Here is more on Boeing’spatent details:

The recharging concept described in the patent involves connecting the drone to a power source on the ground, a vehicle or a building via a tether, which recharges the UAV while it floats in mid-air. Airships and other buoyant drones can float in this way without the need for power, allowing them to be recharged fully before continuing their journey.

The development could be highly significant, enabling drones to be used for long-distance work such as cargo deliveries or climate monitoring, and for all-day use such as filming and local food delivery.

Although the applications could be enormous, is this something we want to allow to be patented?  Certain intellectual property definitely deserves protection but at the same time we don’t want to hinder innovative companies from competing in this space.

thanks to Factor for the great writeup

thanks to thales for the image