What if the skies were filled with thousands of delivery drones? In a worst-case scenario, one of them could lose control and crash into a crowd below. The potential for accidents caused by drones is one of the reasons many people are skeptical about the widespread adoption of this new technology.  The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has been very cautious about its approvals, limiting access and use. There are several reasons for this slow approval rate, but one of the main reasons is safety.

How can the FAA ensure that people on the ground are safe and properties not damaged due to an accidental impact from a drone?  Researchers are working really hard to find ways to mitigate any danger that could be caused by a drone falling out of the sky. They are looking at the design of UAVs and trying to make improvements that will save lives and properties.

At the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore, a group of researchers are hard at work trying to figure out ways to make drones safer. The team is led by Professor Low Kin Huat from the school of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.  There are 10 people on the team and between them, they recently destroyed 600 drones during the course of their research!  They made use of drones that weighed between 2.2 pounds to 19.8 pounds, so the impact would range from mild to severe.

The researchers tested the drones by smashing them at high speeds into the head of a crash test dummy. Bear in mind, this dummy is made of stronger stuff than what humans are made of, but include senors to help monitor the would-be-damage to people.  In the video, you can see the drone drop from the side of a tall building, directly towards the dummies head. Imagine if this was a real person, what type of injuries would they have sustained? In this case though, the dummy is the offending party and causes the drone some serious damage.

The next scene is a side impact demonstration. You can see the drone traveling at very high speeds before crashing into the dummy. The damage was extensive and this should give you a general idea of what would happen if this was a real human head.  The data the researchers gathered from this exercise will help government agencies make better decisions about drone regulations. It will also give drone manufacturers ideas and pointers on designs and how to make drones safer.

Safety is important to companies like Amazon who are keen to deliver products in crowded urban areas. Amazon recently received approval for a self-destruct drone patent. They plan to build drones that will break apart mid-air over safer areas (empty fields or lakes), if a crash was inevitable.

These drones will fly over carefully mapped routes that will take them away from crowded pedestrian areas. Similar research is also being carried out by Virginia Tech. Researchers there are looking into outfitting drones with airbags, bumpers, and enclosed rotors to reduce the risk of injury if a collision occurs.