With eight propellers and a school chair for the pilot’s seat, the drone was developed by students at the National Polytechnic Institute of Cambodia (NPIC) on the outskirts of the capital.

“The drone, when we see it flying without a pilot, there is a lot of shaking; but when I sit on it and fly, it becomes more stable and I feel so excited,” said Lonh Vannsith, 21, the pilot of the drone.

“We wanted to solve some problems for our society by making a taxi drone and inventing drones for firefighters,” he said, noting how, for example, they hoped it could reach the upper floors of a building to bring a hose where a fire truck could not reach.

The prototype can carry a pilot weighing up to 60kg and fly for about 10 minutes for a distance of 1km. It took three years of research and development and cost around US$20,000 (RM84,000) to build.

While the team hopes it will eventually fly far higher, when manned the drone currently only rises to as much as 4m.

The project faced delays because of lockdowns during the pandemic and also as components like the propellers and the frame had to be ordered from overseas, said Sarin Sereyvatha, NPIC’s head of research and development technology.

The team plans to improve the design to allow it to take more weight, as well as fly further and more stably at a higher level.

“In principle, if we make one drone the cost is expensive, but if we make them to sell on the market, the cost will go down,” Sarin said.