A Box-Like Foamboard Build Puts the World's Largest Quadcopter Drone in the Air
Standing 21 feet wide, this surprisingly lightweight drone — coming just under UK CAA limits for a civilian craft — takes to the skies.
Engineers from the University of Manchester in the UK have set a new record for the world's largest quadcopter drone, yet despite its 21-foot wingspan managed to squeak the machine in under the upper weight limit set by the UK's Civil Aviation Authority for civilian drones.
"The first moments of flight are the make-or-break point for these types of multi-copter drones," says test-flight pilot Keiran Wood of the team's achievement. "There are many hundreds of things that you must get right. If everything has been designed and built well, we expect success, but any problems will become very apparent in a rapid unscheduled disassembly on the first take-off."
The hefty drone, which measures 21 feet at its widest point, comes in at a surprisingly light 54lbs — a mere pound below the UK CAA limit for civilian drones. The trick: a hollow-box design and the use of 0.2"-thick foamboard as the primary manufacturing material.
"Foamboard is an interesting material to work with," explains design lead Dan Konig. "Used in the right way we can create complex aerospace structures where every component is designed to be only as strong as it needs to be — there is no room for over-engineering here. Thanks to this design discipline and after extensive background research, we can say with confidence that we have built the largest quadcopter drone in the world."
More information on the project, which builds on a similar foamboard fixed-wing build last year, is available on the University of Manchester website; the team is hoping to optimize the design and "add a few more meters to the next one," Konig says.