Unmanned Systems & Drones
Battery Packs for Industrial & Military UAVs
Drones are becoming increasingly commonplace across a range of sectors. Whether used for visual inspection of infrastructure such as wind turbines, surveying buried historical sites, spraying crops or filming stunning broadcast footage, the applications are seemingly endless.
This new breed of large industrial drones provide huge challenges for the battery systems that power them. Often with as many as 12 rotors and a multitude of onboard systems, these machines are power hungry and require high energy rechargeable battery packs to provide the necessary power.
UAVs also play an increasing role in the defense and security sectors. These vehicles often have very different power requirements but compact, high power, highly reliable power systems remain paramount to the effective operation of these platforms.
Deciding upon the most suitable power system for a specific drone is complex and there are many considerations to take into account, such as, capacity, voltage, physical size, weight and rate of discharge. Depending on the purpose of the drone, other factors may need to be considered such as tolerance to vibration, moisture and dust, as well as extremes of temperature.
In stark contrast to many other battery powered applications, should a fault be detected by the Battery Management System (BMS) the battery pack must not fully shut down immediately, but rather continue to provide limited power to enable the UAV to navigate to a controlled landing in a safe location.
In addition, due to the airborne nature of a drone and therefore in line with all other aircraft within the aerospace industry, there must be potential for built-in redundancy. It is often the case that UAVs will also house primary (single use) battery packs for back-up safety functionality. Our engineers are well versed in such challenging requirements, and have enormous experience and expertise in designing battery packs that provide the best combination of performance factors for a given application and environment.
Essential Power for Your UAV
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), like many other autonomous vehicle systems, can be very power hungry. However, unlike surface vehicles, weight is a fundamentally limiting factor in determining how much power can be provided by the onboard battery packs.
This makes UAV power systems particularly complex, but designing and assembling lightweight, high power battery packs is an area where we have exceptional experience and expertise. The following gives an indication of our extensive in-house design capabilities.
- Dedicated fuel gauge engineering
- Firmware development (STMicro STM32 based)
- Hardware design expertise in power circuit design
- Cold temperature operation management (lightweight heater and insulation)
- PC-based CAN GUI for debugging and firmware updates
- High current PCB design 8-10 layers of 2-oz copper
- High-power interconnect system design using copper-clad weld tabs
- Vast experience in ruggedized composite material enclosure design
Thermal Management for Drone Batteries
UAVs operating at altitudes or in harsh environments must be protected against low temperatures which can cause batteries to fail or reduce run time. Our engineers are experienced in overcoming this and can custom design heating systems that will raise battery temperature from -20°C to 5°C (-4°F to 41°F) in just over 15 minutes.
This is achieved using custom-designed Mylar-based thermo foil heaters and features such as embedded temperature sensors (thermistors). The even heat output from these elements and excellent heat transfer properties enable superior thermal management for drone batteries.
Custom Design and Project Management
Our expert battery engineers provide the full spectrum of skills and capabilities required to custom design power solutions for UAVs of any size and shape. Our best-in-class facilities in the US and UK offer a complete solution for drone batteries and UAV power packs.
Contact us with your UAV battery challenge for support from concept to completion and all the testing, prototyping, and regulatory compliance in between.
Custom Power’s UAV Capabilities Extend Well Beyond Power Systems
When it comes to complex autonomous vehicles such as UAVs, Custom Power is astonishingly well positioned to provide many of the elements required for reliable operation. In addition to highly reliable battery packs we are able to supply cutting edge communication systems such as high performance antennas, high bandwidth radio datalink systems, and powerful fanless computing and positioning systems, all designed to provide flawless operation in the harshest of environments.
Frequent Applications
Unmanned Aerial Vehicle
Tactical Drone Surveillance
Agricultural Spraying Drone
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
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