How Long Does It Take for a Drone to Fall From 400ft?

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SUMMARY

The discussion centers on calculating the fall time and maximum speed of a 1.5kg drone from a height of 400ft (122m). Factors such as wind resistance and the drone's shape significantly influence the fall dynamics. A suggestion was made to conduct a practical test by dropping a similar broken drone to gather empirical data. Additionally, the importance of fail-safe mechanisms in drones to prevent uncontrolled descent was highlighted.

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of basic physics principles, particularly free fall and terminal velocity
  • Familiarity with drone specifications and weight classifications
  • Knowledge of aerodynamics, specifically how shape affects falling objects
  • Experience with drone safety features and fail-safe mechanisms
NEXT STEPS
  • Research the physics of free fall and terminal velocity calculations
  • Explore drone design and aerodynamics to understand how shape affects descent
  • Investigate fail-safe mechanisms in drones, focusing on emergency power cut systems
  • Watch videos of drone crashes to analyze fall patterns and speeds
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Aerospace engineers, drone enthusiasts, safety engineers, and anyone interested in the physics of falling objects and drone safety mechanisms.

Flying Monkey
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Hi All,

Can you help me, not a student (for a long time) but have a question that I need to answer.

I fly drones and I'm trying to work out the following:

If my 1.5kg drone fails at 400ft (122M) how long would it take to fall and hit the ground and what speed (max) would it be traveling on the way down.

Thank you so much,

Simon.
 
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Hi Simon. It's hard to estimate, because we don't know what the wind resistance of such an object would be. It would be ideal if you had a second already-broken drone and could take it up and drop it as a test. :smile: Video its tumble and work out speed from the frames.

The shape and the unpowered rotors would slow down a drone's fall quite a lot, but Murphy's Law would still come into play---your drone crashing onto the only rock in sight for miles around. :oldcry: :oldcry:

There are sure to be videos of plummeting drones online, maybe there's one similar to yours? You may be able to estimate from that.

Good luck! :smile:
 
Do drones have basic fail mechanisms built into remove power to all motors in the event of major failure? A mechanism to remove all power would at least stop it powering downwards and hitting at greater-than-freefall speed.
 

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