The payload capacity of existing commercial drones is depressingly low – at best, they can carry a payload of no more than 30% of their own weight, and for many models, it does not reach even 10%. This isn’t a problem as long as it’s simple transportation within two or three city blocks, but what if you need to urgently deliver food to people stranded in a disaster area? Swiss engineers from EPFL have developed a drone specifically for this purpose, which you can eat.
The idea is based on two principles. First, fixed-wing UAVs fly much farther than helicopter-type multi-copters. Secondly, the wing does not have any difficult tasks – in fact, it is a fixed plate. But at the same time, in the design of the airframe, this is the largest element, which accounts for up to 50% of the volume. So why not make the wing edible?
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Swiss engineers opted for foamed rice cakes, whose mechanical properties are close to those of polypropylene. The cakes, cut into hexagonal segments, were glued together with gelatin and packaged in a waterproof plastic wrap. The resulting wings were attached to a frame with a motor and tail, and a disposable drone was obtained. He carries a container with 80 ml of water, plus the 330 kcal edible wings themselves – the equivalent of a single meal. In this case, the design can be scaled depending on the task.
