Independent Parachute Solution to Save Drones

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A drone falling from the sky not only has the potential to hurt people on the ground but also to hurt your wallet, especially when we’re talking about the larger drones. An advanced parachute system could solve this problem, reducing the risk of harming people on the ground and bringing down the expensive equipment safely when it comes to a malfunction of drones up in the air.

The Austrian company Drone Rescue has developed three new parachutes for multicopter drones. The models are very similar in design but differ in the maximum weight of the drone they can support. The DRS-5 can support drones of up to 8 kg (18 lbs) and the DRS-10 is built for drones between 5 and 20 kg (11 and 44 lbs).

The parachute models are housed in a carbon cage along with sensors and controls that work independently of the unmanned aircraft. As soon as the parachute system detects that the drone is in trouble, it will deploy the parachute electronically within milliseconds, according to dronedj.com.

The system not only deploys the parachute, but it also cuts the power to the throne to stop the rotors from spinning to prevent the parachute lines from getting tangled or anybody getting hurt on the ground.

The parachute module also includes a black box flight data recorder that monitors GPS data as well as the altitude and acceleration of the unmanned aircraft.

The third model, DRS-M600 is a different version of the DRS-10 parachute module specifically made for the popular DJI Matrice 600 (M600) drone.

“Our system has the advantage that it manages completely without explosive, pyrotechnical solutions,” Drone Rescue Andreas Ploier explains in a press release. “Consequently we have a system that is considerably lighter, and functions even in a worst-case scenario.” This means that, having deployed, the modules don’t need any parts to be replaced. It’s simply a case of re-packing the parachute, which Drone Rescue claims is the work of a few minutes.

The DRS-5 has been tested over 100 times successfully with drones weighing less than 4kg (9 lbs). Each time the parachutes deployed and the drone landed safely.

The first parachute modules will be shipped to customers during the last few months of this year.