Engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have designed a drone capable of staying aloft for five days at a time. This technology could prove a huge boon in the communications sector, particularly in regards to disaster situations.
Unpiloted aerial vehicles (UAVs) have long held the potential to be a valuable asset in the face of disasters. When communications fail over a wide area, these UAVs can be used to travel into affected regions carrying communications payloads. These would allow temporary communication access, and could ultimately save lives.
Unfortunately, there have been a few roadblocks in making this a viable plan of attack. UAVs can be extremely expensive to operate, leaving them prohibitively costly and unlikely to be the first option in a crisis. The other factor has been time: drones only have the ability to stay in the air for up to two days at a time. Keeping them airborne any longer can costs thousands of dollars per hour in operational costs alone — at least, until now.
MIT scientists have created a drone that is less expensive and more effective than previous models. The UAV is designed specifically for wide-ranging communications support, which explains its lighter and more streamlined look. The drone looks more like a thin glider than anything else, with a wingspan reach 24-feet. It can carry up to 20 pounds of communication equipment, and reach an altitude of 15,000 feet.
The UAVs streamlined look isn’t about aesthetics — it’s designed for long-range and lengthy missions. That’s why its weight comes in at less than 150 pounds. It runs on a 5-horsepower gasoline engine, which lets it stay aloft and functioning for over five days. This is significantly longer than any other gas-powered UAV has been able to stay in flight.
Although these drones are ideal for providing support in disaster areas, they have multiple other applications as well.
“These vehicles could be used not only for disaster relief but also other missions, such as environmental monitoring. You might want to keep watch on wildfires or the outflow of a river. I think it’s pretty clear that someone within a few years will manufacture a vehicle that will be a knockoff of this.”
Scientists are perfecting the model, which has performed exceptionally well in all test flights so far. While there may be a few bumps along the way, it looks like these new drones could provide the communications support we desperately need in times of crises.
