New Home Delivery Drone

Once Amazon announced that it would begin using quad drones to deliver packages, the designs of drones have undergone many modifications. The latest one here is from the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL). The drone can deliver a package that weighs 500 grams or less.

The Pack Drone developed at EPFL is a fold-able design which comes with it’s own protective cage around it. The drone wraps itself around the package like a mail package, plus the cage made out of carbon fiber protects the package and the drone in case of a collision or a fall.

The package recipient can catch the drone mid-flight without being injured by the propellers, as these are located inside the cage. The propellers are also programmed to stop running as soon as the cage is opened. Once the package is removed, it can be flattened thanks to it’s origami inspired design structure. It can literally be folded and put away into a backpack.

The four propeller using drone has a distance restriction of 2 kilometers in addition to not being able to carry very heavy parcels. As the researchers working on it say, this is a science project in progress. There is much more to be done before the drone begins making it’s own deliveries.