A team of engineering students from Norwegian's University of Oslo set a Guinnesss World Record for lifting up a 134.5 pounds (61 kg) cargo with drone. The drone is made of multi-connected drones.
The students set a world record connecting eight drones together and lifting a payload, then hold it in the air for some time. Rachel Swatman from Guinness World Records wrote the requirements for a world record as quoted by Mashable, "In order to be counted as 'lifted,' the lowest part of the payload had to be elevated to a height over 1 m (3 ft 3 in) for a minimum of 30 seconds."
Gizmodo reported that the drone was succesfully made the list in Guinness World Records for "Heaviest Payload Lifted by Remote-Controlled Multicopter."
Megakopter is made of alumunium and plywood with 48 propellers, which the students called Megakopter. Henning Pedersons and his team took 18 months to build the drone. In the next plan, Engadget reported that the team hopes the future iterations of Megakopter to be built even stronger. They plan to make bigger and more sturdy drone to carry larger packages and even people.
Drone technology has made a significant breakthroughs recently, and one of the most interesting is the ability to bring human passenger. In CES 2016 earlier this month, Ehang, a Chinese drone-maker has introduced its passenger drone: Ehang 184, dubbed as "Drone Taxi." Ehang 184 is equipped with multiple flight system backups for passenger's safety and safety landing procedure in case of emergency.
Ehang in CES 2015 won the Best Drone award with its Ghostdrone 2.0. Ehang, the Guangzhou-based company is known for its unique drone design with its rotors are mounted below the arms, unlike others.
Less than a week after CES, an Israeli Tactical Robotics Ltd. has successfully conducted another test flight for its drone ambulance, AirMule. The drone is designed by Rafi Yoeli, a group leader in Israel Aircraft Industries, who is known for designing a well-tested drone. AirMule is designed to carrying 1,000 lbs (500 kg) cargo for search and rescue operation, and it is expected to have 200 flight test within this year.
Drone ambulance, AirMule was targeted to help search and rescue operation in the area inaccessible to helicopter. The company also made an urban transportation drone with its Metro Skyways project, that still on the early stage of development.
In the near future, we will see more drone to be able to deliver a package and become a transport vehicle. Since we have seen the latest drone technology is heading toward that direction: Ehang 184, AirMule, MetroSkyways and now the Megakopter and its next succesor.
Megakopter success to be on Guinness World Records list for "Heaviest Payload Lifted by Remote-Controlled Multicopter" is an early step for more improvement. Team from University of Oslo have set the next target to build a more bulky drone to lift bigger payloads and carry people.
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