Facebook, the social networking giant’s new patent includes an unusual drone called “dual-kite aerial vehicle” that uses kites to stay aloft. The design reported by The Verge shows the drone composed of two kites bound together and floating at different altitudes. The drone will be able to generate its own energy to extend the flight time and the kites can be directed independently.
The current prototype looks similar to the balloons used by Alphabet Inc, Google’s parent company for its Loon connectivity programme. Though the design has little in common with Facebook’s known drone prototypes, this might also be used for boosting or providing Internet service in hard-to-reach areas.
Last year they rested their drone design business to continue working on the Aquila project. It is a 900-pound winged aircraft made of carbon fibre that showed mixed results during tests in 2016. The patent claims to provide Internet access with the kite drone and was filed about five months after its announcement.
Most discreet part of the patent is whether Facebook is actually building this system.