Ingenuity drone mars11/11/2023 ![]() ![]() The nameplate (using numbers from the cells’ datasheet) capacity and energy rating of the pack is 2 Ah and 42.1 Wh, respectively, when discharged with a constant current of 10 A. This yields a pack voltage of 25.2 V when fully charged and 15 V when fully discharged. The cells are configured in a 6S configuration, meaning they are all connected in series. Furthermore, it comes as little surprise that the team at the JPL went for something “tried, tested, and true” for a mission critical component. Given the general high power and low energy specifications of the VTC4, it has probably been used in power tools here on earth. This cell has been around for several years - I found a data sheet from 2012 while researching for this article. You may be surprised to learn that the Ingenuity’s energy source is built from six off the shelf 18650 lithium ion cells from Sony, the VTC4. The learnings from this mission will feed back into future missions where an autonomous aircraft could carry instruments and bring back samples from further afield. The main goal of Ingenuity is to provide a stepping stone to further powered, autonomous flying on another planet. As Bob Balaram, Chief Engineer for the Mars Helicopter Project wrote: “No more free power from the rover!”. Once this manoeuvre was complete, Ingenuity has been completely self-reliant for all of its energy needs. Perseverance dropped the Ingenuity from its underside, and then drove away leaving it completely on its own to conduct its first powered flight on another planet. Ingenuity rode under the belly of the Perseverance rover which landed on Mars on the 18 February 2021. Given the recent excitement about the Mars Helicopter Ingenuity’s first powered flight on another planet, I wanted to share my research into its power source: 6 lithium ion cells. ![]()
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