Massive Drone Sets Record For Lifting Heaviest Payload

A team of students from the University of Oslo led by Henning Pedersen has built a giant drone aircraft that has set a new Guinness World Record for lifting the heaviest payload. The drone looks like multiple small drones were simply attached to a larger frame. There are 48 propellers total arranged in eight groups.

Each of those drones is attached to an aluminum and plywood frame and there are remote controls that control lift and thrust for the drone. The big drone is called megacopter and it was able to set a new world record by lifting 134 pounds 7.6 ounces off the ground in addition to its own weight.

A limited battery capacity gave the team five attempts to lift the weight. The first two tries failed to lift the load for the needed 30-second minimum. The Megacopter eventually hefted its load into the air for 37 seconds sealing the win.

Apparently, this is a new record for the folks at Guinness since they don't list a previous record holder. We can assume that there will be more teams vying for the record in the future. The video shows the team as they went for the weight lifting world record. Cooler than the record itself is that the team has a goal of being able to lift a person with its drone.

SOURCE: discovery