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World's Smallest Homebrew RC Unit

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the it's-a-chopper,-baby dept.

MC68040 writes "I assume you've seen the mini-helicopters and airplanes that are becoming increasingly popular as office toys out there. Well this guy decided the market wasn't filled enough, luckily =) He's built the by far simplest and most functional mini Remote Controlled unit. It weighs under 7 grams, is made of carbon fiber and it's smaller than your thumb (or a hamster, as the author seems to prefer to compare). Go check it, it's truly a amazing feat."

7 of 151 comments (clear)

  1. Want to buy one? by zeux · · Score: 4, Interesting

    From this page:
    Pixels are unique prototypes, and are not for sale. I am sorry for all those who would like to buy one.

    Too bad I can't buy one... Do you know if it's possible to buy an equivalent or to build my own? Is it a hard work?

    Looking at the pictures it doesn't seem hard to do...

    --
    Iraq: war to save the U
  2. Flight issues at small scale? by Lord_Dweomer · · Score: 4, Interesting
    So I know when you scale helicopters down they get much harder to control, which is why RC helis tend to be so damned jumpy compared to their full size brethren.

    Could anybody who knows the physics behind this please explain how this thing will perform/behave compared to a normal RC heli, and then compared to a full size heli?

    --
    Buy Steampunk Clothing Online!
    1. Re:Flight issues at small scale? by LiquidCoooled · · Score: 4, Interesting

      isnt it to do with the range of motion the servos have than the full sized control units?

      TO miniturise them you can only get a preset range of positions.

      I am only speculating, but it seems plausable after the mini RC cars I have owned, my original large 1/12 scale had variable steering, but the smaller ones all seem to operate simply between straight ahead and full lock.

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      liqbase :: faster than paper
  3. Re:New solutions create new problems... by Moderation+abuser · · Score: 4, Interesting

    You put a camera on board.

    http://www.rc-cam.com/

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    Government of the people, by corporate executives, for corporate profits.
  4. Other things you can do with RC helicopters by Realistic_Dragon · · Score: 5, Interesting

    One of the research groups here has a RC helicopter that has mounted on the bottom a video camera, a still camera, location system and 4 FM 56kbps transmitters. It has an embedded xscale and embedded PPC processors.

    It's supposed to be a testbed for data compression and transmission type stuff, but in fact they mostly use it on hot summer days to look in local gardens for sunbathing women :)

    --
    Beep beep.
  5. This looks like a nice project.. by Awptimus+Prime · · Score: 4, Interesting


    I would like to see someone post some mini-RC howto sites. Some instructions on how to build a little chopper or plane would be some nice reading.

    1. Re:This looks like a nice project.. by Awptimus+Prime · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Okay, I am not one to usually reply to my own comment, but I went searching for small-scale projects and found a design involving using parts from a $10-40 TOMYTEC mini-RC car (or clone) and a $13 electric airplane.

      It involves a decent amount of hardware hacking, but looks like a fun design for not much money. Mind you, you can probably buy a pre-built toy with similar capabilities for about the same money.

      The project is located here.