Quadcopter

With perhaps a few exceptions, battery-electric multicopter drones typically can't fly for longer than about 30 minutes. Such is not the case, however, with their hybrid counterparts – one of which recently broke its own endurance record.

Multicopter drones are becoming increasingly useful, but their exposed whirling propellers can get damaged in collisions, and inflict injuries on bystanders. A new prototype drone addresses that problem, by copying the pufferfish.

If you've ever tried flying a cheap quadcopter indoors, you'll know how easily they can crash into walls. Now imagine trying the same with a much more expensive industrial drone. That's why the new Aertos 130IR is built to be tough.

If there's one thing that all types of first responders have in common, it's the fact that they put a premium on speed. The Recruit quadcopter was created for such users, as it can reportedly fly at 140 mph and has a claimed 3-hour flight time.

Quadcopter drones certainly can come in handy, but those exposed propellers make them unsuitable for work in close quarters. Flyability's Elios drone doesn't have that problem, so it was recently used to explore deep ice caves in Greenland.

Vertical take-off and landing drones, or VTOLs, have some big advantages, but there's also a trade-off, which the Latvian-made Fixar is designed to address.

Active volcanic craters are something that people generally don't want to get very close to – even if they're dedicated volcanologists. With that in mind, German scientists recently had success using a drone to do the job.

Chinese drone manufacturer DJI has today unveiled its new Mavic Air 2 foldable quadcopter, with a greatly improved camera, a bigger battery, an enormous 10-km (6.2-mi) control range and the capability to detect and warn you about other aircraft.

While propeller planes certainly do have their place, sometimes the extra speed and thrust of a jet engine is what's really needed. Dallas-based FusionFlight has applied that sort of thinking to quadcopter-style drones, resulting in the AB5 JetQuad.

Although there are many possible uses for multicopter drones, one thing that's holding the tech back is battery life – the aircraft can't fly for more than half an hour. According to TerraView, however, its new RangePro X8 runs for over 70 minutes.

Scientists at the University of California (UC) Berkeley have designed an inflight docking system that adds charge to quadcopters while they're in flight.

Flirtey has just unveiled its new Eagle delivery drone.