Solid state batteries can help take off

Although it is an essential element in science fiction movies and conspiracy theories, in real life, small Microbots fought-that we made with batteries and electronics-in order to reach a large extent. But a new set of circles and lightweight solid steel batteries called “airline batteries” can let these robots really take off, which may operate the microbes for hours of the Yazan milligram system.

Microbots can be an important technique to find people buried in the rubble or scout in other dangerous situations. But they are a difficult geometric challenge, he says Patrick MercyProfessor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of California, San Diego. Morsi student Zixiao lin Described The new circle last month in IEEE IEEE (IEEE). “You really have these small robots, and you want them to last as long as possible in this field,” says Mercy. “The best way to do this is to use lithium ion batteries, because they have the best energy density. But there is this basic problem, as the engines need a much higher voltage than the battery can provide.”

The lithium cell can provide about 4 volts, but the applicants of microbials need tens of hundreds of volts, explains Mercier. The researchers, including the MERCIER Special Group, have developed circles such as reinforcement transformers to increase voltage. But since they need a relatively large or group of condensate, it adds a lot of mass and its size, and usually occupies a large area like the battery itself.

A new type of solid state battery, developed in the French National Electronics Laboratory CEA-DotiI offered a possible solution. the Batteries It is a thin pile of materials of materials, including lithium cobalt and lithium phosphorous, made using semiconductor processing technology, and can be pasted in small cells. 0.33-Cubic-Millimeter, 0.8 Milligram cell 20 hours of fees can be stored, or about 60 amps per liter. (Lithium Ion Earphone batteries Save more than 100 AH/L, but about 1000 times large.) Power injectionIn Grenoble, France, it is preparing to start manufacturing in late 2026.

The batteries are accumulated while flying

Since the solid state battery can be pressed on small cells, the researchers believed that they could achieve high voltage using a circle that does not need condensate or oculations. Instead, the department rearranges the communications between many small batteries that move it from parallel to the series and return again.

Imagine Microdrone, which moves by overcoming the wings attached to the electrolyte engines. On the circuit board has dozens or so of the solid -state microbes. Each battery is part of a circle consisting of four transistors. These switches that can change the connection dynamically work to the battery neighbor so that they are either parallel, so that they participate in the same effort, or the series, so the voltage is added.

Initially, all the batteries are parallel, as it provides an effort that is not close enough to excite the operator. IC 2-Millimeter IC, which was built by the UCSD team that was built and then begins to open and close the transistor keys. This rearranges the communications between the cells so that the first two cells are sequenced, then three, then four, and so on. In a few hundred second parts, all batteries are connected in the chain, and the voltage has accumulated a lot of drawings on the operator to the extent that it settles the microbot wings down. Then IC exhausts the process, which makes the batteries parallel again, one at one time.

The integrated circuit area of ​​the “Air battery” is 2 millimeters.Patrick Mercy

Adiabatic charging

Why not only link a battery in a series once instead of passing through this scheme up and down? In one word, efficiency.

As long as the battery and parallel are sequenced by low frequency, including, the system charges Adiable. That is, energy loss is reduced.

But this is what happens after the operator leads to “where the real magic comes,” says Mercy. The photo operator works in the circle like a capacitor, and stores energy. “Just just as you break the renewal in a car, we can restore some of the energy we stored in this engine.” Since each battery is unstable, the remaining power storage system has a lower voltage than the operator, so some shipping flow to the batteries.

UCSD has already tested two types of microbes in the solid-making-Telk TDK (CERACHARGE 1704-SSB) and 4-V design from CEA-eti. With 1.6 grams of TDK cells, the circuit reached 56.1 volts and a power density reached 79 molts per gram, but with 0.014 grams of allocated storage, the maximum of 68 volts, and the energy density showed 4,500 megawatts/grams.

MERCIER plans to test the system with Robotics partners while its team and CEA-eti improve the packages of the battery system, miniaturization, and other properties. One of the important characteristics that need work is the internal resistance of microbes. He says: “The challenge is that the higher the number of your pods, the more resistance to the series, and thus the lower frequency that we can run the system.”

However, Mercier looks upward on the chances of flying batteries in maintaining Microbots high. “Adiabatic charging with fees recovery and no answer: These two wins help to increase the flight time.”