What Happens When a Drone Flies Inside an Elevator?

A little over a year ago, the YouTube channel The Action Lab shared an experiment that helped us understand the behavior of a drone flying inside a moving car. Acceleration is as important as flight stability, but what happens when the same experiment is repeated inside an elevator?

Drones have recently returned to the center of the news for events that weren't necessarily good. In the last days of December, Gatwick Airport (the second busiest in the UK) had to halt operations due to drones near its airspace. A few days later, something similar happened at Heathrow, and authorities decided to deploy military equipment to neutralize the threat. These cases certainly don't help drones' reputation, but there are environments where they can be used without major risks. For example, carrying out experiments like the one you'll see below: a drone and an elevator. What will happen when it flies inside?

The Sequel to the Car Experiment

"The Drone in the Elevator" is a kind of sequel to the experiment The Action Lab published in November 2017 about the flight of a drone inside a moving car. In that case, the drone suffered the effects of vehicle acceleration and uneven driving, but in the end what we expected happened: the drone kept up with the car. This time, conditions are different. The drone stays relatively static inside the elevator, but depending on the floor chosen, the drone hits the ceiling or the floor, and only by compensating speed can the pilot avoid further impacts.

In short: the drone doesn't change at all; it's the elevator that, through its abrupt acceleration, ends up hitting it. Of course, for the experiment to work you need a 'dumb' drone, otherwise its object detection system could alter results. That's why we don't see a DJI Phantom in action, and it's also riskier to fly it in such a confined space. If you plan to do something similar with your drone, here's our classic recommendation: Have fun, but don't get into trouble.