure regulator capable of reducing hydrogen pressure from 350 bar to 0.5 bar. This compact, made-to-fly regulator includes a new transducer, and safety features such as an overpressure burst disc. Other system components include specially designed Aerostak PEM fuel cell stacks capable of generating over 1 W/g. Hycopter can recharge in minutes using bottled industrial-grade hydrogen from local hydrogen suppliers. HES anticipates long-range cargo drones being deployed from autonomous hydrogen ‘droneports’, the first plans for which were recently announced for France [FCB, October 2018, p6]. The Hycopter concept will also be used in transitional wing VTOL (vertical takeoff and landing) applications, and the same HES core technology is now being scaled up to power manned electric aviation – e.g. the Element One hydrogen-electric passenger aircraft [November 2018, p4] – as well as other aerial mobility platforms under discussion with various international aerospace companies. HES Energy Systems: www.hes.sg
December 2018
stonia-based Skycorp launched its next-generation ‘smart’ drone, powered by a hydrogen fuel cell system, at the recent Commercial UAV Show in London, UK. The e-Drone Zero is a powerful, long-endurance quadcopter, in a compact package managed by an advanced artificial intelligence (AI) operating system. The new unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV, or drone) came about when one of Skycorp’s partner companies wanted to extend the flight time of a small commercial drone by more than three times than is possible with lithium-ion polymer (LiPo) batteries [see the items above and below, for example]. This led to hydrogen fuel cells being selected as an alternative power source. In addition to greatly improved flight time, the use of fuel cells means less downtime because of quick refueling, and increased payload capabilities. The next step was to maximise the productivity, capabilities, security and safety features of the product. The highly automated AI operating system is capable of running complex operations, while advanced security is provided via NATO-validated, military-level encryption. Additional safety features include computer vision assisted obstacle avoidance, and various failure management features. Commercial applications for the e-Drone Zero range from surveillance & security to demanding survey, mapping and inspection tasks in a wide range of environments, and Skycorp expects to see the scope of use widen as the number of customers increases. ‘We’ve already started working with one of the most innovative mobile mapping companies around to test the advantages of combining carand drone-based results on their platform,’ says Marek Alliksoo, CEO of Skycorp. ‘Considering what they have in store for the future of ‘smart cities’ it would be fantastic to be able to help out.’
Skycorp: www.sky-corp.eu
BSHARK delivers Uzbekistan drone order
F
uel cell powered unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) specialist BSHARK has announced the delivery of a consignment of multipurpose drones from its Chinese partners to
IN BRIEF UK Committee on Climate Change says hydrogen credible in low-carbon economy A new report by the independent Committee on Climate Change (www.theccc.org.uk) in the UK says that hydrogen is a credible option to help decarbonise the national energy system, but its role depends on early government commitment and improved support to develop industrial capability. The new report, Hydrogen in a Low-Carbon Economy (https://tinyurl.com/ccc-h2-report), says that hydrogen can make an important contribution to long-term decarbonisation if combined with greater energy efficiency, cheap low-carbon power generation, electrified transport, and new hybrid heat pump systems. The report recommends that government commits to developing a low-carbon heat strategy within three years; significant volumes of low-carbon hydrogen should be produced in a carbon capture and storage (CCS) ‘cluster’ by 2030, to help the industry grow; government must support early demonstration of the everyday uses of hydrogen, to establish the practicality of switching from natural gas to hydrogen [see also page 11]; boosting awareness among the general public; and developing a strategy for low-carbon heavy goods vehicles (HGVs), targeting zero emissions by 2050. Clean Intralogistics Net workshop The German network Clean Intralogistics Net (CIN, www.cleanintralogistics.net/?lang=en) organised a workshop in early November that focused on using fuel cells for industrial trucks in the House of Logistics and Mobility (HOLM) at Frankfurt Airport. Operators from various sectors gave presentations to national and international specialists and management from the logistics, intralogistics, vehicle fleets, warehouse, and procurement sectors about the status of fuel cell technology, focusing on the economic and environmental benefits of hydrogen and fuel cells in materials handling and intralogistics [see also the DOE In Brief item on page 15]. ‘Our common goal is to continue to establish fuel cell technology in Germany and Europe. Given the uncertain future of diesel technology, fuel cells can make a decisive contribution to climate protection,’ says Wolfgang Axthammer, Managing Director and Divisional Head for Special Markets at NOW GmbH, which initiated the workshop. ‘Using industrial trucks with fuel cell technology in logistics, CO2 emissions can be decreased by at least 25%, while at the same time increasing productivity and reducing storage space and loading time.’ NOW GmbH (www.now-gmbh.de/en) initiated CIN in 2016; the network now comprises 13 globally operating companies [FCB, November 2017, p4].
