Zerdly

Drone Battery Count Calculator

Sorties, battery sets, spares and individual packs — with per-sortie overhead, the reserve applied once, and an optional charging schedule.

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How to use this calculator

Inputs

Sorties, battery sets, spares and individual packs — with per-sortie overhead, reserve applied once, and an optional charging schedule.

Job

Imaging (work) time. Per-sortie overheads below are added per sortie, not hidden in this figure.

Endurance

Mutually exclusive, so a reserve can never be applied twice.

Sets

2 for paired-pack aircraft. Blank = 1.

Per-sortie overhead
More options
Per-sortie overhead
Turns
Segments (optional)

Lines that cannot be split between batteries. Packed first-fit in flight order; replaces the continuous split.

Charging (optional)

Your measured figure — never inferred from battery size.

Enter the values and press Calculate.

Or load an example to see a worked result.

Sortie timeline
Sortie lengths to scale; gaps illustrative
Sortie timelineOne row per sortie on a shared time axis: imaging time, per-sortie overhead, waits for a charged set and charge windows.056 minS1S2S3
Each sortie is a bar: overhead at each end of every sortie, imaging in between. With a charging schedule, charge windows and waits appear.

Legend: solid = airborne; darker ends = per-sortie overhead (split for drawing); thin red = waiting for a charged set; dashed = that set charging.

Calculate first: a stale result cannot be exported.

Batch from CSV

One row per calculation, with a header row. Values use the units currently selected in the form above. Up to 10,000 rows; nothing is uploaded.

Before you rely on this: First-pass guide only. Verify safety-critical or regulated work against the relevant standards, your project requirements and a qualified professional.

How to use this calculator

  1. Enter the productive airborne work time required.
  2. Choose usable airborne time per set (already net of reserve) OR a reference endurance with your reserve and derating — never both.
  3. Add spare sets, packs per set, and per-sortie take-off/landing and transit time.
  4. Optionally pack indivisible segments and add a charging schedule (charge time, chargers, charged sets).

How it works

Useful time per sortie U = usable − per-sortie overhead (must be positive). Sorties = ⌈work ÷ U⌉; total airborne = work + sorties × overhead — the overhead is charged on every sortie.

Sets for flying = ⌈total airborne ÷ usable⌉; total sets = flying + spares; packs = total sets × packs per set. Spares stay reserve stock.

The charging queue starts each sortie when the aircraft is ready and a charged set exists; landed sets charge in order on the available chargers. Waits are reported, never hidden.

Worked example

75 min on 18-minute sets, 1 spare, paired packs. ⌈75 ÷ 18⌉ = 5 flying sets; + 1 spare = 6 sets = 12 packs. With 60 min of work and 3 min per-sortie overhead: U = 15 min, 4 sorties, 72 min airborne.

Frequently asked questions

Why are sets and packs different?

Paired-pack aircraft fly on a matched set of two packs, so each sortie consumes a set, and you carry twice as many packs.

Should the reserve be in the endurance?

Enter either an endurance already net of your reserve, or a reference endurance plus your reserve — the tool applies it exactly once. A reserve is your policy, not a safety certification.

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Cite this tool

Zerdly. (2026). Drone Battery Count Calculator. Retrieved from https://www.zerdly.com/tools/drone-battery-count-calculator/

Tip: Enter any known values to calculate the remaining results.

Designed to run locally in your browser. Tool inputs are not intentionally stored by Zerdly unless stated otherwise.