Chinese student Xu Yang breaks ‘impossible' microdrone world speed record
A Chinese student's microdrone has set a Guinness World Record in southern China while racing through the air at the speed of a high-speed train.
The Prowess microdrone, weighing less than 250 grams (8.8 ounces), reached 340.78km/h (211.75mph), setting a world record for remote-controlled microdrone quadcopters.
The record was broken by model aircraft enthusiast Xu Yang on March 23 in Huizhou, Guangdong province, according to a WeChat post by Guinness World Records on Monday.
According to Chinese media reports, Xu is a student at the Chinese University of Hong Kong in Shenzhen.
'Based on the test data, I thought the official challenge speed would be around 320km/h, but I did not expect it to reach 340km/h in the end, and even reached 358km/h with a tailwind,' Xu told Guinness World Records.
According to the post, the achievement broke through a limit in the field that had not been surpassed in three years, marking a milestone in the design of micro-unmanned aerial vehicles.
Xu was inspired to build his drone after Quadmovr, a content creator that designs and builds remote-controlled aircraft, proposed a microdrone concept in 2022 and built a prototype that reached 219km/h.
This unofficial record was broken by Xu in October after his prototype reached 244km/h during a test flight. After consulting drone builders overseas, Xu improved the design and speed of his drone.
For the microdrone record, the drone had to weigh no more than 250 grams – around the weight of a smartphone.
The Prowess drone, weighing around 247 grams, features a lightweight carbon fibre frame, an ultrathin 3D-printed shell 0.4mm thick and 3D-printed high-speed propellers that were designed by Xu.
Xu found no finished propeller products on the market to fit this need, so he undertook several rounds of design optimisation to develop his own, according to the post.
Before his record attempt, Xu heated the drone battery to about 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) to ensure it was at peak performance during the test.
Swiss engineer Samuele Gobbi, who holds the Guinness World Record for the fastest remote-controlled quadcopter larger than a microdrone, said Xu had 'accomplished something that many thought was impossible'.
'Building a high-speed quadcopter is already very complex, and he has added a weight limit of less than 250 grams to it, which makes me admire his achievement,' Gobbi told Guinness World Records.
Gobbi passed on to Xu a speed calculation method used to analyse flight data, which had been given to Gobbi by the previous quadcopter record holder.
Xu said that between drone speed challengers, there was no competition but rather cooperation, and that he would be willing to share his experiences with future challengers to his own record.
Attempting the record was not all smooth sailing – a prototype of the drone crashed during a test in November because of motor overload.
He will continue to customise the motor and propeller to increase the speed of the drone, stating 'there is no end to the pursuit of extreme speed'. – South China Morning Post
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