This spring, the Chinese company DJI conducted field tests of its first cargo drone — FlyCart 30 — in the harsh conditions of the highlands. The drone lifted the cargo to a height of more than 6,000 m in conditions of strong wind and frost. The implementation of such tools in the practice of climbing will help reduce risks and increase the survival of both tourists and guides.
The company DJI presented a novelty in January of this year. FlyCart 30 drone capable of transporting up to 40 kg by air for a distance of up to 8 km and up to 30 kg for 16 km. The maximum flight speed reaches 72 km/h. The declared ceiling height is 6000 m code without payload. During the tests on Everest, the FlyCart 30 drone proved that it is capable of more.
The cargo in the form of oxygen cylinders weighing 15 kg was lifted by the drone from the level of the South Base Camp (5364 m) to a point 1700 m higher. After the ascent, 43% of the charge remained in the batteries. This made it possible to return to the base camp garbage and waste of the same weight.
The problem of garbage, by the way, is as acute on Everest as the issue of human survival. Every year, thousands of climbers storm the mountain, each of whom leaves behind on the route up to 10 kg of garbage and waste, including household waste. For 70 years, at least 140 tons of such waste have accumulated on the mountain. They are removed only in critical cases, risking life. Drones can change that by providing safe debris removal and delivery to camps and climbers in distress.
Drone communication can be unstable in mountain environments. The DJI team has fully experienced this. Places for hanging and removing loads had to be carefully chosen and, as a rule, they were all outside the camps. Also, the drone remained in the air at a height. It is armed with a winch and a flight stabilization system with a suspended load. In general, the tests showed that the FlyCart 30 drone and similar ones will be in demand in the field of mountaineering and not only. This machine has already been tested in Japan in planting plantations, extinguished fires in high mountains in Norway, worked in Antarctica and helped install solar panels in Mexico.