Gaby
According to the entry in the Guinness World Records, it pertains to the record for the highest speed for drone with remote control and battery power.
After several months of determined trial and error, the remote-controlled amateur drone Peregrine 2, created by Luke and Mike Bell, finally reached a record speed. The younger member of the duo, Luke Bell, shared on his YouTube channel a story about the technical specifications of the quadcopter, as well as the obstacles they faced before their drone became a record holder. Luke documented all the stages of testing, during which the drone struggled to achieve its maximum speed. Most attempts ended with it catching fire, after which the builders had to start all over again.
How was it?
Unfortunately, they did not have the appropriate wind tunnel to conduct tests. aerial vehicle at all the preparatory stages. Instead, the father and son worked with what they had: 3D-printed prototypes, a car, and an open stretch of highway. While one of them pressed the gas pedal, the other held a drone out of the open window, capturing its interaction with the wind speed. Meanwhile, the battery tests repeatedly ended in serious failures until the designers finally settled on the optimal solution.
After finalizing the version, the father and son installed the necessary wiring, engine components, and propellers, and then subjected the drone to its first test flight. Unfortunately, they did not take into account the issue of internal heat caused by the amount of electric current flowing through the system. When the temperature reached 130 °C, the drone’s wiring caught fire, and it crashed to the ground.
After a brief period of reflection, the duo returned to the drawing board, constructed a second quadcopter, and launched it. This drone also caught fire. According to Luke, this prompted him and his father to “completely redesign the entire body” and change the quadcopter’s design, the publication reported. Popular Science After a few more weeks of work, the engineers decided that they finally had a drone ready to set a world record.
At the request of the Guinness World Records, they invited independent witnesses and prepared the Peregrine 2 for takeoff. The drone made four attempts, with the average speed of the two fastest flights reaching 480.23 km/h. The previous record-holding drone reached a speed of 360.5 km/h.
It is worth emphasizing that the Peregrine 2 quadcopter set a world record not in one, but in two categories. It was also recognized as the fastest drone with an onboard camera that recorded the flights.
“Three months of hard work, failures, and engineering developments ultimately came down to a few seconds of high-speed flight,” Luke summarized in his video review.
