Spy planes to recharge by clinging to power lines

December 20, 2007 | Source: NewScientist news service

The US Air Force Research Lab is developing an electric motor-powered micro air vehicle that can “harvest” energy when needed by attaching itself to a power line, even temporarily changing its shape to look more like innocuous piece of trash hanging from the cable.

Much of the “morphing” technology to perform this has already been developed by DARPA, the Pentagon’s research division. Technologies developed in that program include carbon composite “sliding skins,” which allow fuselages to change shape, and telescopic wings that allow lift to be boosted in seconds by boosting a wing’s surface area.