
Italian aerospace group Leonardo invests in solar-powered drones - prostoalex
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-leonardo-drones/italian-aerospace-group-leonardo-invests-in-solar-powered-drones-idUSKBN1XL295
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cagenut
there's almost nothing in this article, so here's some related links for
anyone interested in the topic:

This guy has been iterating on building a solar drone for several years now,
here's his latest:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwbJJoe09DI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwbJJoe09DI)

Here's a presentation on how multi-junction thin film gallium arsenide wafers
can achieve a much much higher power-to-weight ratio:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7zkGstEf-g&t=1456s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7zkGstEf-g&t=1456s)

Here's a solar-electric two-seater motor-glider flying last month (ok not a
drone):
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37-QWbjrho0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37-QWbjrho0)

the parts (flight controllers, composites, solar cells, batteries, motors) are
mostly all in place now. its a game of integration engineering going forward
(kinda like where tesla was when they started the roadster).

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fnord77
Tesla had Lotus make their chassis for the roadster (minimally modified Elise
iirc).

I assume there's a suitable airframe manufacturer out there?

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cagenut
If I had the money I'd slap those solar cells (maybe $20k for 4kW) on this
electric motor glider (~$150K): [https://www.pipistrel-usa.com/taurus-
electro/](https://www.pipistrel-usa.com/taurus-electro/)

also just nifty option, ardupilot supports autonomous thermaling now:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwAX3cPvMqw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwAX3cPvMqw)

you could creating an autonomous piloting service that used a combination of
thermal-hunting and solar-pv to dramatically cut the energy budget required of
the batteries.

edit: re-thinking your question, I think the real answer is "the entire kit
market". In america the regulations allow for people to build their own planes
under a certain weight, so companies get around that by selling "kits" that
the buyer has to finish assembling themself. so most of the <$100k air "plane"
market is already a lotus-like frame you can do stuff with.

edit2: for instance, check out this absolute masterpiece of a website where
you can buy an ANT-E kit:
[http://www.newmexicotrikes.com/ant/ant.html](http://www.newmexicotrikes.com/ant/ant.html)

edit3: or this thing [https://www.ruppert-
composite.ch/en/](https://www.ruppert-composite.ch/en/)

~~~
fnord77
the long continuous overhead wing of the Ruppert plane seems perfect for solar
panels

the "foot launch" is hilarious

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jaclaz
The news on the company homesite :

[https://skydweller.aero/news/](https://skydweller.aero/news/)

provide some insights, they just acquired the SI-2 (and _related assets and
exclusive IP license_ ) from Solar Impulse:

[https://aroundtheworld.solarimpulse.com/adventure](https://aroundtheworld.solarimpulse.com/adventure)

[https://bdnewsnet.com/defence/uav/leonardo-invests-in-
skydwe...](https://bdnewsnet.com/defence/uav/leonardo-invests-in-skydweller-
aero-to-build-solar-powered-drones-unlimited-flight-hours/)

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Robotbeat
Skydweller Aero Inc, the company acquired, has a video on their website
containing almost entirely stock footage with an awkwardly worded voiceover
and a little footage of the Solar Impulse aircraft:
[https://skydweller.aero/](https://skydweller.aero/)

Sounds like some folk from the Solar Impulse group are involved somehow.

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hleszek
More info on the solar impulse plane:

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_Impulse](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_Impulse)

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davidw
Posted just two days ago:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21516427](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21516427)

