Iomys Labs Endurance Package for Aerostats
By Lynette F. Cornell
In the company’s own words:
“Iomys Labs LLC is working to develop its proprietary Endurance Package for use with unmanned aerial vehicles and lighter-than-air craft. The mission time of these types of craft are currently limited to one to two weeks due to high leak rates of their buoyant gas. Our technology offsets this leak rate by extracting hydrogen from condensed water vapor collected from the atmosphere, allowing these aircraft to remain airborne longer and reduce downtime.”
About the technology:
The module, named the Endurance Package, works by using a pump to pressurize the ambient air into a condensing chamber, which extracts water from the air. An electrolysis system breaks down the water on a molecular level to create hydrogen to refill the buoyant aircraft, while venting the waste oxygen. The module’s control system uses integrated sensors to monitor and control the process by adjusting the pump speed and cooling system load appropriately. The module is currently being designed for use in the tethered aerostat industry, which includes balloons typically used for surveillance and communications. The company said it expects that future development of its technology, which is patent-pending, will allow it to explore additional markets, specifically the telecommunications infrastructure sector. Iomys is currently testing its second fully functional prototype.
People behind the company:
Phil Dirkse, business development lead, also works as an energy engineer for Rethinking Power Management LLC. He previously worked as an intern at Olin College’s Nanofluids Lab, DRS Technologies Inc. and the avionic systems division of L-3 Communications Corp. Jake Felser, lead mechanical engineer, has previously interned at Makani Power, Promethean Power Systems Inc. and Blue Origin LLC. Peter Reinhardt, lead researcher, is also the founder of online textbook publishing startup Bookxor. He has previously worked as a software engineer at Bruxton Corp. and interned at Blue Origin LLC. Danny Bankman, lead electrical engineer, has previously interned at SRI International, Vtech Engineering Corp., Numenta Inc. and Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory.
The pitch:
Iomys is actively seeking approximately $1 million in angel or VC funding for continued development and marketing of the Endurance Package. It is currently pursuing a partnership with Autodesk’s Cleantech Program regarding design, analysis and publishing software. The company is also looking for a patent attorney with experience in this industry who would be willing to work for equity or deferred payment.
The market:
The company is seeking to tap into the tethered aerostat industry, which it estimates is worth $200 million, although the company notes that this is an initial, conservative approximation. Its expected expansion into the telecommunications infrastructure sector would mean a market size of $2.4 billion, according to Dirkse.
The competition:
The company’s competition includes Raytheon Co., Lockheed Martin Corp., TCOM LP and Aerostar International Inc., all of whom are looking for solutions to this problem and likely trying to develop similar systems, said Dirkse.
