A Chinese earthquake rescue team deployed drones to light up the night and aid search and rescue operations after the devastating 7.7 magnitude earthquake in Myanmar.

[u/Red_Lotus_Alchemist]

[u/EmusOnly]

Looks like that wire is connected to a generator, that’s actually pretty neat

[u/NJ_Legion_Iced_Tea → u/EmusOnly]

I can't wait for when wireless charging is able to extend multiple/hundreds of feet.

Wired drones are already capable of so much, and powering them wirelessly is going to be a civilizational game changer.

Edit: I'm talking high concept sci fi. The likes of which is probably outside of our reach but what we can strive towards. On par with Star Trek Transporters and Communicators from the 60s.

[u/Jazz8680 → u/NJ_Legion_Iced_Tea]

Wireless energy decays exponentially as distance increases. Wireless charging over hundreds of feet would require massive amounts of energy to the point it wouldn’t be worth it.

[u/AwesomeFama → u/Jazz8680]

You can transfer a lot of energy wirelessly decently far. But aiming a high power laser at the drone is probably not the safest thing either, plus turning that energy back into electricity is not that easy either.

[u/flukus → u/AwesomeFama]

At that point you're probably better off with a mirror on the bottom of the drone to provide light.

[u/AwesomeFama → u/flukus]

Ahh, a disco ball perhaps?

[u/S-r-ex → u/AwesomeFama]

For rescue parties.

[u/xenelef290 → u/flukus]

That is a good idea

[u/dinosaur_from_Mars → u/AwesomeFama]

Just make a small reactor to generate energy on board.

[u/pepinyourstep29 → u/AwesomeFama]

Just no. Transferring electric wirelessly is like trying to drink water by licking moisture in the air. It just doesn't work and will never be practical.

[u/AwesomeFama → u/[deleted]]

Transferring energy wirelessly is very easy. They had cannons that managed it quite well many centuries ago, and for example the catapult before that!

Transferring electricity wirelessly is much trickier though, you're right about that.