Solar-powered 81 hour endurance world record flight

[@aerofpv2109]

Such a professional staff and aircraft to pull such a great feat. Congrats as I know you will break this and all records someday. Cheers my friend.

[@RenKnight347]

Now this is the type of flight that is impressive, to say the least! Well done. For search and rescue, especially at night, a good, lightweight FLIR camera along with coordinate recording/GPS tracking capabilities would be paramount.

[@andrewtaylor9615]

As an air retrans for ground units this is the way to go. SAR for boats and land. Weather permitting. just need to get higher than the weather.

[@index7787]

That landing assist was impressive. What are you using as a flight controller?

[@AtlantikSolar]

@Chase Wood: It's Pixhawk, see www.atlantiksolar.ethz.ch/wp-content/downloads/publications/AeroConf_2016_vFinal.pdf

[@jimhofoss9982]

with the battery technology and solar efficiencies surging, records will surely fall! great plane, can't imagine how much research, time and engineering went into this fine bird, hats off!

[@sid6554]

It can already fully recharge in 4h, so the limiting factor is things like storms, not technology!

[@marcocappelli2236]

Am I the only one that fancies with flying that thing around the whole world? Watching the geography, cities...

[@IgorGabrielan]

81 hour endurance world record flight 2316km and 81.5 hours AtlantikSolar 2 Unmanned Aerial Vehicle pr.ai/post43323

[@DiodatoScarpato]

*Record del Mondo* di volo autonomo! *81 ore*! *3 giorni 9 ore 26 minuti e 16 secondi*. AtlantikSolar ha battuto il *record mondiale per il più lungo volo autonomo* (come aeromobile a pilotaggio remoto, un drone, tecnicamente unmanned aerial vehicle)

[@Dan_Ohhh]

Im assuming you had a "do not exceed altitude" for the testing but i do believe if youd taken the plane above the clouds during that stormy moment the plane may have been able to stay in flight indefinitely until something broke or wore out. The uv and power from the sun would be much stronger higher in the atmosphere. There has to be a sweet spot altitude to fly in as temps will drop if up too high. I dont think the usaa or nasa would like the plane circling in their airspace very much though lol

[@AtlantikSolar]

Dan, there is actually a nice paper discussing exactly the ideas you mentioned. This is by the Solar Impulse team, see citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.452.4260&rep=rep1&type=pdf . Verdict: Better to fly as low as possible (if you have to fly at constant altitude) ;) But yes, we of course had to enforce a do-not-exceed altitude, otherwise we would have preferred to ascend during the day once the batteries are fully charged (which happens early at around 12:00 solar time under these conditions) and to then use this potential energy during the night.

[@rachelslur8729]

@@AtlantikSolar 👍

[@TheErilaz]

Just add a spectrometer and a UV sensitive camera,- nice for automatic silent inspection of power lines if it has automatic takeoff and landing.

[@andrewtaylor9615]

So many jobs this could do.

[@WSWarriorsStew]

Sounds like it can fly forever as long as the weather permits. Right now here in TX you'd fly for weeks :)

[@xxxxxxch04xxxxxx22]

Man, what beyond-the-wall part of Earth is that where there is still sunlight at 10:00pm!. Long live the Tropics!.

[@AtlantikSolar]

Update: The full technical details (conceptual and detailed airplane design, flight testing, outlook) are now available in a Journal of Field Robotics publication at onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/rob.21717/full. You can access the submission version of that paper on our website at www.atlantiksolar.ethz.ch/wp-content/downloads/publications/JFR_81hFlight_paper_final.pdf.

[@joshmnky]

NASA's Helios had to be gigantic and flimsy to achieve the same thing 20 years ago. It looks like solar panels and batteries have come a long way.

[@chandrakanthasharma6147]

Why are all your website's down now? Is there any other way that I can go through your documents.

[@LucaBrizzi64]

Congratulations, well done guys!!

[@Len02013]

Congrats. That opens up a lot of possibilities :)

[@alexandrpetrov1110]

Such a professional staff and aircraft to pull such a great feat

[@yelectric1893]

You are my inspiration. Thank you, great job, keep it up, and change the world

[@Imnotyourdoormat]

great plane, great video, been waiting on this for 50 years. but why not place photovoltaics on the vert stab...i know its a small area, and wont produce much. but wouldnt it add at first light and dusk angles....ive always wondered why WW2 fighter aircraft with limited range, didnt pull a small fuel-filled glider behind them, maybe a lifting-body type craft... the germans expiremented with them...even though you reached your targeted goal, and thats fantastic, maybe a small jettisonable solar trailer/glider for................extended flights.

