Bengaluru Startup Aims to Keep Aircraft in the Sky for a Year with Ocean Wind Energy

In an ambitious endeavor, Bengaluru-based startup Alteon is striving to revolutionize aviation by creating an aircraft capable of staying airborne for over a year, utilizing energy harvested from ocean winds. The initiative has garnered the attention of notable investor Lachy Groom, who led a $2.5 million pre-seed funding round for the company, founded by 20-year-old Samay Sanghvi.

Alteon’s innovative approach draws inspiration from the dynamic soaring technique employed by albatrosses, allowing the aircraft to maneuver between layers of air traveling at different speeds to extract energy. This technology aims to eliminate the need for conventional fuel or battery power in aircraft.

Sanghvi expressed his optimism about the potential applications of their aircraft, stating, “Once you build airplanes that can stay in the air for more than a year, there are millions of things you can do with them.” The startup plans to initially focus on maritime surveillance, providing governments with real-time monitoring capabilities over their waters.

The design features a small, fixed-wing aircraft with a wingspan of approximately three meters that will fly close to the ocean surface to maximize wind energy captured through dynamic soaring. The ultimate goal is to power the aircraft’s propellers as turbines, converting wind energy into electricity to recharge onboard batteries.

While Alteon has not yet proven its capability to sustain flight solely through dynamic soaring, recent tests demonstrate progress. The aircraft successfully completed seven autonomous flight cycles at speeds exceeding 62 miles per hour over the Bay of Bengal.

Future milestones include achieving “energy-neutral dynamic soaring,” enabling the aircraft to fly without propulsion by continuously harvesting wind energy. However, experts highlight significant challenges, such as safely navigating low-altitude flight amidst turbulence and changing ocean conditions.

Dr. Gabriel Bousquet, an aerospace engineer, noted the promising results so far but emphasized the need for real-world testing to validate the technology. Dr. Bharath Swaminathan acknowledged the established physics behind dynamic soaring but cautioned that local wind conditions could complicate energy extraction.

Despite the technical risks involved, Groom remains confident in Sanghvi and the Alteon team’s ability to tackle these ambitious challenges.

Source: techcrunch.com