HYDRONE project started in September 2021 and is funded by the Spanish Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI) in its program for young researchers. It is focused on the hybridization of hydrogen fuel cells with the current LiPo batteries, commonly used in most commercial drones for civilian applications.

HYDRONE team is formed by researchers from the Instituto de Automática e Informática Industrial (ai2) and the Instituto Universitario CMT – Motores Térmicos, both belonging to the Universitat Politècnica de València. The research team is working on the design, construction, and control of a hybrid propulsion system that will substantially extend the flight endurance of the next generation of drones.

The optimal management of a hybrid system consisting of LiPo batteries and hydrogen fuel cell aims to extend the flight endurance of drones. These vehicles have flight endurance for nearly 40-45 minutes in optimal situations. Depending on the installed hydrogen tank, this project proposes extending this endurance beyond two hours. In this sense, the researcher team is designing a control system that incorporates weather, trajectory, or flight altitude parameters. The software manages the LiPo + Hydrogen set according to the different scenarios and optimizes the effective flight time to the maximum.

HYDRONE results could improve maritime rescue missions, coastal control, aquaculture surveillance, or transport. Nowadays, flight endurance is a critical element in all civil drone applications. The research team has been working in this direction for more than a decade.

HYDRONE, which will last three years, also aims to design a distributed propulsion system for drones. The goal is that the vehicles do not have a single propeller but several propulsive elements in the fuselage. These smaller engines allow a more balanced and efficient propulsion force from the energy consumption point of view.

HYDRONE technology is designed for 10 kg MTOW fixed-wing drones. However, the technology is fully scalable even to a conventional manned aircraft.