[@tom.gwilliam]

This is amazing!! Great work

[@oxnardrealestate7329]

You guys are total Bad Asses! Way to go!

[@SYNFPVPILOT]

Impressive flight time. Congratulations to the crew, she's a beautiful bird!

[@wolfgangkaiser8843]

Warum ist seit 5 Jahren Funkstille ? Wird das Projekt weitergeführt ? Gibt es eine Beschreibung der Technik (Hardware / Software) ?

[@ferdi6594]

It was a university project/ dissertation, so that’s probably why they didn’t do anything with it once it was finished. Also you can find their research paper online.

[@handle-with-care]

The onboard footage looks amazing! What camera did you use on the plane?

[@leemilica]

Probably a regular GoPro.

[@gilbertsedo]

Súper awesome. Opened up the possibilities.

[@-Galavanta-]

Incredible.... well done.

[@walterwojcik5090]

congratulations!! and thank you for sharing the vid ...

[@musFuzZ]

This combined with a gyroed (thermal) camera, and a bit more user friendly would totally be something i would buy. But i wonder how much simpler a ballon would be for that purpose. I guess mobility is a big advantage with this, although limited to your radio/video antenna setup

[@dronefootage2778]

awesome work! why did you end the flight and not keep it going another day for example? why did you not continue this?

[@asommer518]

Yikes that is some SERIOUS WIND!

[@1jhxdh]

Hello, I’m planning to build a smaller version of the solar plane. I was wondering how the battery would be balanced charged onboard the plane. Did you use a BMS between the moot and the lipo?

[@ferdi6594]

Yeah you would need a bms between the mppt and the lion batteries. What’s your budget for the project btw?

[@steaders82]

I so wish this was my job. I find this fascinating

[@andrewwilson8317]

Great flight. Use as UAV a bit more questionable though. To be a useful UAV it needs to carry a meaningful selection of sensing systems, a minimum being a full motion video camera and a video downlink. This will use up power and add to weight but they are the main purpose of having any UAV? I was experimenting with a lighter than air craft with a 2 kg sensor load capacity. We had solar panels mounted on the outside to charge the batteries. Time over task was pretty much limited by human duration! The big limitation was atmospherics but this would be the same limitation that this aircraft is restricted by?

[@AtlantikSolar]

Hi, some of your concerns are actually covered by a flight we did 1 year later: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bp6aZ4CubtJlpK8 . Payload there was RGB camera + Thermal Camera + onboard computer + WLAN video downlink. Still designed to be a lightweight payload, i.e. 350g mass and 10W power consumption.

[@thefrub]

Meteorologists should build 10,000 of these and let them wander the globe

[@jeandard6416]

no

[@DLStarbuck]

Eric Raymond, solar - flight.com flew is one-man solar aircraft across the United States in 1989. That's right he was in the plane.

[@JakeSmith-ux1xk]

What radio frequency or frequencies are you using for signal to aircraft? Are you using a different frequency for aircraft control and one for the camera or wifi?

[@flymario8046]

Well that was impressive!

[@Vasilmgn]

What is the span of the glider? Are there drawings for construction?

[@fraaggl]

ok but why did you stop flying when there was no troubles, full battery and could have stayed in the air for many more days ??

[@electrolics5563]

Great work! Congrats! Godspeed!

[@harishpatel9076]

I have some queries. I hope you won't mind responding to them. 1) Did you use Lithium Ion battery or Lithium Polymer battery for Drone operation? 2) Did you charge the same battery while flying? 3) How did you charge the same battery from the solar cells which is getting discharged through the Drone operation? Sincere request to respond to this queries. Thanks and Regards

[@safetyinstructor]

They probably used lipo since their lighter. You can charge the battery while also applying a load using a BMS and a MPPT charge controller.

[@ahaveland]

Amazing achievement, well done! Looking forward to the next record... 1 week, then 1 month... :-)

[@aerofpv2109]

+Andy Lee Robinson Haha .. I agree.

[@marcocustodio8926]

Incrível, excelente trabalho parabéns.

[@chrisripplinger]

I'll take two. Please and thank you.

[@supermendi0078]

Would be nice to know how they built it...

