Flying high: long-lasting drone developed

Law student Tom Maclaurin has invented an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that is capable of flying for five times longer than many drones currently on the market, as well as conducting aerial surveillance at a fraction of the cost of current manned aircraft.

Currently studying at The University of Western Australia (UWA), Maclaurin explained that he set out to address the considerable cost and time currently spent operating manned aerial surveillance platforms for activities such as beach and shark surveillance as well as crop monitoring in agriculture.

“What I have created is not only far cheaper, but can be operated remotely and is easy to use,” he said.

Maclaurin’s fixed-wing UAV, named Swift, is two metres in length and weighs six kilograms. It is capable of flying for more than six hours before its battery runs out, said Maclaurin, “and can be used to monitor anything on the ground by picking up data from sensors, taking images or recording video”.

“It is lightweight and can glide safely to a stop should it lose power, instead of current drones which drop out of the sky when their battery runs out,” he added.

Maclaurin said his device could have many useful applications, from beach patrols to monitoring crop levels, dam levels and cattle locations, and could be used by councils and government authorities to monitor particular areas of land.

“There is a big demand for this kind of device across many industries,” he said, claiming that Swift is cheaper, easier to operate and more accessible than current manned aircraft.

Maclaurin was recently awarded Student Start-up on the Year at UWA’s Innovation Quarter (IQ) Awards for his invention. He is currently looking for investors to help him further develop his technology as well industry collaborators from local government, the agriculture industry and surf lifesaving.