New Drone Tech: No Propellers, and Yet It Flies!

In this episode, the Roswell Flight Test Crew speaks with Tomas Pribanic, the founder and CEO of Undefined Technology, based in south Florida. The company has built a prototype drone of approximately the same dimensions and configuration as a conventional multirotor – but without propellers. Instead, it uses charged ions that exist in the atmosphere and attracts or repels those ions as needed to develop thrust and maneuver. The prototype is five-foot square, capable of flying up to 15 minutes while carrying a two-pound payload. Owing to the lack of propellers, the aircraft is virtually silent in flight, making it a good candidate for cargo delivery and other missions in the urban environment where noise can be an issue.

[xjet]

No propellers but an EDF right in the middle. Cue the BS alarm!

[RobbinHarris]

I did this in junior high like 20 years ago.. it was called high voltage lifter. You made them out of balsa wood, tinfoil, an old computer screen and thin copper wire.

Update:
Very impressive and commendable that it runs without cables, but hard to imagine a battery dense enough to allow for a meaningful flight that can overcome wind forces on such a large surface area required for silent ion propulsion.

[matthewmaurer]

small issue though.. it does have a propeller in the center. whats it doing there?

[justin]

"I can only give you so much without charging you a lot of money." And that my friends is something scammers say.

[SwissPGO]

As a physicist I understand the physics behind this, but I have doubts it will be efficient enough to go beyond a proof of principle demo. Package delivery without noise: use cyclists, and construct cycle friendly cities ...

[狮子子]

It seems there is a ducted fan in the center of this thing, from the upturn of the wing shape, I deduce that most of the weight is supported by this ducted fan.

[billbob]

I love how they always "reinvent" old tech as new.

[tomwatts]

So, no propellers except the fan in the centre?

[DSeeKer]

there is an electric duct jet fan inside the housing that provides most of the lift, please clarify how much lift is being done by the ion blades

[neilreid]

Interesting. Worked on a project for F1 in the early 90's that involved ionizing the boundary layer on wings to enhance laminar flow. Worked quite well.

[jimkillough]

I wondered when this would show up. I recall seeing researchers developing the tech in Popular Science Magazine back in the 1970's. However, the flights of the wireframe devices were tethered to control and power. Todays more advanced technology for power, computing and light weight materials was far away. This tech still has great potential for the future. Thanks for the great video and coverage of this concept.

[kostomat]

what about fan in the center of drone? :D

[MG.]

This looks interesting. The older asymmetric capacitor "lifters" used aluminum foil on a balsa wood or plastic frame, powered by 35, 000VDC. The two sheets of aluminum foil formed the asymmetric capacitor plates. The problems with those were little or no directional control, and very minimal payload capability.
This one is VERY interesting, as it appears not to use solid sheets. It looks like wires or struts with space between them on a frame shaped similar to the old lifters. I need to research these!

[caty]

I like the enthusiasm of the host. He seems to really be enjoying. It makes watching the video worthwhile.

[troymeister]

Ion lifters are cool. This one's no exception. Like a typical lifter it looks very gracile and a well aimed fart could blow it into the scrapyard.

[SweetBlu]

Powered by a gigantic EDF in the center of the drone lol.

[elmartillo]

that doesn't have enough thrust density for lift, it's using a fan to achieve flight, not ion propulsion.

[PauMallol]

Someone explain why a (what pretty much is) an EDF in the center (time mark 1:45) 🤔😳

[mrbrucewayne]

My Daughter and I built a Lifter for her school science project after her teacher told us our idea would not work....we got it to work although it was tethered to the ground and somewhat is nice to see the tech going beyond the tether

[melted_cheetah]

2:41 "That's a tool that the industry needs is a silent drone that is silent." Wow. Profound. 🙄