[@ElonMuchen3737]

Great work. congratulations!

[@raul7293]

Amazing. Love the video.

[@batmanfromhell]

was ist aus euch geworden? ich bin am Forschen und wäre allenfalls um Input interessiert. lg

[@andrewtaylor9615]

Great work.

[@jimhall3694]

Bravo!!

[@UUTechRU]

Great work!

[@JOeSJNrForReal]

Late comment, but congratulations. You all did good there.

[@gilbertsedo]

Super awesome !

[@forrestdavis5882]

Great work. Congratulations.

[@stealthwingsrc1094]

Super cool guys!

[@abundantYOUniverse]

Fantastic

[@stephenf.499]

awsome.

[@olgunulutekinzaman1457]

AWESOME!!!!!

[@TheDutyPaid]

Not 81 hours, the video is only 4 minutes long for a start.

[@carolanthonypolistico1975]

lol are you joking they cut that video.

[@TheDutyPaid]

All CGI and green screen too!

[@alexandrpetrov1110]

Great job!

[@widodopm]

Congratulation.... realy amazing..👍

[@OfMiceAndMegabytes]

Super!

[@bhushanparate9601]

How did you connect the batteries in the wing spar?

[@egorgarpunov5318]

What the capacity and voltage of battery did you use?

[@TusharJoshiTJandPJ]

Congratulations team solar.....

[@justinmalik6977]

This gonna fly more in India,i guess

[@MultiHech]

Can someone tell me where it is possible to buy something similar to this one?

[@finlandskis2958]

You guys still flying?

[@AxleFoley]

I'm shocked that codebase could run that log sans encountering a fatal flaw in math. Integer overflows and such are common.

[@dekiaza]

Awesome

[@BarisanTukangSpam]

Amazing

[@guru3829]

what type of battery used?? how much mah used in battery???

[@Hyperious_in_the_air]

You should see if you can circumnavigate the Earth with that airframe. If you use altitude as a energy sink as well, you can slowly bleed off altitude in the nighttime to conserve even more battery. Climb the thing to 25000 feet during the day while it's charging its solar batteries, and bleed the altitude down to 1000 AGL until morning comes again.

[@arisz2191]

Hyperious circumferencing earth would require many base stations in order to control and monitor the rc plane

[@AtlantikSolar]

Or you leverage satellites to give you global command and control coverage. Fortunately, this is relatively easy today. We will use www.rock7mobile.com/products-rockblock-9603 for example.

[@BushPilot444]

To stay stationary in relation to the sun at sea level I think would require just over 1,000 mph ground speed.

[@Mr30friends]

BushPilot444 but it doesnt need to be under the sun the whole journey. It can handle nights, as shown in the video.

[@kaikart123]

How big is the battery on that thing?

[@mroger29sh]

excellent

[@sohansunku1016]

Awesome!

[@cmonster6]

I went on your site and could not find specifications on the plane like motor power,battery power and weight,total project weight,ect.

[@philippoettershagen5254]

www.atlantiksolar.ethz.ch/?page_id=70

[@philippoettershagen5254]

Or more specifically: www.atlantiksolar.ethz.ch/wp-content/downloads/publications/JFR_81hFlight_paper_final.pdf

[@princedemiterios2488]

Just Wow.

[@alexyt4434]

How do you sleep and keep the battery going on your transmitter and stuff??

[@BushPilot444]

Gps/Auto pilot

[@DidntKnowWhatToPut1]

2338km! That's London to Athens

[@RadekSzabla]

what an airfoil have you used ?

[@teytreet7358]

That's amazing,

[@thanhtrungluu1115]

Could someone show me the lift and drag coefficient and the angle of attack of atlantik solar during cruising? pls

[@Ancient1341]

Only if there wasnt night this could fly for almost ever

[@HobkinBoi]

It already can pretty much fly forever. That is, until the batteries fail. Or if a storm knocks it out of the sky.

[@safetyinstructor]

You know 81h already is more than 3 days, right?

[@nuovovideo]

do you use ardupilot?

[@philippoettershagen5254]

Pixhawk Hardware + Codebase.

[@nilsthevenard7016]

what motor did you use?

[@AtlantikSolar]

Hi BraiNilsT, see www.atlantiksolar.ethz.ch/wp-content/downloads/publications/AtlantikSolar_ICRA_2015_vFinal.pdf for the exact design details (including the motor).

