[Noisebridge-discuss] occucopter hackers

[Corey McGuire]

I didn't mean that to come off in an angry tenor.  And I wasn't responding
to you. Rather, the person with the need.  Feel free to solve this problem
your own way.
On Jan 5, 2012 10:54 AM, "Jake" <jake at spaz.org> wrote:

> I still don't think it's a good idea, nor do I think it will please law
>> enforcement for obvious safety reasons.
>>
>
> damn, you woke up on the wrong side of the bed.
>
> yes, i am expecting to have to write an autopilot program from scratch.
>
> by neutrally buoyant, i mean slightly heavier than air.
>
> it's an airplane, so it has to move forward to fight gravity, and when it
> is told to stay in one place it should end up flying directly into the
> wind.  If the wind is faster than what is needed for zero climb/fall it can
> aim its prop down to reduce lift, and if the wind is too slow it can
> automatically circle the spot.
>
> yes it will have a battery, and use electricity.  It will also carry an
> android phone.  I don't think this is too much weight for a balloon.
>
> other people have talked about a tethered balloon.  I am not stopping
> them, however I want something a lot better.  I understand that I will need
> to write software.
>
> I am not trying to please the cops.
>
> If anyone wants to help design the envelope shape, please contact me off
> list.  I'm looking to copy this design:
>
> http://solarship.com/
>
> -jake
>
> On Thu, 5 Jan 2012, Corey McGuire wrote:
>
>  What is the expectation of flight time?  If it's anything longer than 20
>> minutes, may I suggest an alternative?
>>
>> K.I.S.S.
>>
>> Balloon with tethers.
>>
>> Nothing relying on power and control is going to either withstand wind,
>> have
>> endurance, be lite enough to fly, or is going to stay in one spot.  And
>> nothing is going to have autopilot/autohover for less than $2000
>> (http://www.mikrokopter.de/**ucwiki/en/**KomplettsetUebersicht<http://www.mikrokopter.de/ucwiki/en/KomplettsetUebersicht>)
>> unless someone
>> is willing to spend a lot of DIY time.  One cannot will a device into
>> existence that posses enough of all of these traits to beat a balloon with
>> tethers.
>>
>> Besides, you'll need someone on the ground focused entirely on flight.
>> Being that third person view in three dimensions is a challenging task,
>> you'll find that most people get exhausted after almost no time at all.
>>
>> If you are still sold on the "something powered" solution...
>>
>> How do we fix flight time:
>>  *  Small blimps bob around like a buoy.  You'll get sea sick trying to
>>    watch the video.  Not only that, they'll sail off unless you have a
>> very
>>    decent power supply.  Also, anything neutrally buoyant in open air?
>>  How
>>    are you going to get it back down?  I invite you to solve this problem
>>    FIRST.
>>  *  Anything battery powered is straight out.  Lifting a battery in to the
>>    air means short flight times - period.  Grow the battery, increase the
>>    amount of work required to fly.  Quickly, your battery outweighs it's
>>    capacity.
>>  *  Fuel poses another problem.  You can't simply turn fuel craft on and
>>    off.  If your craft goes out of control, then you have a spinning saw
>>    blade looking for a target.  There are solutions...but will they work
>> to
>>    the satisfaction of, say, the police?  Believe it or not, there are
>> laws
>>    to this effect, and they usually require flying outside city limits.
>>  *  Anything "copter" or "rotor" is going to eat through fuel because they
>>    do not benefit from the mechanical advantage of wings.  Basically,
>>    flight time requires wings.
>> Once you've solved flight times, control is still a problem:
>>  *  Who is going to put the craft in a steady hover/flight pattern?
>>  *  Will you have a rotation of pilots?
>>  *  You can afford an auto pilot?  GREAT!  YOU still need to know how to
>> fly
>>    and YOU still need to watch your craft at ALL TIMES.
>>
>> So far, through investigating this, I have found the following recipe:
>>
>>  *  http://diydrones.com/profiles/**blogs/ardupilot-mega-home-page<http://diydrones.com/profiles/blogs/ardupilot-mega-home-page>
>>  * http://www.hobbyking.com/**hobbyking/store/__17227__**
>> Phoenix_2000_EPO_Composit<http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__17227__Phoenix_2000_EPO_Composit>
>>    e_R_C_Glider_ARF_.html
>>  *  http://coxengines.ca/product.**php?productid=453<http://coxengines.ca/product.php?productid=453>
>>
>> I still don't think it's a good idea, nor do I think it will please law
>> enforcement for obvious safety reasons.
>>
>> My recommendation? Balloons with tethers.
>>
>> --
>> Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler - Albert
>> Einstein
>> Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication - Leonardo Da Vinci
>> Perfection is reached not when there is nothing left to add, but when
>> there
>> is nothing left to take away - Antoine de Saint Exup?ry
>> Keep It Simple Stupid - Kelly Johnson
>>
>>
>>
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