This aerodynamically tuned drone is for covert missions in urban warzones

May 01, 2022

When we think of a drone, the first picture that comes to mind is that of a quadcopter flying in the skies. This stealth drone is somewhat different thought with its helicopter-like aesthetics and swiftness.

Snap (Formerly Snapchat) has just announced its second tangible product after the release of the swanky spectacles. This time around it’s a compact palm-sized drone for shooting videos and directly sending them to Snapchat. However, we’re going to shift our focus to another drone that is much bigger and could go head-on in the market dominated by DJI Mavic 3, Ryze Tello, or Parrot Anafi FPV.

Designer: Vladislav Kulikov

The intended purpose of this conceptual design is to have a reliable unmanned medium-sized drone fly swiftly in cities, delivering important small cargo in the concrete jungle with efficiency. It makes sense in the current turbulent times in the world plagued by uncertain wars and pandemics. Unlike the customary quadcopter form of most of the drones out there, this one has the semblance of an RC helicopter. That’s why the name of this flying machine is VR Drone Helicopter.

Vladislav Kulikov portrays this sleek machine as one inspired by the body of the birds. The seemingly floating cabin in the frame reinforces that fact. Those hindlegs and the forward-leaning position lend a bird-like character to the whole design. The five rotors on top spin to provide the lift and the tail rotor actuates the directional movement. The virtual Reality bit of the drone comes from the VR headset-controlled function, wherein a remotely located human can fly this machine into the sensitive or dangerous zones with complete awareness of the surroundings.

Aerodynamics are at play here so the aerodynamics tuning of the body is in complete play. The top view and side angle render show the amount of detail being put into shaving off the unnecessary weight for maximum lift and maneuverability.