Silent Drone That Uses Ion Propulsion

Silent drone with no moving parts

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CPX4 drone research. Photograph. Britannica ImageQuest, Encyclopædia Britannica, 22 Oct 2018. quest.eb.com/search/132_1585252/1/132_1585252/cite. Accessed 5 May 2022.

By: Philip Do, Journalist

Introduction

Undefined Technologies, an aerospace company, has created a eVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing) drone, called the Silent Ventus. Instead of using large and bulky propellers like traditional drones, the Silent Ventus is powered by ion propulsion, which doesn’t have any moving parts.

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The Ventus drone ionizes air to create lift without moving propulsors – Undefined Technologies says it’ll be quiet next to current propeller-driven drones   -Undefined Technologies

 

How It Works

In simple terms, ion propulsion works by taking out electrons from atoms, which creates a cloud of positive ions, and ejecting them back into the electrons-less cloud. This reaction creates thrust and propels whatever is behind it.

Previous "flying pallet" designs have been flown for up to two and a half minutes

Image Credit: undefinedtechnologies.com

Previous “flying pallet” designs have been flown for up to two and a half minutes   -Undefined Technologies

Conclusion

The drone was flown for two and a half minutes to test its performance, endurance, flight dynamics, and noise levels. The results were better than the expected and they have higher hopes of what the drone technology can bring. The benefits to using ion propulsion can make the drone silent and has no carbon emissions. This ion propulsion technology can be used for various civil and military applications, last mile delivery, and surveillance.

 

RELATED STORIES:

https://www.undefinedtechnologies.com/

https://interestingengineering.com/electric-drone-silent-ion-propulsion

https://newatlas.com/drones/ion-propulsion-drone/

https://www.tweaktown.com/news/85991/this-brand-new-drone-uses-ion-propulsion-and-is-virtually-silent/index.html

https://www.undefinedtechnologies.com/post/next-generation-silent-drone-rendering