With eight arms spanning less than a yard, a German MikroKopter provides a stable camera platform for under $5,000.
Photograph by
Joe McNally
Photograph by Joe McNally
They flap fast, but can they take the torque? Two robomoth wings, each three inches long, submit to a test at an Air Force lab in Ohio.
Photograph by Joe McNally
This “micro air vehicle” with four rotors, made by KMel Robotics in Pennsylvania, can fly in swarms with its mates. The drones navigate autonomously, without a pilot.
Photograph by Joe McNally
The Military’s Bleeding Edge
Northrop Grumman’s X-47B, an unmanned aircraft being tested for the U.S. Navy, is designed to take off from an aircraft carrier, unleash two tons of weapons, and land again—on its own, with a preset mission, but without even a remote pilot. By sparing human war fighters “dull, dirty, or dangerous duty” (an industry buzz phrase), drones make some acts of war easier.
The U.S. Department of Defense currently maintains a roster of some 11,000 unmanned aircraft, ranging from lightweight surveillance drones to heavyweight tactical aircraft.
*As of July 2012.
Chart: NGM Staff. Source: U.S. Defense Department
Nano Hummingbird
Span: 6.5 inches
Length: 4.5 inches
Weight: 0.66 ounce
Maximum altitude: trade secret
Maximum time aloft: 11 minutes
Maximum speed: 11 mph
A time exposure traces the hover and swoop of a Nano Hummingbird, invented by Matthew Keennon and his team at AeroVironment in California. If it’s ever deployed as a spy, the bird would fly without lights.
All Illustrations: Matthew Twombly, NGM Staff
Source: Aerovironment
Photograph by Joe McNally
Draganflyer X6
Width: 36 inches
Length: 33 inches
Weight: 35 ounces
Maximum altitude: 8,000 feet
Maximum time aloft: 20 minutes
Maximum speed: 30 mph
Deputy Sheriff Derek Johnson remotely pilots a Draganflyer X6 on a highway outside Grand Junction, Colorado. Mesa County has used drones since 2009 for search and rescue and to reconstruct crime scenes.
*Above sea level. Source: Draganfly
Photograph by Joe McNally
Aurora Skate
Width: 24 inches
Length: 19 inches
Weight: 35 ounces
Maximum altitude: 14,300 feet*
Maximum time aloft: 90 minutes
Maximum speed: 58 mph
*Above sea level. Source: Aurora Flight Sciences
Photograph by Joe McNally
Nimble enough to fly inside an abandoned factory, the Skate is made for reconnoitering urban landscapes—such as a 16th-century city in Peru (above) surveyed by Vanderbilt University archaeologists.
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