Leonardo da Vinci helicopter, that can make drones silent
A simulation of the air screw (or helicopter) designed by Leonardo da Vinci in 1480 suggests that his helicopter would use less energy than modern drone rotors to generate the same elevation and make less noise.
An analysis by a group of engineers at Johns Hopkins University in Maryland (USA) revealed that the Leonardo da Vinci helicopter may have been functional and much quieter than modern drone projects.
The study recently in arXiv It reveals that Da Vinci’s “air screw”, which he proposed as he worked as a military engineer in 1480, but has never been built or tested, may need less energy to generate the same amount of elevation as a conventional drone rotor.
The machine is similar to an archimed screw, a propeller -shaped pump that transports water as it runs. Da Vinci conceived her as being moved by humans, which would have difficult to launch the ground due to weight. But with light electric motors to rotate the rotor, .
Now the engineers have built a screw simulation and put it in a virtual wind tunnel to see their performance while hanging in place, testing it at different speed speeds and comparing it with a conventional drone with two paddles.
As they explain in statements, they found that the air screw could generate the same amount of elevation running more slowly – What does it mean would consume less energy.
The beauty of silence
But what surprised most – and that engineers consider it to come revolutionize drones – It was the noise (or lack of it).
When measuring the pressure and wind -flowing patterns that moved around the virtual screw, the team calculated the amount of seam that this could produce. It was discovered that it was lower than conventional design for the same amount of elevation.
The goal of the team is now improving Vinci’s design to make it more efficient, maintaining its noise reduction qualities.
