Cylindrical lithium‐ion structural batteries for drones

Summary The low cost, simplicity, and easy use of battery‐powered multirotor aircraft has led to their adoption in commercial, industrial, agricultural, and military applications. These aircraft, however, have limited payloads and shorter endurance and range than fuel‐powered conventional aircraft. To extend these key performance metrics, a structural battery is developed that uses commercially available battery cells as load bearing and power source elements for weight critical applications. The cylindrical structural battery is tested in three‐point bending and is found to have four times higher stiffness and two times higher yield strength than the structure without battery reinforcement. Simulations of a quadcopter, redesigned with the proposed cylindrical structural batteries, demonstrate 41% longer hover time.