During a visit to the International Vintage Sailplane Meet at Harris Hill, New York, your editor was fortunate to be a guest of Dale and Carmen Kramer, who graciously showed their home, once that of Glenn Curtis, “The Father of Naval Aviation.” Now the Hammondsport cottage (as in Glenn Hammond Curtis), which overlooks the lake where Curtis flew his early amphibians, is home to a high-tech cottage industry, with Dale creating battery monitoring systems, “brain boxes”, and other elements of his electrical power system for ultralight aircraft. He designs the schematic and printed circuit boards for the system, sends them off to a PCB manufacturer and hand mounts very small components on the finished circuit boards, a process that would normally use expensive “pick and place” machinery and wave soldering. His low-tech version of wave soldering takes place in a toaster oven. A table on the covered and shaded front porch overlooks the lake and holds stacks of water-jet cut …
Keeping a UAV Aloft for 48 Hours – On Laser Power
Lockheed Martin and LaserMotive recently managed to keep a drone, the Stalker Unmanned Aerial System (UAS), flying for 48 hours on a laser-guided recharging system. Its on-board batteries can maintain flight for two hours, so the demonstration improves endurance by 2,400 percent. Your editor admits to possibly over-healthy skepticism regarding transmittal of power to aircraft, remembering early NASA demonstrations that were noisy and more lightning-like than focused. LaserMotive’s technology seems to overcome these objections. Stalker is described by Lockheed-Martin as “a small, silent UAS used by Special Operations Forces since 2006 to perform intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions.” The miniature plane weighs a little over six kilograms (13.2 pounds) and has a wing span of three meters (9.84 feet). As shown in the video, it can be hand-launched by a single soldier or enforcement office and fly for up to two hours at up to 4600 meters above the ground. In this video, narrated by that guy who’s heard in every …
Running a Mile in Very New Shoes
The Lola-Drayson LeMans Prototype (LMP) did not make it to this year’s LeMans race at the Sarthe track, but did make its racing debut at another prestigious motorsports event – the Goodwood Festival of Speed Hill Climb in England. Nowhere near as long or treacherous as America’s Pikes Peak event, the race is a good test of acceleration, handling and sheer power, which the car displayed with great style. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sd-vAq4IDRA Lord Paul Drayson, a former science advisor to the Crown, drove the B12/69EV, a car crammed with new technologies, many of which have been reported on in this blog, and which have potential applications in aircraft. He also set a new record for electric cars in the climb, doing a timed run of 53.91 seconds and placing 11th overall in the July 1 run. Goodwood’s hill climb is only 1.86 kilometers (1.16 miles) with a mere 9 turns, and the fastest official time up the slope was the 1999 McLaren …
That’s No Yolk!
Dr. Cui is at it again! In a seemingly endless stream of announcements, his work with silicon anodes keeps promising improvements in battery capacity and longevity. The Stanford professor and his team, Stanford’s National Accelerator Laboratory (Formerly the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center), and the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL) at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory all published papers on their latest joint accomplishment. Conceptual drawing of silicon filling carbon shell, TEM photo of actual expansion, and life cycle analysis for yolk-shell batteries Expansion and contraction of anodes and cathodes during charging and discharging of batteries causes flexing and eventual breakdown of a battery’s internal components. Cui and other researchers have tried various strategies to mitigate or eliminate this flexing, but the latest tactic seems to promise longer battery life and greater power and energy. Calling it a “yolk-shell structure,” researchers seal commercially available single silicon nanoparticles in “conformal, thin, self-supporting carbon shells, with rationally-designed void space between the particles and the …
Rice – That’s Nice, and Lights Up, Too
Rice University announced the development of a spray-on (in this case airbrushed) coating that stores electricity, a bit reminiscent of Stanford’s paper battery on which a coating could be applied to act as a battery. Mitsubishi has demonstrated a paint that could act as an extremely thin-film solar cell, but Rice’s technology shows promise. Five layers comprise the various components of a lithium-ion battery and can seemingly be applied to almost any surface, including in one demonstration, a beer stein – showing an intoxicating range of possibilities. But Pulickel Ajayan, materials science professor has more serious considerations. According to the University’s news. “This means traditional packaging for batteries has given way to a much more flexible approach that allows all kinds of new design and integration possibilities for storage devices,” said Ajayan, Rice’s Benjamin M. and Mary Greenwood Anderson Professor in Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science and of chemistry. “There has been lot of interest in recent times in creating …
