Dr. Samer Aldhaher, of the Imperial College London, seems to finally solved the drone’s power source problem by creating a lightweight battery-less drone hovering in place. This drone is powered only by the wireless power transmitter beneath it. Dr.Aldhaher’s demo solves the problem of having batteries aboard a drone and is another wonderful step towards ditching batteries altogether.
The wireless power drone technology is still in its nascent stage so don’t expect this particular quadcopter to make a cross-country flight without batteries in tow. This tech demo only has the drone flying about five inches above its wireless power base, with minor side-to-side movements. For such a technology to work over great distance, it will require extensive infrastructure. While many believe that wireless power technology is the future of tech, it is still in its infancy.