Manchester University claims huge drone record

University of Manchester engineers have flown what they believe to be the largest unmanned quadcopter drone ever created.

Although the institution claims to be unaware of a larger unmanned quadcopter, this claim has not been independently verified.

Quadcopters are drones with four propellers, as the name suggests.

The drone is 6.4 meters (21 feet) from corner to corner and is built of foamboard, giving it a cardboard-like appearance.

The Giant Foamboard Quadcopter (GFQ) made its debut in a hangar at the Snowdonia Aerospace Centre in July.

The first few seconds of flight are crucial for these kinds of multi-copter drones, according to the GFQ’s pilot, Kieran Wood, a lecturer in aerospace systems at the university. There are hundreds of different things you need to get correctly.

Fortunately, there was no “rapid unscheduled disassembly” during the trip, as he phrased it.

The drone, which is also capable of autonomous flight, weighs 24.5kg, which is 0.5kg less than the maximum weight that the Civil Aviation Authority has established for devices of this kind.

A foam core placed between sheets of paper, commonly used for modeling and mounting artwork, was used to construct the quadcopter. It began as a student project investigating the use of inexpensive materials for lightweight aircraft structures that are more environmentally friendly than the typical carbon fiber.

This design ultimately holds up 25kg of aircraft with just a few carefully placed pieces of paper — that’s the art of the possible, university professor Bill Crowther said.

The team will now attempt to increase the size of the ship.

Cardboard drones are a serious business, despite the fact that using materials resembling cardboard to make drones may seem more like child’s play than cutting-edge aviation.

Ukraine has received fixed-wing cardboard drones from the Australian company SYPAQ. The corporation acknowledged that hundreds of the flat-packed drones were being delivered to the nation each month in March.

The drones’ advantages include ease of field assembly by soldiers and reduced radar visibility due to their cardboard structure.

While some of the drones have apparently been modified in the field to carry bombs and participate in strikes, most are reportedly designed to carry payloads like blood supplies.

Credits: BBC

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