Is This Video of a Drone Carrying a Person in a Hammock Fake?

[Gutter Monkey]

The video is from April and it caused a bit of a stir back then but it's starting to pop back up all over the internet again for some reason.



http://www.thedrive.com/watch-this/9...a-hammock-fake

http://www.craveonline.com/mandatory...-hammock-drone

https://thenextweb.com/shareables/20...#.tnw_rFGogzcq

This article claims "the figure in the hammock was a mannequin and the flight had been orchestrated as a publicity stunt by a local business" but doesn't give any sources
https://www.upi.com/Mannequin-in-dro...1271492802543/

[Richard W]

I think the mannequin idea is more plausible than that it's an actual person in the hammock. You don't see it move at all (the arm seems to be in a fixed position) and I would have thought the weight would be an issue for a real person. All the video I've seen of drones carrying real people have had enormous custom-made contraptions combining far more rotors than that, and they've stayed much closer to the ground.

This article on the 5 best heavy lift drones suggests that even the strongest commercially-available drones, which are larger than that one, can only carry up to 44lb (20kg) or so. There's no way a six-rotor off-the-shelf drone like that one could carry a person. I'm surprised it can carry the mannequin, almost.

[Gutter Monkey]

I'm wondering if it might be CGI. On the other hand they might have carved the mannequin out of styrofoam so it was super light ....

[UEL]

Originally Posted by Richard W

... I would have thought the weight would be an issue for a real person. All the video I've seen of drones carrying real people have had enormous custom-made contraptions combining far more rotors than that, and they've stayed much closer to the ground.

I got to work with one affectionately called the "mule" whose payload was in the vicinity of 300 pounds. Its size was not to shabby either. Several could fit in the back of a normal truck.

Some are out there, and they are going to become much more prevalent.