Maximum program: Russian software will accelerate the creation of hydrogen-powered drones

Young specialists have created a model that allows them to save hundreds of thousands of rubles on testing hydrogen engines for drones. The development exceeds industry standards by four times and has no analogues for UAS on the global market. In the future, the model will be complemented by an AI module that will provide designers with ready‑made recommendations in natural language. According to experts, this will help accelerate domestic developments in this area. Hydrogen-powered drones have a number of advantages: increased autonomy compared to battery-powered energy sources, the ability to operate at low temperatures, and the absence of a thermal footprint, unlike drones with an internal combustion engine. At the same time, experts note that hydrogen technologies are still developing relatively slowly.

Software for creating hydrogen engines

A youth engineering team from the Financial University has developed a mathematical model for calculating the profitability and efficiency of a hydrogen engine for drones. It allows design engineers to make more accurate calculations without a cycle of expensive tests, minimizing costs by hundreds of thousands of rubles, the University 2035 press service told Izvestia.

Photo: NTI

There are analogues in the world for validating hydrogen power plants, but they are designed to simulate the properties of huge factories or airplanes, the developers said. However, there are no specialized software products for drones on the market.

The Vector team combined a number of fundamental equations into a single computational algorithm. The authors have created a script in Python 3.8, which is equipped with a security system: the simulation stops ahead of schedule as soon as the pressure in the system falls below a critical threshold.

"We plan to introduce artificial intelligence elements that will not only calculate efficiency, but also offer the designer optimal changes in the diameter, length and density of the gas to achieve the targets," said Elnur Iskenderov, head of the group.

Photo: IZVESTIA/Polina Violet

In the future, the AI module will learn how to predict an emergency pressure drop before it occurs, automatically adjust friction coefficients based on test results and generate reports with recommendations in natural language, turning a complex simulator into an intelligent assistant engineer, the developers told Izvestia.

The program can run on any personal computer or laptop and is able to adapt to specific operating conditions. The tests have shown that the model functions stably in the temperature range from -20 to +60 degrees Celsius.

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Prospects for the introduction of technology

The topic of hydrogen transport is quite complex, and it is precisely such power plants that can replace hydrocarbon engines, said Andrey Novikov, senior engineer at the NTI Center for Digital Materials Science: New Materials and Substances at Bauman Moscow State Technical University.

Photo: NTI

— Hydrogen power plants are indeed considered environmentally friendly. At one of the exhibitions, the head of Audi even drank a glass of water collected from the condensate formed as a result of the operation of such a car. These systems are highly efficient and do not require long—term charging," the specialist noted.

However, the technology has drawbacks. According to the expert, they are primarily related to the lack of infrastructure, the high cost of fuel and the power plants themselves.

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Preparations are already underway for the mass production of such materials.

The practical value of the development lies in the ability to reduce testing costs and speed up the process of creating new samples of equipment, which is especially important at the prototyping stage, explained Mikhail Goldberg, Deputy General Director for Commercial Affairs at Albatros.

— Of particular interest are plans to integrate AI technologies to optimize engine parameters. This will allow not only to simulate different operating modes, but also to automatically propose constructive improvements," the specialist emphasized.

Photo: IZVESTIA/Polina Violet

Experts note that hydrogen technologies are still developing relatively slowly, as this is a new direction for the market. For large-scale implementation, it is necessary to ensure the demand for such solutions and their economic accessibility for manufacturers of unmanned aircraft systems.

The students presented the development within the framework of the federal project "Personnel for UAS", its operator is University 2035.