Leonardo da Vinci’s “Helicopter” Design May Lead to Quieter Drones

Leonardo da Vinci’s concept for a flying device might have outperformed today’s drones in terms of functionality and noise reduction.

Rajat Mittal, a researcher at Johns Hopkins University in Maryland, along with his team, found that Da Vinci’s “air screws”—which were never actually constructed or tested during his time as a military engineer in 1480—could potentially require less power to achieve the same lift as conventional drone rotors.

The device closely resembles an Archimedes screw, a helical pump that lifts water as it rotates. Although Da Vinci envisioned it being powered by human effort, employing a lightweight electric motor could have enabled it to actually achieve flight.

Mittal’s team created a simulation of the air screw, testing it in a virtual wind tunnel across various rotational speeds and comparing it with traditional drone rotors, including a two-blade variant.

They discovered that the air screws can maintain the same lift while rotating at a slower speed, indicating reduced power consumption.

By measuring the pressure and wind flow around the virtual screw, the team also estimated its potential output.

“I was taken aback,” Mittal remarked. “We initially believed that the spiral screw’s shape would yield terrible aerodynamic performance, but it turns out it might surpass traditional blades.”

Mittal and his team aim to investigate ways to optimize Da Vinci’s design for improved efficiency without sacrificing its distinguishable noise-reducing properties.

As drones become more prevalent in urban settings for deliveries and emergency services, the challenge of noise pollution has prompted researchers to explore alternative rotor designs that generate less noise for similar lift outputs.

“An author can produce the same thrust with a slower rotation, which is exactly what Da Vinci’s design achieves. This will indeed contribute to quieter operations,” noted Cheryl Grace from Boston University, Massachusetts. “It’s not necessary for it to strictly follow Da Vinci’s blueprint, but it’s fantastic that his concept aligns with this idea.”

However, to validate the practicality of Da Vinci’s design in real-world applications, testing its performance during flight—rather than just hovering—and evaluating the impact of rotor weight on its efficiency is crucial, Grace added.

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