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When most people hear the word drone they either think of uncrewed military aircraft or those multi-rotor mini-copters that could one daydeliver packages to your doorstep. But what if the package is the plane? Thats the idea behind the Aerial Platform Supporting Autonomous Resupply Actions drone, a cardboard glider that carries about two pounds of cargo. <\/p>\n
It looks like a pizza box thats been shaped into a wing, says Star Simpson, an engineer at San Francisco robotics company Otherlab. Herteam designed and built Apsara with funding from Darpa, which challenged them to developa single-use delivery vehiclefor emergency scenarios. But, Darpa being Darpa, there was a twist: The drones had to not only carry a small payload and land where you told them toonce they were on the ground, they had to disappear. <\/p>\n
Cardboard was an obvious choice. Its cheap, lightweight, and can decompose in a matter of months. Plus, the material has a proven track record among drone hobbyists. The Apsara advances cardboard-drone design with something Simpson calls origami thinking; her teams three-foot-wide drone is made of scored and laser-cut cardboard sheets that take about an hour to fold and tape together. Simpson calls it the worlds most functional paper airplane.<\/p>\n
Thats important. The Apsara is designed to be deployed by the hundreds or thousands, to deliver supplies during a humanitarian crisis, or in a battles aftermath. For security and ecological reasons alike, the last thing anyone wants is a landscape covered in drone bits. <\/p>\n
Now an Otherlab spin-off company called Everfly is hoping to refine the prototype for use by humanitarian groups like the Red Cross or MSF.Simpson thinks Everfly can scale the design tocarry a 22-pound payload (thats about 120 Clif bars). While it may not be as sexy as a whirring drone carrying your UPS package, we bet anyone in dire straits would be more than happy to see a mushroom wing full of energy bars gently floating in for a landing. <\/p>\n
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The Brilliant Drone That'll Deliver MedicineThen Rot Away | WIRED - WIRED<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Slide: 1 \/ of 1. Caption: Otherlab When most people hear the word drone they either think of uncrewed military aircraft or those multi-rotor mini-copters that could one daydeliver packages to your doorstep. Continue reading