There is no doubt that drones have been increasing in popularity. The FAA saw the registration of more than 1 million recreational and 412,000 commercial drones in 2019. Drones have proven to be extremely beneficial for everyday tasks, and countless industries are using them to better their operations. In response to COVID-19 restrictions, drones have become key tools in keeping companies running and people connected. With all the benefits that drones provide, they still have one overwhelming drawback. If you ask a drone operator what is their biggest grievance with drones, many will respond that it is the drone’s limited flight time.

Simply put, for a drone to fly it needs to be kept lightweight. This means that it is restricted to supporting a battery only big enough for short flight times. The average flight time for a drone’s battery is 20 minutes. Smaller drones can only fly for about 10 minutes, while larger ones may be able to stay airborne for up to 30 minutes. Recharging the battery can take up to an hour. To combat short flight times drone operators keep multiple backup batteries on hand to switch out when flying their drone. For most recreational drone pilots this is merely an inconvenience. For drones being used for commercial enterprises, having to constantly switch out batteries means a waste of time and money.

Developing a drone with the capacity for a longer flight time is in the works, but is not looking too promising for the majority of drone operators. Instead, engineers are looking for ways to rapidly and conveniently recharge drone batteries. Heisha, a Chinese tech company has developed a product for charging any drone rapidly. Their solution is a drone charging pad that can be customized to work with any type of drone. While Heisha’s drone charging pad may not be ideal for recreational drone pilots, for commercial purposes a drone charging pad could be a game changer.

To use the charging pad, the customer first has to send Heisha the specifics of the drone they will be using. Heisha will then send out a charging pad to accommodate the size of the drone. A smaller pad would be ideal for multi-rotor or vertical liftoff drones, while a larger pad is available for fixed-wing drones. Along with the charging pad comes a customized landing attachment and battery pack. The landing attachment weighs just over 2 ounces and allows the drone to be properly positioned on the drone pad for charging. On the feet of the landing gear are conductors that carry the charge from the pad to the drone’s custom battery.

The pad comes with ports for connecting to a power source and the internet. The internet connection enables the drone to autonomously connect with and locate the pad when it needs to be recharged. When the drone is ready to be charged it lands on the pad. Once the drone makes contact with the pad 4 locking bars initiate to position the drone securely in the center of the charging pad. The first two bars glide into position, followed by the 2 opposing bars. As the bars move, they connect with the custom landing gear, pushing the drone into place for the connectors on the feet to engage charging.

Once the drone is locked into place it will be fully charged in 45 minutes, faster than the time it typically takes to recharge a drone battery. The charging pad can be powered through an AC, battery, or solar power source. Once the drone is fully charged, it is remotely activated. It then completes a soft check of all power sources before the bars disengage and the drone takes off to resume its mission.

Gone is the need for people to waste time switching out batteries. While one drone is charging, another can get to work with minimal time wasted. Heisha’s drone charging pad is an ideal solution for industries such as agriculture, inspections, or logistic fulfillment. As Tarim, an oil inspection project manager said, “After using Heisha autonomous drone solution package for our oil pipeline inspection, the output efficiency has increased at least 5 times as compared with the traditional manual operation.” While this charging pad is geared to commercial users, there is a good chance that the technology behind it will soon be applicable for recreational use as well.

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