Cooper Taylor, a 17-year-old student, has created a cost-effective vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) drone using 3D-printed components. Taylor’s design addresses efficiency concerns by implementing a tilting rotor system that eliminates idle motors during flight. According to Taylor, his drone costs approximately one-fifth the price of comparable commercial models, which typically sell for several thousand dollars.
The young developer has constructed six prototypes, personally handling all aspects from 3D-printing hardware to programming software and soldering circuit boards. His work earned him an $8,000 scholarship in April at the Junior Science and Humanities Symposium, funded by the Department of Defense, and a $15,000 scholarship from the US Navy on May 16 after presenting at the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair.
VTOL drones combine helicopter-style rotors with fixed-wing capabilities, offering versatility for applications in agriculture, disaster relief, and medical deliveries. Taylor told Business Insider that he hopes “if you’re a first responder or a researcher or an everyday problem solver, you can have access to this type of drone.” The fully modular design allows users to customize the drone by replacing wings, tail, and adding specialized equipment.
Taylor’s latest prototype weighs approximately 6 pounds with a wingspan just over 4 feet. Though currently tested for 15-minute flights, calculations suggest it could operate for 105 minutes at 45 mph. David Handelman, a senior roboticist at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory who mentored Taylor, stated, “Cooper brought both curiosity and discipline to the project, working at a level I usually see in strong college students.”
The high school student continues refining his design with a seventh prototype in development. His goal is to create a version compact enough to fit in a backpack when disassembled. For the immediate future, Taylor will be working on a different drone project through MIT’s Reliable Autonomous Systems Lab this summer.
Source: businessinsider.com