Teen Invents Game-Changing VTOL Drone—Wins $23K From The Pentagon

What were you doing when you were 17? I delivered newspapers from Elliot Lake's The Standard and made my own little Sports Magazine that I would slip in for customers.

At just 17, Cooper Taylor is transforming the drone industry with a groundbreaking, cost-effective design. His innovative VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) drone uses a unique motor-tilting mechanism, allowing for both vertical lift and horizontal flight using fewer motors—cutting costs and boosting efficiency.

Inspired by his sister's short-battery drone, Taylor built six 3D-printed prototypes, handling everything from soldering circuit boards to programming flight software. His design costs just a fifth of comparable models and supports modular upgrades, making it ideal for first responders, researchers, and field workers in disaster zones or conservation missions.

The U.S. Department of Defense and the Navy took notice. Taylor won an $8,000 scholarship at the Junior Science and Humanities Symposium in April and another $15,000 at the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair in May.

Mentored by experts like Johns Hopkins roboticist David Handelman, Taylor’s work impressed industry veterans. "He brought both curiosity and discipline to the project," said Handelman.

Despite crashes during testing, Taylor's perseverance paid off. His latest drone prototype weighs 6 pounds, has a 4-foot wingspan, and can theoretically fly up to 105 minutes at 45 mph. Now, he’s developing a more compact version—and spending the summer at MIT’s Reliable Autonomous Systems Lab.

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Source: Business Insider

Photo Credit: AI/Normin Taylor