Developer Comment by Mark Colwell on February 20, 2010 at 10:13am

Now we will need to scale up EasyStar UAV to fit this unit.... Any way to get one 1/10 that size??

Developer Comment by Mark Colwell on February 20, 2010 at 10:28am

With a larger platform and a little reverse engineering of this Laser Wind Sensor ($150,000) we could handle all flight conditions.

Comment by Jonathan Lussier on February 20, 2010 at 10:58am

Thanks for the link! I think this is a bit big for us. I'd be more interested in their 'Hcell 2.0' which apparently fits into a standard Tamiya R/C car chassis. Would be interesting to see in a small plane (easystar!!)

Comment by Mark Whitehorn on February 20, 2010 at 11:32am

According to the brochure, the H-cell 2.0 is rated 24 watt-hours at a nominal output power of 30W and 717grams. I think the stock brushless motor for the EasyStar is rated 275watts. The flying weight of an EasyStar is in the 600gram range (with LiPo power). I think we need more power and less weight.

Comment by brett binnekade on February 20, 2010 at 1:22pm

the H-cell is just an alternative energy source with zero emissions. its not more powerful, probably less, than a lithium ion.

so we just need a slightly bigger platform to this baby in..

however, looking at the prices of fuel cells. id estimate the earopak to cast about $4000. the H-cell is about $1000. quite a pricey upgrade!

Comment by Rory Paul on February 20, 2010 at 1:31pm

Its not just $4000 for the Earopak you need to buy the chemical "refills" from them as well.....want to be dependent on one supplier for your fuel?

Moderator Comment by Jack Crossfire on February 20, 2010 at 2:08pm

If you need to know the price, you can't afford it. $4000 is what you want it to cost. For that matter, we estimate it's really $100. Very sure it's $100.

Comment by Xander on February 20, 2010 at 6:28pm

I know I'm being picky, but "increase flight endurance by up to 300% over lithium batteries" does not equal "300 times more powerful than lithium ion".

It's a cool tech. Probably not ready for micro-UAVs just yet, but maybe some day soon.

Developer Comment by John Arne Birkeland on February 21, 2010 at 11:56am

More real information here. http://www.horizonfuelcell.com/aerospace.htm
If you read the specs it's not quite ready for prime time yet. According to the numbers the system can deliver 200W continuously (500w < 10min, buffer battery most likely) and generate 450Wh/kg. Thus is you need 10 hours of 200W flight you get a 4,5kg "battery". Add payload and we are talking a good sized airframe. Keeping it up in the air with 200W is gonna be a challenge.

Comment by Mark Whitehorn on February 21, 2010 at 1:42pm

Thanks for the link, I didn't find that page when I was looking. At their max recommended weight of 10Kg or 22lb, you'd have peak power of 50W/Kg or 23W/lb. Continuous power would only be 9W/lb. Those levels do seem pretty low, takeoffs would be interesting.

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