In their latest adventure in derring-do, a team from the National University of Singapore (NUS) Faculty of Engineering has developed and flown Asia’s first fully solar-powered quadcopter drone. A large framework holds the solar cells, which are the sole means of powering the craft’s four motors. Developers have flown the big square above 10 meters in test flights and achieved controllable flight without the use of batteries. Frogworks Snowstorm This is just the latest in a series of aeronautical exploits by NUS students. In late 2015, they unveiled their Frogworks Snowstorm, a 24-rotor person carrier powered by 2.2 kilowatt (2.94 horsepower) motors driving 76-centimeter (30-inch) propellers. New Asia reported that, “At the London edition of technology event Founders Forum this month, [the Frogworks team] did not imagine that Prince William would end up showing interest in it.” His Royal Highness “spent half an hour sitting in the machine, trying out the controls and talking to the team, according to a …