Fuel Cells Bulletin
5
HES multirotor drone, designed and built in US, has 3 h flight time
Skycorp hydrogen fuel cell powered drone with advanced AI
S
E
ingapore-based HES Energy Systems – the energy storage technology unit of the H3 Dynamics Group – has announced the commercial launch of its Hycopter, an industrial-grade multirotor unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV, or drone) designed for large-scale industrial maintenance inspections. Short flight duration is one of the final frontiers in drone technology [see also the next two items]. Now, after many years of work on various UAV programmes and with leading aerospace institutions around the world, HES has merged its core technologies with a specially adapted multirotor design so that flight durations can extend to 3.5 h, instead of the typical 20–30 min when using lithiumion batteries. HES is currently capable of over 700 Wh/kg system-level specific energy, and is working to push this limit even further through a variety of novel technologies. The Hycopter hydrogen multirotor system is now able to keep precision cameras and other sensors in the air for much longer, opening up new commercial applications while reducing operational costs for service providers. The Hycopter was designed in Austin, Texas, where a local production base is being set up. The drone includes a new breakthrough 140 g (5 oz) pressure regulator capable of reducing hydrogen pressure from 350 bar to 0.5 bar. This compact, made-to-fly regulator includes a new transducer, and safety features such as an overpressure burst disc. Other system components include specially designed Aerostak PEM fuel cell stacks capable of generating over 1 W/g. Hycopter can recharge in minutes using bottled industrial-grade hydrogen from local hydrogen suppliers. HES anticipates long-range cargo drones being deployed from autonomous hydrogen ‘droneports’, the first plans for which were recently announced for France [FCB, October 2018, p6]. The Hycopter concept will also be used in transitional wing VTOL (vertical takeoff and landing) applications, and the same HES core technology is now being scaled up to power manned electric aviation – e.g. the Element One hydrogen-electric passenger aircraft [November 2018, p4] – as well as other aerial mobility platforms under discussion with various international aerospace companies. HES Energy Systems: www.hes.sg
December 2018
stonia-based Skycorp launched its next-generation ‘smart’ drone, powered by a hydrogen fuel cell system, at the recent Commercial UAV Show in London, UK. The e-Drone Zero is a powerful, long-endurance quadcopter, in a compact package managed by an advanced artificial intelligence (AI) operating system. The new unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV, or drone) came about when one of Skycorp’s partner companies wanted to extend the flight time of a small commercial drone by more than three times than is possible with lithium-ion polymer (LiPo) batteries [see the items above and below, for example]. This led to hydrogen fuel cells being selected as an alternative power source. In addition to greatly improved flight time, the use of fuel cells means less downtime because of quick refueling, and increased payload capabilities. The next step was to maximise the productivity, capabilities, security and safety features of the product. The highly automated AI operating system is capable of running complex operations, while advanced security is provided via NATO-validated, military-level encryption. Additional safety features include computer vision assisted obstacle avoidance, and various failure management features. Commercial applications for the e-Drone Zero range from surveillance & security to demanding survey, mapping and inspection tasks in a wide range of environments, and Skycorp expects to see the scope of use widen as the number of customers increases. ‘We’ve already started working with one of the most innovative mobile mapping companies around to test the advantages of combining carand drone-based results on their platform,’ says Marek Alliksoo, CEO of Skycorp. ‘Considering what they have in store for the future of ‘smart cities’ it would be fantastic to be able to help out.’
Skycorp: www.sky-corp.eu
BSHARK delivers Uzbekistan drone order
F
uel cell powered unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) specialist BSHARK has announced the delivery of a consignment of multipurpose drones from its Chinese partners to
IN BRIEF UK Committee on Climate Change says hydrogen credible in low-carbon economy A new report by the independent Committee on Climate Change (www.theccc.org.uk) in the UK says that hydrogen is a credible option to help decarbonise the national energy system, but its role depends on early government commitment and improved support to develop industrial capability. The new report, Hydrogen in a Low-Carbon Economy (https://tinyurl.com/ccc-h2-report), says that hydrogen can make an important contribution to long-term decarbonisation if combined with greater energy efficiency, cheap low-carbon power generation, electrified transport, and new hybrid heat pump systems. The report recommends that government commits to developing a low-carbon heat strategy within three years; significant volumes of low-carbon hydrogen should be produced in a carbon capture and storage (CCS) ‘cluster’ by 2030, to help the industry grow; government must support early demonstration of the everyday uses of hydrogen, to establish the practicality of switching from natural gas to hydrogen [see also page 11]; boosting awareness among the general public; and developing a strategy for low-carbon heavy goods vehicles (HGVs), targeting zero emissions by 2050. Clean Intralogistics Net workshop The German network Clean Intralogistics Net (CIN, www.cleanintralogistics.net/?lang=en) organised a workshop in early November that focused on using fuel cells for industrial trucks in the House of Logistics and Mobility (HOLM) at Frankfurt Airport. Operators from various sectors gave presentations to national and international specialists and management from the logistics, intralogistics, vehicle fleets, warehouse, and procurement sectors about the status of fuel cell technology, focusing on the economic and environmental benefits of hydrogen and fuel cells in materials handling and intralogistics [see also the DOE In Brief item on page 15]. ‘Our common goal is to continue to establish fuel cell technology in Germany and Europe. Given the uncertain future of diesel technology, fuel cells can make a decisive contribution to climate protection,’ says Wolfgang Axthammer, Managing Director and Divisional Head for Special Markets at NOW GmbH, which initiated the workshop. ‘Using industrial trucks with fuel cell technology in logistics, CO2 emissions can be decreased by at least 25%, while at the same time increasing productivity and reducing storage space and loading time.’ NOW GmbH (www.now-gmbh.de/en) initiated CIN in 2016; the network now comprises 13 globally operating companies [FCB, November 2017, p4].
Fuel Cells Bulletin
5