Flowcopter, a company based in Scotland, claims to have built the world’s very first hydraulic drone. The drone uses pumps and gas engines instead of batteries and electric motors, delivering up to six hours of flight time.
The company claims that the drone is significantly lighter, faster, costs less, and even covers a larger distance than any other drone currently available in the market.
According to a report by Gizmodo, most drones today use electric motors or hybrid gas propellers with an electric-powered lift system. Electric motors are easier to navigate with, however, it becomes increasingly difficult to control large objects with such motors e.g. drones with four or more propellers that require regular adjustments for wind, direction, and gravity. Electric motors also require batteries that get worse in terms of capacity over time.
To resolve this issue, Flowcopter tried to utilize a new strategy of using hydraulic motors to power drones.
Flowcopter uses a new kind of hydraulic pump known as a Digital Displacement Pump that is highly effective and features better control of independent motors, allowing easy altitude adjustments. The most important aspect of the pump is its better power-to-weight ratio as opposed to the best electric motors in the market.
The pump supplies a liquid fuel-powered “light-aircraft certified engine” that features 20x the energy-to-weight ratio of the best battery technology available.
The Digital Displacement Pump combined with the engine helps control the hydraulic fluid, helping provide stability to the drone and allowing it to cover large distances with ease.
Each hydraulic motor can provide 129 horsepower and weighs less than 5.4kg.
The company highlights that the drone can easily operate without fueling for 6 hours straight, covering distances of almost 900km while carrying weights of up to 150kg.
During the 6 hours of flight, the drone can even switch to a non-gliding flight mode, allowing its propellers to rest and minimizing fuel consumption.
Flowcopter claims that the drone will mostly be used for short-range delivery. However, if need be the drone can also be equipped with a camera set up to cover larger distances.