They cap out at several hours for gas powered drones or ~1h of flying time for batteries.
But it’s unlikely for you to actually need endurance because you’re not getting signal that far through a cave without repeaters or a long cable. A bigger deal is being able to go underwater or fit through tiny openings.
Most gas powered drones don’t actually use much fuel and thus their oxygen use is limited. At the extreme end a 20 pound drone might use the same oxygen per minute as ~5 people and you’re not going to stay in the same place for that long vs people going through rough terrain. If anything adding gas sensors would more than make up for such issues.
Personally I’d be more concerned with explosive gas mixtures, but that’s not an issue in most cave systems.
> But it’s unlikely for you to actually need endurance because you’re not getting signal that far through a cave without repeaters or a long cable.
I mean you could let it roam on it's own and report back no? But even if you had to be in the same area as it, it then lets you go for even longer. Like some people sleep in these caves and bag in/out a bunch of supplies so needing to carry less batteries would be nice I assume.
> A bigger deal is being able to go underwater or fit through tiny openings.
That's in the abstract as well: "Our design strengthens the robot while granting the ability to access narrow spaces by folding the structure - up to a volume expansion ratio of 19.8."
But it’s unlikely for you to actually need endurance because you’re not getting signal that far through a cave without repeaters or a long cable. A bigger deal is being able to go underwater or fit through tiny openings.