FC4Drones
Development and demonstration of a hydrogen Fuel Cell powered multirotor drone
Scheda del progetto
Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) can be used for a wide range of industrial and civil applications such as land monitoring, precision agriculture, infrastructure inspection, short- to medium-range transportation, and surveillance, reducing operator risk, time, and cost. This project aims to develop, implement and test in an operational environment a fuel cell power system and integrate it on an existing multi-engine drone to extend its flight range.
Contacts:
Salvatore Mafrici, salvatore.mafrici@punchtorino.com
The main challenge to be faced will be to convert a battery-powered aircraft into a hydrogen one by integrating a compressed hydrogen tank, fuel cell, battery, and control unit inside it, without compromising its flight capability.
To achieve this, the following is required:
- Design the power system to achieve power densities (power/weight) compatible with those required for the drone to fly;
- Define the control strategy for the power system;
- Ensure communication between the power system control unit and the drone control unit
The project proposes the development, implementation and testing of a hydrogen-powered drone powered by a hybrid fuel cell-battery system. This innovative system makes it possible to greatly increase the flight time and range of a drone and reduce the recharging time, enabling its application even in contexts where low range was a technically insurmountable obstacle. A novel element of the activity will be the attempt to design the hydrogen power system in such a way that it replaces the battery and that its integration aboard the drone is simple and straightforward. In this way, the same drone will be able to be powered by the battery in case it is required to carry a high payload for a short period, while it can be powered by hydrogen in case a long flight time with low payload is required.
The hydrogen-powered drone developed within the project will be able to enter MAVTech's product portfolio by expanding it and allowing the SME to be able to attract new customers. As highlighted in economic and socio-environmental aspects, the use of a hydrogen-powered drone would greatly impact end users in various fields of application, but a key point of this project is to lay the groundwork for extending the use of the designed power system to different applications both in drones and other fields going in the direction of improving the experience of the end user who would benefit from more reliable systems with greater autonomy.