When one of PINC’s inventory drones canvasses a large ware- house, it moves up and down long aisles as it collects and relays information about the thousands of products it scans. These expansive missions take time to complete—which is why it’s so important to deploy unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) capable of long flights.

About six months ago, PINC CEO Matt Yearling and his team began testing a power source known for its longer endurance: a hydrogen fuel cell system from Intelligent Energy. With this system, Yearling doesn’t have to worry about the drone running out of battery life mid-job and then needing to recharge. Instead of flying for 30 minutes, the hydrogen- powered prototype can fly for two or three hours, and it only takes a few minutes to refuel or swap out a tank once it’s empty. Hydrogen also pro- vides a greener, safer solution than batteries, Yearling said, and is starting to be used more and more in the material handling supply chain, making it an attractive option for PINC.

“For us, longevity of operation is key,” Yearling said. “What we’re doing is looking at fuel cells from a drone perspective and what they need to be. The power weight ratio equation for the lowest possible weight needs to produce the maximum amount of power. The system we’ve been piloting in our environment is a 650 watt system capable of powering an industrial sized drone for up to three hours.”

Endurance is a pain point for many UAS manufacturers and customers who need to fly for more than the 20 minutes or so many batteries allow. Other companies that rely on internal combustion engines to power their systems, such as Insitu, are interested in a more dependable solution that offers smoother operation—and hydrogen can help in that area as well.

Hydrogen fuel cell powered systems are becoming increasingly popular as more companies design systems specifically for UAS, and as drone manufacturers begin to realize the benefits. There are a variety of other industries looking to this power source, which is also helping to pique interest, Yearling said. The automotive indus- try is starting to use hydrogen to fuel their cars. It’s also being used as a backup fuel source for cell phone towers and emergency services like railroad crossing gates, to name a few examples.