Quadrocopter sets record by soaring to 100 meters in 3.9 seconds

A German has succeeded in bringing a quadrocopter to a height of 100 meters in record time. It took the quadrocopter 3.871 seconds to reach this vertical distance. The maximum speed at the record attempt was 189 km/h.

Dirk Brunner from Munich got the idea last year to optimize a quadcopter so that it could ascend as quickly as possible. The critical parts are the propeller, the motor, the controller of the motor, the battery and flight control, he noted. The final design should provide the best possible balance between air resistance, weight and operation of the propulsion system.

In the end, the choice fell on a brushless motor. The maker encountered many problems while testing the electronics for electronic speed control. When testing the motors, many controllers were overloaded by the high speed. After many broken motors and ecs systems, he managed to find a good combination, but he does not give details. Also, the Flight Control system limited speed and attempts to get a manufacturer to remove the software limitation initially failed, but did with a competitor. To keep the weight as low as possible, the German uses carbon fiber parts. This brings the weight to 906 grams.

The first attempt to get an entry in the Guinness Book of Records failed due to a too high temperature in the lipo battery. As a result, the quadcopter did not reach higher than 20 meters and broke down on landing. It was repaired within two days, after which a new attempt could be made.

He managed to get to 100 meters in 3.871 seconds. The maximum speed in this attempt was 189 km/h, with a maximum drive power of 2300W according to the maker. Brunner makes the comparison that a DJI Phantom 3 rises at about 4 meters per second, while his construction did so at a maximum of 52.5 m/s. According to him, a Phantom 3 would take about 25 seconds to get to 100 meters.