University of Manchester researchers have built and flown the world’s largest quadcopter drone.
The drone was named the Giant Foamboard Quadcopter (GFQ)
GFQ is made from foamboard, a cardboard-like material. It measures 6.4m (21 ft) corner to corner and weighs 24.5kg – half a kilogram less than the weight limit set by the Civil Aviation Authority.
The quadcopter was built from sheets of 5mm thick foamboard, which can be recycled or even composted. The sheets were laser cut to size and assembled into the 3D structure by hand using only hot melt glue. The four arms can be easily removed for transportation.
The drone is powered by four electric motors running off a 50-volt battery pack and can fly autonomously.
GFQ was tested by the team in July inside the main hangar at Snowdonia Aerospace Centre. The researchers said they hope this demonstration will inspire the next generation of designers to think about sustainability from a completely new perspective.
“Foamboard is an interesting material to work with. Used in the right way, it 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,” said Dan Koning, a research engineer at the University of Manchester.
“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.”
While this drone was developed purely as a proof-of-concept exercise, future iterations of this vehicle type could be designed to carry large payloads over short distances or used as a drone ‘mothership’ in air-to-air docking experiments, the team explained.
The team are now looking to optimise the design of GFQ further.
“The lessons we’ve learned from this pathfinder vehicle should help us add a few more metres to the next one,” Koning said. “But to go 50 per cent bigger, you’ve got to get 100 per cent smarter.”
