Battery technologies are driving growth in the drone industry, according to London-based battery testing and software company About:Energy.
The firm, which has sought to increase product development in technologies using batteries, said it has seen a surge in interest in its services from companies in the segment.
Drones are being used more across emergency response, environmental monitoring, industrial inspection, and logistics.
The company said the segment is challenging due to the extreme performance and reliability demands of drone batteries, which must deliver maximum flight time to support mission-critical operations and complex manoeuvres.
New chemistries are being brought to market as well, athough About:Energy said there is a lack of testing data within the segment. Conventional testing involves testing over a year as the drone is built and manually flown for range testing.
Manufacturers have been unwilling to take more time for product development as the market has seen rapid expansion, the firm said.
The company has a modelling platform with access to data from commonly used batteries in drones, which allows for in-house teams to run simulations on a computer rather than in real life.
This approach requires physical testing of the batteries in the lab so that data can be generated for the models.
Dr Kieran O’Regan, co-founder, About:Energy, said, “Seemingly marginal improvements can make a huge difference to drone operators, and this means the right battery must be selected for the use case. If you are inspecting a railway line, being able to fly 20km rather than 15km saves the time and operational cost of flying the drone back base or the operator needing to drive to the next village to replace the battery. In this scenario it makes sense to invest more in selecting the right battery and even paying more for the technology that extends flight time.”
Image: Battery testing in the lab. Credit: About:Energy.
