Please contact us if you are interested in adding infinite duration wireless power to your UAV!

I want to give huge thanks to Owen Kindig of Ztoryteller not only for making the great video, but for his hard work, dedication, and creativity.

KENT, WA–(Marketwire – November 3, 2010) – LaserMotive, an R&D company specializing in laser power beaming and winner of the 2009 NASA-sponsored Power Beaming Competition, has additional details on the technical records set during its recent history-making laser-powered flight at the Future of Flight Aviation Center.
The flight, undertaken by LaserMotive and its partner German robotic helicopter manufacturer Ascending Technologies, was the longest laser powered flight on record at 12 hours, 26 minutes and 56.9 seconds. The flight set the following records:

• Longest hovering flight duration for an untethered electric vehicle: Limited only by the venue; the Ascending Technologies Pelican quadrocopter and the LaserMotive power system were both capable of continuing indefinitely
• Endurance record for any VTOL aircraft in this weight class
• Longest beamed-energy-powered flight of any type

In addition, the flight marked the following key milestones towards operational laser-powered UAVs:

• Repeated fully automatic acquisition of UAV by laser tracking system
• In-flight battery recharging
• Automatic position hold in beam, with the laser tracking system controlling the UAV position
• “Class I” operation, meeting US and international laser exposure limits everywhere on the ground

“Today’s flight represents an important achievement for the future of flight,” said Tom Nugent, president and CEO of LaserMotive. “What LaserMotive and Ascending Technologies accomplished today has never been done in the history of flight, and the potential impact is enormous, not only as an endless source of power for air and space craft but for opening up new capabilities for them as well.”

“We are pleased to have been partner in this historic occasion,” said Jan Stumpf, CEO of Ascending Technologies. “LaserMotive’s laser power beaming system has the potential to open up new uses and new markets for unmanned aerial vehicles such as ours, offering new opportunities not only for our company but for the industry as a whole.”

About LaserMotive
Headquartered in Kent, Wash., LaserMotive is a privately-held R&D company specializing in laser power beaming for commercial applications. The company was co-founded in 2006 by Dr. Jordin Kare, one of the foremost experts on laser propulsion, and Tom Nugent, former Research Director for LiftPort Group. Its industry partners include some of the leading companies in aerospace and lasers, including The Boeing Company, DILAS, MS Kennedy, Ophir Spiricon, Zaber Technologies, and In-Tec. For more information on LaserMotive, please visit the company website at www.lasermotive.com.

About Ascending Technologies
Ascending Technologies GmbH is based in Krailling, close to Munich, in Germany. It was founded in 2007 by four engineering students and has revolutionized the flying robotics research by providing unmatched UAVs to R&D groups worldwide. For more information please visit the Ascending Technologies website at www.asctec.de.

KENT, WA–(Marketwire – October 20, 2010) – LaserMotive, an independent R&D company specializing in laser power beaming and winner of the 2009 NASA-sponsored Power Beaming Competition, today announced it will attempt to break its own world record for laser-powered helicopter flight at the Future of Flight Aviation Center located at 8415 Paine Field Blvd. in Mukilteo, Wash., starting Wednesday, October 27.
The flight, which will consist of an unmanned “quadrocopter” free-flying inside of the Future of Flight Aviation Center, will commence in the early evening on Wednesday, October 27 and will end on Thursday morning by 8:00 AM. The quadrocopter will be powered solely with laser power beaming — the wireless transfer of energy over distances using laser light — to create an endless source of power to the aircraft. Previously, LaserMotive set the world record for the longest-duration laser-powered helicopter flight when it flew a tethered remote-controlled helicopter up to six hours at a time for four days at the AUVSI Conference in Denver, Colo.
“The demonstration will mark our first public display of a free-flying unmanned aerial vehicle powered by lasers, and represents an important step forward in the future development of flight,” Tom Nugent, President and Co-founder of LaserMotive. “As such, we feel that the Future of Flight is the perfect place to hold this groundbreaking demo.”
“We are very pleased to host this record breaking event, which could genuinely impact the future of flight,” said Barry Smith, Executive Director of the Future of Flight Foundation. “For us, the innovation behind the technology is what makes this project so meaningful and we applaud LaserMotive’s achievements as the leader in the field of beamed power.”
The LaserMotive laser power beaming system is based on technology the company developed for its winning entry in the 2009 Power Beaming Challenge for a purse prize of nearly $1 million, marking the first time any team ever won the Challenge. The demonstration is part of the company’s long-term strategy to develop a full-scale laser power system for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) — currently one of the largest growth sectors in the aerospace and defense industries with an expected growth rate worldwide to $11.5 billion annually by 2020.
Headquartered in Kent, Wash., LaserMotive is a privately-held R&D company specializing in laser power beaming for commercial applications. The company was co-founded in 2006 by Dr. Jordin Kare, one of the foremost experts on laser propulsion, and Tom Nugent, former Research Director for LiftPort Group. Its industry partners include some of the leading companies in aerospace and lasers, including The Boeing Company, DILAS, MS Kennedy, Ophir Spiricon, Zaber Technologies, and In-Tec. For more information, including a white paper on LaserMotive’s UAV strategy, please visit the company website at www.lasermotive.com.
(Note to the media: Media are invited to see the landing of the quadrocopter on Thursday, October 28 starting at 7:30am. Please contact either LaserMotive or the Future of Flight in advance to arrange access).

We issued a press release for this news, and here is the text of the press release:

LaserMotive Unveils Strategy for First Laser-Powered Fuel System for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

New System Supplies Unlimited Power, Extends UAV Abilities and Enables New Missions

Kent, Wash. (May 4, 2010) – LaserMotive, a leading R&D company specializing in laser power beaming and winner of the NASA-sponsored 2009 Power Beaming Competition, has unveiled its blueprint for creating the first endless power system for unmanned aerial vehicles.

The proposed system is based on technology LaserMotive developed for its winning entry in the Power Beaming Competition for a prize of nearly $1 million – the first time any entrant has won the competition.

The new system will use laser power beaming – the wireless transfer of energy from one location to another using laser light – to create an unlimited source of power for unmanned aerial vehicles, one of the largest growth sectors in the aerospace and defense industries. According to industry research firm Teal Group, the market for unmanned aerial vehicles (also known as UAVs) is expected to grow worldwide from $4.9 billion annually to $11.5 billion annually in the next 10 years.

“Today’s announcement marks an important step not only in powering UAVs, but in extending their abilities, improving their endurance and enabling new missions,” said Tom Nugent, president and co-founder of LaserMotive. “Because laser power beaming enables electric aircraft to be recharged in flight, it is especially viable for high-altitude, long endurance unmanned aerial vehicles and other types of aircraft that need to power over a long period of time.”

LaserMotive is planning to develop a demonstration model of an airborne vehicle powered by laser before the end of this year. The first working prototypes of the new system could be available within as little as 18 months.

Headquartered in Kent, Wash., LaserMotive is a privately-held R&D company specializing in laser power beaming for commercial applications. The company was co-founded in 2006 by Dr. Jordin Kare, one of the foremost experts on laser propulsion, and Tom Nugent, former Research Director for LiftPort Group. Its industry partners include some of the leading companies in aerospace and lasers, including The Boeing Company, DILAS, MS Kennedy, Ophir Spiricon, 4D Optical, and In-Tec. For more information, including the white paper on LaserMotive’s UAV strategy, please visit the company website at www.lasermotive.com.