[@awemedo5469]

awesome!!

[@winter_equinox1492]

Amazing!! I'm curious, what was the budget to make this happen (cost)?

[@ferdi6594]

I made some calculations and it would cost you around 2k for all the materials (if you buy the batteries from China)

[@winter_equinox1492]

@@ferdi6594 Okay, thanks! I will look into it. Out of curiosity, do you know of any ways to send the plane to a destination and back autonomously? I mean, without having to use a computer near it like in this video or if there are no cell phone towers to control the plane near the place I want surveyed? If it had an onboard computer say or a compass to know where it is I guess I could automate the process... I have to do more research.

[@ferdi6594]

@@winter_equinox1492 You wouldn't be able to transfer information to it since there are no cell towers. But GPS works anywhere, since it uses signals from satellites. And a compass also works anywhere. So it would be able to follow a pre-encoded mission or repeat a behaviour until it managed to reconnect to a cell tower again

[@ferdi6594]

@@winter_equinox1492 Actually, assuming you already have the tools to make this solar plane, like a CNC router, soldering kit, and other bits, I think it would probably cost a bit less than 2000£. The expensive components are: - 60 lithium-ion batteries (

[@winter_equinox1492]

@@ferdi6594 Thank you very much for the information. I appreciate it! I will investigate and focus on this project.

[@GaryMcKinnonUFO]

(Quake voice) Impressive.

[@ganpati634]

what is the cost of this project ??

[@MasboyRC]

Nice plane, with autopilot can fly forever in the sky 😁

[@leGringoo]

What's the song at 2:32 - 4-15 ?

[@AtlantikSolar]

audiojungle.net/item/powerful-rock-soundtrack/10021971

[@leGringoo]

Thanks!!

[@i-will-trigger-you]

dodot dot do dot

[@ingussilins6330]

Next flight - over pacific ocean

[@SkyclanRC]

thats a long flight timeeeee!!

[@ladedk]

Wow!!

[@calypsoairfpv8655]

So impressive I want one lol

[@chazsteadman5020]

The end of the video states the wingspan at 5.6m. It looks like 2m when the young man is launching it. What is the real wingspan?

[@AtlantikSolar]

+Chaz Steadman The information at the end of the video is absolutely correct.

[@chazsteadman5020]

So it's a different plane than the one the young man is hand launching in the beginnig of the video? You'll have to excuse my math because I thought that 5.6 meters was about 16 feet or so. Forgive me, I'm just trying to clear up my confusion. I'm not just an idiot, I'm the president of the Idiot club. Thanks for your patience.

[@chazsteadman5020]

Are those 3.3 watt solar cells?

[@AtlantikSolar]

+Chaz Steadman The cells deliver up to 3.6W each. And no, the plane in the video is exactly the one described on the last page of the video, i.e. the wing span is 5.6m.

[@bendemaka4378]

+AtlantikSolar . if I want to buy one. How must will it cost me please? Thank you

[@willipine1863]

How many nautical miles would it have covered in 3 days?

[@failtv5442]

1262nm, it is written in the description

[@sam82154]

So you guys can technically it fly from anywhere to anywhere in the world? This is crazy. You should send it to a far off country like Australia or us.

[@mutantyengecedits251]

They would lose control and video after a couple of miles..

[@TheUltraseal]

It says at 2:31 that the plane flew autonomously, which means who cares if control and video is lost. Just make sure someone's on the other side to land and catch it.

[@mutantyengecedits251]

Trademark™ You really think that the wind isn't going to effect it's destination point? Even if it's autonomous, you need to make slight manuevuers

[@TheUltraseal]

I think you're kind of underestimating artificial intelligence.

[@HobkinBoi]

The autopilot can already make slight maneuvers. If you get it high enough, you won't even need to worry about avoiding anything. Maybe except for aircraft, but it's so small, that its unlikely another plane would hit it. But I would love to see this thing fly across the US, at high altitude flight. Perhaps even use a 4G module to connect it to cell towers it flies near, and check its status, as well as make adjustments to its course to avoid weather systems. Hell, with a bit of tinkering about, it might be able to make some of those adjustments itself.

[@mehmetedex]

next time go above the clouds

[@AtlantikSolar]

Strictly forbidden by civil aviation authorities (and rightfully so).

[@ziyayalniz2812]

Bulut üstü ise PİL e lüzum yok! 10-12 ay havada kalabilir 50 000 ft!