Hello, I was wondering if anyone knows if the same concept used in wind turbines to generate electricity could be applied to the rotors on a drone?
Wind Turbine Charging?
- Thread starter DronesBeforeHoes
- Start date
More of the drone charging itself with the turning of its rotors or if some kind of resistance is needed.
I'm aware it takes electricity to spin the rotors...........
It's interesting that you didn't get the concept. There was a prototype of a drone (plane model) achieving self-sufficiency through a similar concept, as well as another using solar panels, so I was wondering if there are any similar ideas relating to chopper drones. To say that it's nonsensical is an utterly ignorant statement to make. Similarly, electric cars have incorporated a recharging method using the resistance from breaking.
This question was for people who are familiar with the engineering principles of wind turbines and how they generate electricity, and if resistance is needed against the axis to generate electricity or not. If not, then presumably it would be able to generate electricity.
Please bro, if you're looking to make up random nonsense and make childish statements, especially after saying something feeble-minded like "You loose power from everything in the drone," I recommend not posting.
Cheers
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You would need frictionless bearings and very high rpm as proven a while back in an experiment 'elsewhere' to get any appreciable gain. There are flexible solar calls that could possibly be applied to the frame but the surface area would not be enough for a noticeable gain.
The original perpetual (free energy) machine concept. Long story short second law of thermodynamics have already proof that's impossible (at our current understanding of physics).
That said, something like a "regenerative" system might work like a regenerative breaking used in some of today's car.
Long story short second law of thermodynamics have already proof that's impossible (at our current understanding of physics).That said, something like a "regenerative" system might work like a regenerative breaking used in some of today's car.
Forget perpetual motion, lets say that DronesBeforeHoes finds a way to extend flight time by 1 minute. That would be HUGE since that would give developers a direction for extending flight duration.
I'm an electrical engineer, perhaps I can help explain it.
To generate power from those props you need a generator. Generators and motors are basically the same thing, and in effect the drone already does what you'd like, recovers power from the props. But it only does that by way of the motor needing lower amperage when the prop needs to spin slower (like when descending).
I think you envision taking advantage of the props spinning and taking power back out of them. The reason that won't work is you'd then just slow them down, the same thing as when you throttle down. In fact it *is* exactly the same thing.
If that's what you're thinking of it is essentially what has always driven those who tried to create a perpetual motion machine. It's very tempting but it also doesn't work, or if it would most of the basis for the design of every moving thing you know is based on a flawed fundamental understanding of how energy works.
If you had a generator you could hand crank or pedal you could see the consequence of trying to extract power from those props. Cranking a generator with no load is easy compared to adding a substantial load onto it. If you were doing the cranking you'd feel immediate and substantial resistance (like pedaling uphill) as you added that load. For your props they'd just grind to a halt since they have no other reason to spin.
Matt
To generate power from those props you need a generator. Generators and motors are basically the same thing, and in effect the drone already does what you'd like, recovers power from the props. But it only does that by way of the motor needing lower amperage when the prop needs to spin slower (like when descending).
I think you envision taking advantage of the props spinning and taking power back out of them. The reason that won't work is you'd then just slow them down, the same thing as when you throttle down. In fact it *is* exactly the same thing.
If that's what you're thinking of it is essentially what has always driven those who tried to create a perpetual motion machine. It's very tempting but it also doesn't work, or if it would most of the basis for the design of every moving thing you know is based on a flawed fundamental understanding of how energy works.
If you had a generator you could hand crank or pedal you could see the consequence of trying to extract power from those props. Cranking a generator with no load is easy compared to adding a substantial load onto it. If you were doing the cranking you'd feel immediate and substantial resistance (like pedaling uphill) as you added that load. For your props they'd just grind to a halt since they have no other reason to spin.
Matt
Charging batt packs from the wind? Absolutely. Sailors use small ones at anchor to charge up batteries, etc.
Charging as a form of regenerative breaking? Not a chance. You would have to be standing behind a jet engine to get the kind of wind that would make those props spin fast enough to produce usable charging EMF. And then your driving circuits have to be designed with this in mind. Believe me if it could be done with all the engineering that has already gone into this thing it would have.
Charging as a form of regenerative breaking? Not a chance. You would have to be standing behind a jet engine to get the kind of wind that would make those props spin fast enough to produce usable charging EMF. And then your driving circuits have to be designed with this in mind. Believe me if it could be done with all the engineering that has already gone into this thing it would have.
Solar panels yield a very small value in watts per sq meter. You'd get about an extra 10 seconds flight time with cells added to the top.
Well I can confirm that with enough wind spinning the props on a phantom that they do generate power. On day while driving back after retrieving my fc40 that crashed do to a power failure when one of the battery wires broke free from the board. When I was in the car to try and get some of the grass and other dirt of the phantom i held it out the window of the car and to my surprise the leds lit up on the arms. and it even made the start up jingle. But you would need to be in one heck of a windy place to get the same kind of wind and long enough to charge a battery. and also would need some way for it to shut off the charge going to the battery so it did not over charge.
That makes sense, the motors will certainly generate power if you drive the props (like forcing air through them). It won't fly of course, since you need to drive the props to generate lift. With the battery. So you can get power generated, but you can't fly it also.
Yes those computer fans that light up will light up with no power if you direct air from a shop vac to their blades and get them spinning...
But to actually produce enough power to be useful you're gonna need a whole lot of wind.
But to actually produce enough power to be useful you're gonna need a whole lot of wind.
on a drone the size of a phantom adding solar cells, extra wiring, anything added to the rotors/motors all to help produce a tiny amount of power would surely be pointless as adding extra weight would cancel out the benefits
