Drone lifting people

[3THAN_]

@LinusTech I found a video of that drone idea you had on wan! Enjoy

 

[RAM555789]

If they shown to be a safe and reliable as helicopters yes, drones could be used to transport people. Only thing that could be a problem is the battery, it will get heavier the bigger the drone and propellers need to be in order to carry more people/cargo. Batteries will likely need to become much more energy dense before they can carry humans very far. The DJI Agriculture drones can carry decent weight (T40 can hold up to 222lbs) but have limited range (6mins at full capacity). The range and flight time will need to massively increase, then drones have to become and be proven safe to use for flying.

[DoctorNick]

1 hour ago, 3THAN_ said:

@LinusTech I found a video of that drone idea you had on wan! Enjoy

This is insane imo, this is the reason why we can't have nice things  

[GarlicDeliverySystem]

3 hours ago, RAM555789 said:

If they shown to be a safe and reliable as helicopters yes, drones could be used to transport people. Only thing that could be a problem is the battery, it will get heavier the bigger the drone and propellers need to be in order to carry more people/cargo.

I don't think the discussion was really about drones being a viable method of transportation for the general public, more as a joke on what might be a possible creative off-label use for drones.

 

Not sure if you watched the segment so I just quickly summarize it here, iirc it was about the news that drones were used more and more in smuggling operations, one case being drones used to smuggle drugs into a prison. So the logical next question was: can you smuggle/break someone out of it too?

 

Hence the joke about just using a large cargo drone, bolting a handle onto it for someone to grab and then fly them out a mile or so to an awaiting car etc. Like literally what is shown in the video. 

[ToboRobot]

Perfect use for these drones would be to pull a wounded soldier out a minefield.

Gas motors can be used to avoid the problems with heavy batteries.

 

 

[Lurking]

5 hours ago, RAM555789 said:

If they shown to be a safe and reliable as helicopters yes, drones could be used to transport people. Only thing that could be a problem is the battery, it will get heavier the bigger the drone and propellers need to be in order to carry more people/cargo. Batteries will likely need to become much more energy dense before they can carry humans very far. The DJI Agriculture drones can carry decent weight (T40 can hold up to 222lbs) but have limited range (6mins at full capacity). The range and flight time will need to massively increase, then drones have to become and be proven safe to use for flying.

There already are smaller commercial battery airplanes. So, the technology exists at least for short flights (say 500 km or less). The problem is long distance. A Kerosin airplane gains a lot of efficiency by getting lighter due to fuel use. So if the plane starts in Europe, it is 300 tons, but mid-Atlantic it only weighs 250 tons (just made up numbers to demonstrate). So the fuel mileage gets better with every mile travelled. This isn't the case for batteries and the plane will be heavy the entire flight. 

 

Obviously commercial viability and safety are other aspects. Pretty big regulatory difference between a drone with camera, and drone with human.

[TetraSky]

I'd rather have a jetpack.

 

[Lurick]

For anyone who wants the actual context this was them joking about smuggling tons of tiny drones into prison and lifting someone out and then transformed into what about one huge drone coming over a prison to lift someone out and carry them away.

[Erioch]

You can also stand on them, briefly.