FlyCart 100 100kg Delivery Drone in 40°C Corn Fields: Battery Efficiency Deep Dive
FlyCart 100 100kg Delivery Drone in 40°C Corn Fields: Battery Efficiency Deep Dive
TL;DR
- At 40°C ambient, FlyCart 100 still lifts 100kg payload while keeping dual-battery redundancy above 25% reserve—no factory derating required.
- Route optimization plus a third-party 40W LED spotlight shaved 6% off energy draw by allowing lower hover time during precision winch drops.
- Payload-to-weight ratio of 0.76 and active cell cooling keep internal pack temperature ≤8°C above ambient, protecting cycle life even after 50 BVLOS circuits.
The Remote Supply Pilot doesn’t get to choose the weather; the load still has to beat the truck to the silo. Last August, a seed-corn grower in Nebraska handed me a mission folder: move 90kg of desiccant bags across 2,400m of 2.5m-high corn rows, mercury already kissing 40°C, no landing strip inside the field. The FlyCart 100 was the only delivery drone on the rack rated for that mass without tearing down stalks. This article is the unfiltered flight-data dissection of how we kept the batteries alive—and the schedule intact.
1. Why Extreme Heat Punishes Heavy-Lift Packs
Lithium-ion internal resistance climbs with temperature. Push 100kg through the props and the pack tries to shed 2.3kW of waste heat. If cells cross 60°C, the Battery Management System (BMS) on most cargo drones folds power back, cutting payload or triggering an early RTH. FlyCart 100’s active-cooling plenum pulls cabin air across the packs at 3.5m/s, keeping cell delta within 8°C of ambient. Translation: even at 40°C, cells stay below 48°C, so the BMS never derates.
Expert Insight
“We tape a 30cm strip of temp-sensitive liquid-crystal on the battery lid. The moment it flips from black to green (50°C), we know the cabin fans are saturated and it’s time to widen the loiter radius for more airflow. Cheap insurance against invisible heat soak.”
—Remote Supply Pilot, 1,800h cargo-BVLOS logged
2. Flight Profile: Corn-Field Sprint vs. Energy Budget
| Parameter | FlyCart 100 (40°C corn run) | Typical 70°C asphalt test |
|---|---|---|
| Gross take-off mass | 142kg | 142kg |
| Payload | 90–100kg | 100kg |
| Climb to 30m AGL | 18s @ 82A | 15s @ 78A |
| Cruise speed | 12m/s | 15m/s |
| Winch hover (spotlight on) | 8s @ 105A | — |
| Total route length (one way) | 2.4km | 5km |
| Dual-battery usable energy | 3.84kWh (4.8kWh total) | same |
| Reserve after landing | 26% | 18% |
3. Spotlight Hack: How an Accessory Became a Battery Saver
You wouldn’t think bolting a 40W LED spotlight to the winch boom helps efficiency. It does when the alternative is 30s of hover hunting for a tiny drop mat. The 3,000lm beam paints a 4m circle from 25m up, letting the winch system lock and release in 8s instead of 15s. Over 50 drops, that’s 350s less high-throttle hover, worth 6% pack capacity—or an extra 2.5km of safety margin on a long BVLOS leg.
4. Route Optimization: Turning Corn Rows into Free Airflow
Standard grid pattern? Forget it. Corn furnaces exhale humid air, raising density altitude by 600ft. We fly the "ridge" track: offset 20m downwind of the tallest rows, using the crop itself as a flow fence. Ground speed drops 0.8m/s, but energy per metre falls 4% because the props bite cleaner air. Software plug-in: QGroundControl with "Crop-Sail" topography layer plus SRTM-1m elevation—open-source and BVLOS-legal under FAA Part 107 exemptions when paired with a visual observer every 0.5nm.
5. Dual-Battery Redundancy in Practice
FlyCart ships with two 2.4kWh packs in parallel. If one sags or a connector loosens, the bus automatically isolates and continues on the healthy side; total hover thrust loss is <5%, well inside the 20% reserve mandated for heavy-cargo ops. We flew the entire week with a deliberate 0.3mΩ rise on pack B to test the algorithm—never felt it.
6. Common Pitfalls & What to Avoid
Pre-cooling packs in ice chests
Condensation forms on cold cells the moment they hit humid air, tripping the humidity sensor and grounding the aircraft. Keep storage at 25°C and let active cooling do the rest.Winch cable too long
A 35m line sounds safe for 30m corn, but summer thermals swing the load. Limit to 22m; shorter drop equals shorter hover.Ignoring electromagnetic clutter from centre-pivot irrigators
Those 480V VFD motors broadcast at 2.4GHz, stomping on RC link and telemetry. Load a RF-noise map before flight; shift BVLOS corridor 100m east and save a re-flight.Skipping prop tape
Silks shred off tassels and wrap hubs, creating micro-imbalance that tricks the ESC into +3% current. One strip of 3M polyurethane tape on the leading edge prevents the issue.
7. Real-World Numbers: Heat vs. Cycle Life
After 86 sorties in that Nebraska week, average pack temperature on landing was 46.8°C. Capacity check back in the lab showed 96.1% of original, beating the factory spec curve by 4%. At this rate, the 1,000-cycle warranty is reachable even in desert summer conditions—proof that active thermal design buys longevity, not just flight time.
Pro Tip
Log internal resistance (IR) every dawn. A >15% jump across any cell group means micro-dendrites are growing from heat cycling. Swap that pack to training ops before it bites you mid-mission.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1: Will the FlyCart 100 maintain 100kg payload at 45°C?
Yes—factory BMS begins gentle derate only after cell temp hits 55°C. In our trials at 45°C ambient, packs stabilised at 51°C, so full 100kg remains available with normal airflow.
Q2: Can the winch system operate when relative humidity is 95%?
The IP55-rated winch motor is sealed; however, condensation on the synthetic line can ice the spool at altitude. Dry the line in the sun for 10min before first drop, and run 5m of free spool to shed water.
Q3: Is BVLOS legal over corn taller than 3m without a chase vehicle?
Under Part 107, you need either a BVLOS waiver with a visual observer every 0.5nm or an FAA-approved Detect-and-Avoid (DAA) system. FlyCart’s ADS-B IN module satisfies DAA for low-altitude ag ops—file your waiver referencing FAA-2023-0891 template.
Ready to move critical cargo when the asphalt melts? Contact our team for a custom power-budget run, or compare the FlyCart 30 if your typical load is <30kg and you want even tighter battery intervals.