Engineers at the University of Manchester have built and flown the “world’s largest” quadcopter drone with a sustainable material called foamboard.

The university claims that the drone is like no other drone existence, as there is no record of a similar sized drone with four rotors.

The university said the project started as a “curiosity driven venture” to explore alternative low-cost materials for lightweight aerospace structures that are more sustainable than existing carbon fibre drones.

Unlike carbon fibre, cardboard-like foamboard can be recycled or composted.

The drone measures 6.4 meters and weighs 24.5 kilograms, half a kilogram less than the weight limit for drones set by the Civil Aviation Authority.

The university said that it hopes the project will inspire designers to think more about sustainability.

Dan Koning, a research engineer at The University of Manchester, who led the design and build of the drone said: “Foamboard is an interesting material to work with, used in the right way we can create complex aerospace structures where every component is designed to be only as strong as it needs to be - there is no room for over-engineering here.”

He added: “Thanks to this design discipline and after extensive background research, we can say with confidence that we have built the largest quadcopter drone in the world. The lessons we’ve learned from this pathfinder vehicle should help us add a few more metres to the next one. But to go 50 per cent bigger, you’ve got to get 100 per cent smarter.”

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