A 19-year-old law student from Perth has invented a drone that can outfly the shit out of any drone currently on the consumer market.
Tom Maclaurin currently studies at The University of Western Australia and spends his spare time making sick remote controlled aeroplanes, an activity that started out as just a hobby.
Tom’s latest invention, the Swift drone, can fly for around six hours before it runs out of battery, which is up to five times longer than any drone you can buy right now. It weighs only six kilograms and sports a nifty little camera, meaning it’s capable of aerial surveillance.
It’s hoped that the affordable drone can be applied to real-world situations like shark surveillance at a fraction of the cost. Maclaurin credits the vehicle’s increased flight time to its powerful battery and lightweight design.
“What I have created is not only far cheaper, but can be operated remotely and is easy to use,” he said in a UWA video. “It is lightweight and can glide safely to a stop should it lose power, instead of current drones which drop out of the sky when their battery runs out.”
“It can be used to monitor anything on the ground by picking up data from sensors, taking images or recording video.”
The battery, which Maclaurin built himself, has a very high energy density, so it’s lightweight but also “packs a lot of energy”. Don’t ask him how he made it because he ain’t telling you shit. It’s a secret.
Along with the aforementioned beach patrols, the Swift could also be used for mustering cattle, monitoring crop levels, dam levels or areas of land. He could even be staring at an excellent business opportunity given the expanding demand for affordable aerial surveillance.
And the young entrepreneur is currently on the lookout for investors, so if you have a large quantity of cash hanging around and wanna get in on the ground floor, you should hit him up.
Nice one, Tom, ya legend.
Source: Gizmodo.
Photo: Twitter / @uwanews.
