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by jstplanecurious 2715 days ago
>First thing they should do is to cover propellers so that they don't hurt anyone.

Does anyone know why this isn't standard?

I Googled this question: "why don't quadcopters have safety cages" https://www.google.com/search?q=why+don't+quadcopters+have+s... ...

... and even saw cages that go around the whole quadcopter (not just the propellers as I was expecting). If those were a bit squishy they could seriously reduce any chance of concussion/property damage if landing on someone or something!

The YouTube video below is pretty amazing, it shows someone demonstrating such a cage.

"Spherical Cage Incased Quadcopter" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5B3X6EvZ2XM

I've submitted it as a separate submission. (It's only 2 minutes.) He says it flies great, and he even seems to purposefully drop it several times from as high as the height of a building.

Also for anyone who hasn't been around drones much, in the middle of the video you can hear the annoying whirring noise people mention throughout this thread.

2 comments

They reduce lift and make the drone less efficient.
> Does anyone know why this isn't standard?

Because cages weigh more. Minimizing weight is critical for anything that flies. If it weighs more, then it takes more energy to make it fly. If it weighs more, then that's less payload that it can carry.

it's actually worse than that. in addition to the weight penalty, prop guards decrease the performance of the rotors and make the aircraft a bit less stable.