Message posted by z_z_zzyzx (Member since 11/16/2021) on August 21, 2023 at 23:20:12 PST:
I did a shallow dive and looked a few things up. There's quite a few organizations working on micro gas turbines to solve the 'portable electrical power' problem. Honestly, that's not the direction I would have expected advanced projects to go, but it would bridge that critical gap. As you correctly stated, technology has advanced tremendously. Battery technology hasn't kept up. Questions... What about IR heat signatures? What about other technologies like fuel cells? The micro turbines I just read about are talking about turbine speeds of 400,000 rpm in a 500 watt unit. That alone would create it's own unique sets of problems. The takeaway for me, though is that there are methods of combining the endurance and the silence that don't involve extraordinarily exotic technology, and could be put to use today. Thanks for the eye opener. This is fascinating.
In Reply to: An answer to 'silent drones' - Ultra Micro Gas Turbines posted by Smythers on August 20, 2023 at 15:01:39 PST:
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