World’s First Commercialized Hydrogen-Fuel Cell Powers Drones for Humanitarian Missions
Doosan Mobility Innovation (DMI) is delivering humanitarian relief to remote locations using drones powered by its innovative energy-dense hydrogen-fuel cells. With two hours of flight time, the drones have transported masks and emergency supplies between the U.S. Virgin Islands and have delivered medical AEDs to the top of Mt. Hallasan (6,388 feet), the tallest mountain in South Korea, located on Jeju Island. This technology paves the way for developing mobile robots with extended range and load capacity. DMI drones delivered emergency medical supplies to the Virgin Islands. A hydrogen-fuel–cell power pack made this possible by enabling over two hours of UAV flight time; 4× longer than most battery-powered drones. Additional uses for the DMI extended-range drones have been in commercial applications in which longer flight times have enabled the monitoring of vast solar farms, such as Korea’s largest solar energy plant in Solasido, Haenam. When performing the same mission using a batte...