Conquering the Desert on Solar Power
André Borschberg dodged thunderstorms, overflew the Atlas Mountains, and made his way from Quarzazate to Rabat, Morocco, reversing the course he took last week to the interior of this desert country. While there, he had a week of celebrations and ceremonial gatherings in honor of what will be the world’s largest solar-thermal power plant. The presence of Solar Impulse, the gigantic, sun-borne aircraft undoubtedly served as a reminder of what such technology can accomplish. Taking off at 7:33 a. m. local time from Quarzazate, Borschberg held course toward Marrakesh on the coast. Afternoon brought thunderstorms, heavy winds, and thermals. To avoid a landing in such conditions, the pilot flew a holding pattern between Marrakesh and Rabat and waited for sunset. Ending his 14 hour, 49 minute flight, he landed at 10:22 p. m. local time. The flight averaged 64.82 kilometers per hour (40.19 mph) at an average altitude of 4,000 meters (13,132 feet) on its 457 kilometer (283.3 miles) flight …
Battery Prices and Lithium Futures
EV World has a weekly email update to which your editor subscribes. Because they provide a collection of articles and opinions from different sources, one often comes away questioning trends and even facts – or sometimes the meaning of it all. This week, an article referenced from Green Car Reports says that EV batteries may already have fallen to $250 per kilowatt hour. This would be a godsend for sales of battery-powered cars, because sticker prices would drop sharply. The article quotes Wolfgang Bernhart, a partner at Rolan Berger Strategy Consultants, that battery prices are already much lower than previous predictions would have indicated, possibly as low as $250 per kilowatt hour. His analysis credited economies of scale for this drop, which is based on 2015 demand. This paradoxical approach notes that battery manufacturers must begin planning production now for 2015 EVs, with prices quoted to those manufacturers based on that future demand. Such prices would be an optimistic five …
Thomas Alva Would Be Proud
The best batteries as now produced use expensive materials and processes to achieve high energy density. Could a century-old idea be resurrected to provide an inexpensive alternative to today’s costly electric storage devices? Science Daily reports on a recent attempt to improve on a proven technology. Stanford University’s Hongjie Dai, professor of chemistry and head of a research group, is working with the Edison battery, named for Thomas Alva Edison, and using the nickel-iron electrodes Edison favored, but with a modern twist to overcome one of its disadvantages. Stanford’s news bulletin quotes Dai. “The Edison battery is very durable, but it has a number of drawbacks. A typical battery can take hours to charge, and the rate of discharge is also very slow.” Powering electric vehicles in the early 1900s, Edison’s battery is used today in limited instances to store surplus electricity from solar panels and wind turbines where charging and discharge speeds are not a major consideration. Dai’s …
Gamera II Does 50 Seconds
The University of Maryland students established an unofficial world record for human-powered helicopter flight, hovering for 50 seconds and edging toward the $250,000 Sikorsky Prize offered by the American Helicopter Society. The rules for winning are straightforward, but difficult to achieve. Build a helicopter powered only by human means Lift off and achieve a hover time of 60 seconds Achieve a height of 3 meters sometime during the 60 second flight Stay within a 10 square meter area during the 60 second flight As can be seen in last year’s record attempt, the altitude and area constraints are difficult, with little control over altitude other than adding power – already at a human maximum, and limited ability to stay within that imaginary box. According to the University of Maryland’s A. James Clark School of Engineering, “Gamera has a rotor at each of the four ends of its X-shaped frame, with the pilot’s module suspended at the middle. Each crossbar of …
British Twin-Motor Electric Paramotor
Jack Faust, a hang-glider pioneer, recently informed your editor of this British back-pack flying pioneer. Tony Canderton of Electric Paramotor UK has created a twin-motored parachute that uses stock aluminum extrusions and model aircraft components to take him flying. As noted on his web site, “Most of the parts used are pretty easy to come by, taken from giant scale RC and the frame is aluminum. No welding was used – just nylon lock nuts and bolts. The whole unit weighs in at just over 19 kilos (41.8 pounds) with batteries and harness and puts out 27 kilos (59.4 pounds) of static thrust.” Motors are EMP model XYH80-100-As, each capable of producing a peak 6,500 Watts (8.7 horsepower) from a 1.75 kilogram (3.85 pounds) unit. These have a 12 millimeter (1/2-inch) shaft, a bit more substantial than some model motors and aiding their purpose in turning direct drive propellers. EMPs seem to be available in England only, but cost a …