tl;dr: drones can be tethered by fiber optic cables. The cable provides jam-proof communication between the drone and the operator; and it also supplies power to the drone so it doesn't need a massive battery pack and can stay airborne longer.

[–] deegeese@sopuli.xyz 17 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Fiber optic cable can’t supply power.

They could if it was a copper wire, but then it’s even heavier.

[–] aramis87@fedia.io 0 points 5 months ago (4 children)

According to the article:

In the case of drones, the fiber optic cable provides a direct, stable, and high-capacity link for both power and data transmission. [...] The fiber optic cable also supplies power to the drone, meaning the UAV doesn’t need a huge battery onboard.

[–] lurklurk@lemmy.world 13 points 5 months ago

There's no way that's correct though, with current technology

[–] zbyte64@awful.systems 11 points 5 months ago

Maybe this is why we shouldn't have AI write articles. Does the drone have a solar panel on the other end of the cable?

[–] JokeDeity@lemm.ee 5 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I have to imagine the article is just wrong about this part, but maybe there's something I'm missing.

[–] aramis87@fedia.io 4 points 5 months ago (3 children)

Power Over Fiber "is a technology in which a fiber-optic cable carries optical power, which is used as an energy source rather than, or as well as, carrying data".

[–] aard@kyu.de 5 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Now I'd recommend looking up how much power can be transported by the very few implementations out there, and how much they cost.

Anything coming close to being able to power a drone would need way thicker fibers, increasing the drone weight. Any too big bend would set the fiber on fire. And it costs so much that building a slightly bigger drone with more batteries is cheaper.

[–] Tar_alcaran@sh.itjust.works 4 points 5 months ago

To save people the click:

Commercial systems generally deliver about a watt at 10-20 meters, which of course drops with distance and depends on fiber quality. It also requires a separate fiber(pair) from the data fiber.

A small DJI burns about 100 watts

[–] deegeese@sopuli.xyz 4 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Has it actually been deployed for aerial drones, or just theoretically?

[–] Successful_Try543@feddit.org 4 points 5 months ago

See reference [1] if the article: https://optics.org/news/4/5/1

It seems to work at least for small surveillance drones.