DII recently carried out a brief poll about drone parachutes. Based on the responses, roughly 1/4 of drone users have used or continue to use a parachute for their drone. Yet around 44% of respondents had never considered using one before. That same poll also suggests that 31% consider it impractical or expensive, but the higher amount of people who hadn’t even considered using one suggests that there may be a lack of awareness about the benefits and need for drone parachutes. All of this leads to the natural question: why should someone use a drone parachute in the first place?
Drone parachutes slow down the fall and therefore reduce the impact energy of the drone against anything below it. The larger the parachute the lower the impact energy. However, the heavier a drone becomes, the harder it gets to slow down its fall. In the infographic below, you can see the kinetic energy curves of actual drone parachutes available today. An exponential increase in impact energy is evident as the drone weight increases. So why is it imperative to slow down the fall of a drone and why does choosing the right parachute size matter so much?
Because:
Drone parachutes represent a last line of defense
Protect drones, equipment and cargo
Drone parachutes also protect people and infrastructures
Regulations suggest drone parachutes may become mandatory