These drones were built from pineapple leaves

There are people who make their own drones and they do quite an impressive job. But have you ever considered making a drone from pineapple leaves? Researchers in Malaysia did, and they did it in an attempt to reduce agricultural waste. These drones are not only eco-friendly, but they’re cheap, light, and they even look pretty nice, too.

Professor Mohamed Thariq Hameed Sultan of Malaysia’s Putra University has been leading the research. He and his team discovered that pineapple leaves contain light, but strong fiber. These leaves are usually discarded after the harvest, but the team discovered that they could be used to create drone frames.

The professor told Reuters that these drones have a higher strength-to-weight ratio than those made entirely from synthetic fibers. Obviously, they also have more disposable parts, and they’re cheaper and lighter than commercial drones. When we take all this into consideration, it’s obvious that these “bio-drones” have some clear advantages over those made from synthetic materials. First, their production reduces biological waste. And second, if a drone crashes and can’t be found, most of it will decompose, so the drone itself is less harmful to the environment.

For now, only prototype drones have been made. They were able to fly about 1,000 m (3,280 ft) high and stay in the air for about 20 minutes. The team hopes that they’ll manage to create a larger drone that will be able to carry bigger payloads and image sensors. They likely won’t be used for shooting stunning landscape photos, but rather for agricultural purposes and aerial inspections. But hey, who knows? Perhaps in the future, we’ll have more gadgets that are environmentally friendly. I sure think it’s high time we considered it.

[via Digital Trends]