The Oak Ridge National Laboratory is planning to commercialize its wireless charging invention aimed at increasing the flight time of unmanned aircraft vehicles.
According to a special notice on SAM.gov, ORNL will accept licensing applications for the Operation Duration Extender for UAVs technical business opportunity through July 15.
The invention, which features various ORNL wireless charging concepts, is designed to refill the batteries of drones without establishing any physical electrical contract to avoid problems caused by environmental factors and mechanism interoperabilities.
Oak Ridge scheduled a Technology Innovation Program day on June 6 to discuss the charging technology further with interested parties months before selecting licensing candidates on Aug. 15.
The business opportunity comes as the Battelle Memorial Institute and University of Tennessee-manged national laboratory expects the global drone market to reach over $43 billion in 2024.