The Next Level - Aluminum-Air barries and docking replacement.

[jaysmith]

In the next couple of years Aluminum-Air batteries might explode onto the scene. There are, of course, variations, some using water, but a tru Aluminum-Air battery could revolutionize drones.
This basic subject has been covered, but the specific point I wish to make here, is that if you had some standardized landing pad with docking capability, a drone could do a auto-guided precise landing where something could push a new cathode or anode into a permanent battery housing, pushing out any old remnant or residue safely. If this were to be done, a drone could litterally recharge instantly simply by landing. It could land, low on power, and then in a couple of seconds take off again with a full charge. You might never have to remove or replace a battery again, and would be able to essentially fly almost non-stop, only making a "pit-stop" once in a while.

I strongly encourage anyone and everyone here to keep up with the development of such batteries, think of how they could be adapted and used, and be ready with new drone designs that use them when they do inevitably come out.

 

[maxwelltub]

True these batteries will recharge super quick, but most the stuff I have read about these has been in regards to cell phones and laptops. So these batteries have different power requirements. I think charging 10-20 amh batteries might be more then a pit stop, but who knows. Assuming these batteries will one day have the discharge rate needed for drones, I think another amazing possibility is that they are not as flammable and fragile as lithium.

 

[jaysmith]

True these batteries will recharge super quick, but most the stuff I have read about these has been in regards to cell phones and laptops. So these batteries have different power requirements. I think charging 10-20 amh batteries might be more then a pit stop, but who knows. Assuming these batteries will one day have the discharge rate needed for drones, I think another amazing possibility is that they are not as flammable and fragile as lithium.

Re-check my post... you would not be recharging batteries at all. As the drone lands, something pushes a new cathode or anode into the battery, thus instantly replacing the charge.

 

[maxwelltub]

Ok, read it. I guess I don't fully understand the concept of replacing a batteries anode and cathode.

 

[jaysmith]

Ok, read it. I guess I don't fully understand the concept of replacing a batteries anode and cathode.

Being that the applicable battery has not yet been made, this is conceptual. Picture a box that is the battery, there are two poles, Pos+ and Neg-, one might be as simple as an aluminum rod, being either the anode or cathode, I dunno. The drone lands, a little holder with a new rod of aluminum pushes up through the battery, replacing the old one. If I remember, one article I read said that the aluminum might just carrode away, no problem.
Where it gets more complicated is that there will likely be multiple cells, like any other batteries, in which case, a small block of rods would be replaced by a new one being pushed into its place.

 

[maxwelltub]

Ya I because replacing the anode cathode is a lot like replacing the whole battery, don't understand where the old ones go, if they corrode away before repacing them how would the battery be supplying power.

 

[jaysmith]

Ya I because replacing the anode cathode is a lot like replacing the whole battery, don't understand where the old ones go, if they corrode away before repacing them how would the battery be supplying power.

If the old one still existed, it would be pushed out, and maybe saved. Otherwise, if it corrodes away, think of it like a candle, the candle burns until it runs out of wax or wick. You could think of the aluminum rod(s) as being fuel eaten up. Now think about a car battery - it has a case and it has plates. One plate is not the whole battery, there is also the case and the acid. In the case of an Aluminum battery, there would be at least two "things", be they polates or rods in order to produce the electricity. Then there would be the water, or air or other medium, so the conceptual aluminum rod(s) would be less than half the weight of the battery. I like the idea of someone using some kind of air gel, as the medium, as it weighs almost nothing. - I am admittedly just guessing on a lot of this, as the battery we speak of does nto yet exist of course.

Lets go back to the car battery. Lets say that the way this special car battery is made, it uses up a lead plate to make the electricity. You could manually take the whole car battery out to replace it, or you could just replace that plate.
Now if you had some giant drone that used this odd car battery, and it did not have acid in it, you could rig something up so that when it lands on a very specific spot, there is a new plate there, and as it lands, the new plate pushes the old used up plate out. No need to replace the whole battery, no need to touch the drone at all, because it all happens automatically when the drone lands. You don;t have to touch the drone, the drone gets a new fuel rod or plate or whatever, and with it, a new charge.

In a way, ytou might be right in that both/all plates/rods/etc might have to be dealt with, but if one pole's plate(s) or rod(s) are corroded as fuel, then the opposite plate(s) or rod(s) might grow larger with whatever is lost from the first.

Another way to look at it is like the batteries you are probably already using...
You have to detach them likely, take them off, put new ones on, and fasten them in place.
It would be possible to make a custom system that when the drone lands, the old battery is pushed out of a housing by a new one. Again, you would not have to touch the drone, and the drone would get an instant battery change or charge.

 

[maxwelltub]

Ah yes I see what you are saying. thanks for the explanation. I think (hope) the next break through in batteries will be a game changer for not only consumer electronics and drones but the species. The main thing holding back alternative energy now is transportation and storage.

 

[Bartman]

from what I've read (there's a post here about Aluminum batteries referencing an article I had read at the time), the batteries have a very quick recharge capability but low discharge capabilities and no quick solution to improve that problem. that being what it is they will first be suitable for lower power applications according to the article.

 

[eskil23]

Aluminium-Air batteries are not rechargable. Other forms of aluminium batteries are rechargable, but as Bartman pointed out, they have other difficulties. I see no new battery technology ready to explode (the litium batteries we have today explode too often anyway).

 

[jaysmith]

from what I've read (there's a post here about Aluminum batteries referencing an article I had read at the time), the batteries have a very quick recharge capability but low discharge capabilities and no quick solution to improve that problem. that being what it is they will first be suitable for lower power applications according to the article.

I reserve all rights to anything I posted in this reply, and my text has been recorded elswhere should anyone try to take credit for it.

 

[jaysmith]

Aluminium-Air batteries are not rechargable. Other forms of aluminium batteries are rechargable, but as Bartman pointed out, they have other difficulties. I see no new battery technology ready to explode (the litium batteries we have today explode too often anyway).

- That's because it sneaking up on you/us, and will surprize us! lol.

 

[jaysmith]

Ah yes I see what you are saying. thanks for the explanation. I think (hope) the next break through in batteries will be a game changer for not only consumer electronics and drones but the species. The main thing holding back alternative energy now is transportation and storage.

Yes - the limitations of present batteries IS holding a whole lot back from further development, and a revolutionary battery of any kind would start a rush of improved technology.