Flying drones is not as easy as it looks. These unmanned aerial vehicles require a certain amount of skill and experience. If not flown carefully, the drone can be damaged or can suffer a crash. Drones don’t come cheap either. Companies like DJI and Yunec sell drones above the $1000 mark. Beginners are not the only reason for ill-fated drones. Sometimes there may be a malfunction or a rotor failure, the drone may hit an obstacle or harsh weather may strike down a drone. Probability of an accident can never be ruled out, therefore to solve this ‘crash crisis’ an Austria based company Drone Rescue started attaching parachutes to drones which open when the onboard systems fail.
Drone Rescue has created two parachute modules, the DRS-5 and DRS-10, that can be attached to a range of remotely controlled copters. The DRS-5 is effective for drones weighing up to 18 pounds (8 kg), while the DRS-10 is for drones weighing between 11 and 44 pounds (5 and 20 kg). They have also created a DRS-M600 parachute module which is basically the DRS-10 redesigned for the DJI Matrice 600 series drones. DJI’s M600 drones are a popular choice for aerial photographers and filmmakers.
The parachute system comprises of a carbon container for the parachute along with sensors which inform the system of a drone failure and the parachute opens. The moment the drone begins to drop rapidly, the parachute automatically deploys to decrease the speed of the machine’s descent. A feature in the parachute system disables the propellers on parachute deployment so that the propellers cannot cut down the lines or cables of the parachute and even prevent them from causing injury to people on the ground.
Drone Rescue CEO and co-founder Andreas Ploier said that”Its system has the advantage that it manages completely without explosive, pyrotechnical solutions.This means the parachute can simply be quickly repackaged for reuse, and also results in a system that’s considerably lighter, and functions even in a worst-case scenario.”
Another added feature includes a data recorder which helps to analyze the drone failure pattern and prevent similar failures in the future. This parachute technology is set to launch commercially before the end of 2018.
Watch as the DRS-5 module springs into action:
