Someone needs to run the numbers for a modular chain of wire-carrying drones: if you get rid of the batteries, what length of cable could a drone carry? How much power would that cable be able to transmit, how much of that power would be consumed by the cable-carrying drones? Just how light could we make the power electronics to feed the drones from the (obviously, for weight reasons) high voltage power lines they would be lifting?
If this is possible at all, it could be an important base technology for a very wide range of new application fields.
If this is possible at all, it could be an important base technology for a very wide range of new application fields.