Solar powered drones with no moving parts, anyone?

[lady_*nix]

A thing about a very small test plane powered only by electroaerodynamic thrust, no moving parts:

https://news.mit.edu/2018/first-ionic-w ... -p2_c_3VXo

Seems pretty useless for passenger aircraft, but: imagine a drone that could fly around for months on end, observing weather or fault lines or whatever. With no moving parts to wear out.

[geonuc]

My first thought was "Cool. Ion drive".

And I guess that's what it is.

[Thumper]

but: imagine a drone that could fly around for months on end, observing weather or fault lines or whatever. With no moving parts to wear out.

The whatever would be surveillance and spying...

[lady_*nix]

@Thumper

Ugh, point

[Thumper]

Sorry.

[SciFiFisher]

I think I heard a report about this or something similar the other day. The proof of concept was considered a big step. One potential application was creating hybrid airplanes that used a combination of this technology and the old style jet technology to decrease the need for fossil fuels. Even a 10 percent reduction in fuel consumption would be huge.

[lady_*nix]

@Thumper

No apology needed, this stuff is real. (And is part of why my outlook towards people in engineering and science disciplines has gotten more mixed lately.)

@Fisher

Oh huh, that is an interesting idea.

I've kind of wondered myself about all-electric ducted fan engines to replace turbofans, since IIRC ducted fans eliminate a lot of the problems of propellers at high speeds. But the power source still seems like a big issue.

Edit: also I'm having weird thoughts about whether electroaerodynamic flight would pose higher danger around storms, or could lead to lightning strikes where you normally wouldn't get them. Though I know normal jet planes also build up serious electric charge so IDK.

[SciFiFisher]

@Thumper

No apology needed, this stuff is real. (And is part of why my outlook towards people in engineering and science disciplines has gotten more mixed lately.)

@Fisher

Oh huh, that is an interesting idea.

I've kind of wondered myself about all-electric ducted fan engines to replace turbofans, since IIRC ducted fans eliminate a lot of the problems of propellers at high speeds. But the power source still seems like a big issue.

Edit: also I'm having weird thoughts about whether electroaerodynamic flight would pose higher danger around storms, or could lead to lightning strikes where you normally wouldn't get them. Though I know normal jet planes also build up serious electric charge so IDK.

Airplanes are designed to insulate the passengers, fuel tanks, and critical equipment from lightning. I am reasonably sure that commercial versions of an electroaerodynamic plane would be similarly insulated.

As for the technology being used for "spying" and other illicit purposes. It reminds me of the inventor of dynamite. Alfred Nobel invented dynamite to make explosives safer. He was a pacifist and yet many of his inventions directly benefited war. It seems that no matter how innocuous an invention is it can be used for more than benign purposes.

Which is why we need ethics, some regulation, and ethical governments.