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Comment by cowlevel | Hacker News Reader

For one thing, fixed-wing (plane-shaped) drones are much more efficient. Quadcopters are only cool because of their maneuverability (compared to planes) and mechanical simplicity (compared to helicopters) which makes them a sweet spot for hobbyists, and photographers etc.

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Fixed wings drones are much more efficient for big and heavy drones.

Their efficiency advantage drops quickly for diminishing sizes and weights.

That is why big birds use gliding whenever they can, but small birds and insects use almost only wing-powered flight.

Screw propellers are pretty much equivalent with wings whose rotation angle is not limited so they can rotate continuously around the body instead of having to reverse periodically the direction of rotation and the attack angles.

Part of it is also perhaps the difference in roles. There are small birds that are gliders. But the big birds we have in mind such as birds of prey and such are basically loitering munitions, and when a target is identified, they operate like energy fighters, dropping from upon high on top of their prey. There is no need for the maneuverability demanded by a pollinator like a hummingbird or a bee, where one slowly samples over an entire flowering bush. Nothing big flaps to the extent of a hummingbird either; the energy demands would be untenable with available resources, a hummingbird is basically constantly fueling up with high octane as it is.

Sweet spots... but also a whole new category called "mass(ed) precision".

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