Engineers at The University of Manchester have built and flown ‘the world’s largest quadcopter drone’, made from a cardboard-like material called foamboard, which measures 6.4m (21 ft) corner to corner and weighs 24.5kg – 0.5kg less than the weight limit set by the Civil Aviation Authority.
Dubbed the Giant Foamboard Quadcopter (GFQ), four arms are formed of a series of hollow box structures that can be easily removed for transportation. The researchers claim there is no record of a purpose-built uncrewed quadcopter (four rotors) of any weight class which is larger than the Manchester vehicle.
The project started as a curiosity-driven venture to inspire students’ creativity in design by utilising a suitable alternative low-cost material for lightweight aerospace structures that is more environmentally friendly than the usual carbon fibre.
Unlike carbon fibre, low-density sheet materials can be highly recyclable, or even compostable. The researchers hope this demonstration will inspire the next generation of designers to think about sustainability from a completely new perspective.
Dan Koning, a research engineer at The University of Manchester, who led the design and build of the vehicle, said: “Foamboard is an interesting material to work with, because we 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.
“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.”
Whilst 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 quadcopter was built from sheets of 5mm thick foamboard, which has a foam core and paper skin. The sheets were laser cut to size and assembled into the 3D structure by hand using only hot melt glue.
Josh Bixler, President of Flite Test, which makes the foamboard used in the GFQ added: “So many times aircraft with advanced features are made of costly materials and we truly believe they don’t have to be. Seeing engineers push the limits in such an approachable, yet extravagant way was inspirational and showed that they were truly thinking outside of the box.”
GFQ is powered by four electric motors running from a 50V battery pack. It also has an on-board flight control system and can fly autonomously. The first flight took place on 5 July 2023 inside the main hangar at the Snowdonia Aerospace Centre during the CASCADE Collaboration Workshop Week where teams from various universities around the UK come together to demonstrate their latest research tech and brainstorm innovation.
The project builds on the previous success of an equally large fixed-wing foamboard aircraft in 2022. Following this, a student society was created at the University specifically to focus on developing lightweight, large scale foamboard Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs).
Over the last year, a team of undergraduates helped build and test various critical sub-components of the structure.
Bill Crowther, Professor of Aerospace Engineering at The University of Manchester, continued: “Working with foamboard provides a unique learning opportunity for students to experiment with innovative structural designs.
“Although the material is strong for its weight, it requires significant engineering skill to exploit its structural potential. Ultimately, with this design you are holding up 25kg of aircraft with just a few strategically placed pieces of paper — that is the art of the possible.”
