Researchers at the Nizhny Novgorod based Lobachevsky University (UNN) in the mid-Volga region have patented a new system that enables automatic contactless recharging of drones, Scientific Russia reported.

Unlike the international competition, the Russian approach is said to have shown high accuracy of mutual drone-recharger alignment, and there’s no need for actual contact between the two.

“In our contactless drone charging technology, a special aerial transformer is used, where a magnetic field serves as a medium to transmit energy from the recharger to a drone. We have come up with what we believe is innovative design of the self-contained recharger, and also takeoff-landing control algorithms that draw upon our know-how in artificial intelligence and fluorescent image registration systems,” Associate Professor Sergei Stasenko of UNN’s Neural Technology Chair said in a comment on the development.