This project requires access to one or more inexpensive drones.
Cost
Average ($50 - $100)
Safety
Adult supervision required. Follow proper safety precautions, regulations about drone use, and make sure all bystanders are safe. Check with your science fair for any rules about potentially dangerous projects (projectiles etc.).
*Note:
For this science project you will need to develop your own experimental procedure. Use the information in the summary tab as a starting place. If you would like to discuss your ideas or need help troubleshooting, use the Ask An Expert forum. Our Experts won't do the work for you, but they will make suggestions and offer guidance if you come to them with specific questions.
If you want a Project Idea with full instructions, please pick one without an asterisk (*) at the end of the title.
Abstract
Drones are small, fast, and maneuverable - this can make them very hard to knock down! Check out this Mark Rober video where he explores both how professional defense companies and some backyard YouTube engineers tackle the problem of knocking drones out of the sky. Can you take this engineering challenge on yourself? What methods can you devise to take down a drone? Which one works the best?
Drones can be expensive, and you probably do not want to risk damaging a $1,000 drone for your science project. Instead, you could buy several small, cheap toy drones, build your own mini popsicle stick drones, or use a drone with a roll cage that is less likely to suffer damage when it crashes. Testing methods that are less likely to cause permanent damage, but can still knock a drone down or disrupt its flight, can help you do this project on a more reasonable budget.
Depending on how and where you do this project, you may need to follow various laws and safety regulations - ranging from federal regulations on drone flight to science fair rules about projects involving projectiles or other potentially dangerous objects. It is your responsibility to follow all applicable rules and regulations.
Ask an Expert
Do you have specific questions about your science project? Our team of volunteer scientists can help. Our Experts won't do the work for you, but they will make suggestions, offer guidance, and help you troubleshoot.
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General citation information is provided here. Be sure to check the formatting, including capitalization, for the method you are using and update your citation, as needed.
MLA Style
Finio, Ben.
"What's the Best Way to Disable a Drone?" Science Buddies,
24 Apr. 2024,
https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project-ideas/Robotics_p063/robotics/best-way-shoot-down-drone.
Accessed 4 May 2024.
APA Style
Finio, B.
(2024, April 24).
What's the Best Way to Disable a Drone?
Retrieved from
https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project-ideas/Robotics_p063/robotics/best-way-shoot-down-drone
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