Epson's 12 Gram Flying Robot

fraxinus-tree writes "Epson has developed a very small (8.6g w/o battery) flying device, something like a bluetooth-controled palm-top helicopter." Since it can carry 5 grams for only 3 minutes, I can't imagine much practical use, but it's still neat.

Comments

Not what I had in mind

[qmchenry]

Was anyone else hoping it would look more like a bee or a dragonfly?

Re:Not what I had in mind

[mks180]

Rotors are much easier to build: just a revolute joint. While a flapping wing would be a more efficient way to produce lift for a small aircraft, it would be incredibly challenging to produce an actuator which can produce the required motion of a bee's wings, particularly at the proper frequency and scale. The wings actually flap and then twist, or flip over, at the end of each stroke. This way they use the vortex that is shed during the previous stroke to provide a boost in lift on the return stroke because the vortex passes over the upper surface of the wing. This produces a much greater pressure differential than just a regular airfoil in a free stream, because the core of the shed vortex has a much lower pressure than what can be produced by an airfoil due to it's shape. Let's not forget the control system which would probably be a challenge to design.

Looks like a DiVinci Drawing

[EvilTwinSkippy]

I swear that little think looks like one of DiVinci's sketches of a human powered machine. Compare

Solar powered?

[Meostro]

Anyone know how much a light solar cell weighs? It'd be pretty sweet to hook one up so this little guy could fly around all day (in bright sun probably).

laser-powered? fuel-cell?

[otis wildflower]

Laser power would be interesting, though only in a line-of-sight manner (possibly with beams from UAVs), since you could use the laser to do networking instead of bluetooth...

Also, perhaps a higher-density power source like a fuel cell? Or can they not be built small enough..

(or a nanotube-based fuel cell...)

The video looks very fake to me ...

[Anonymous Coward]

ANON 2004 writes:

Did anyone wonder a couple of things about the video like I did?

1 - Blue screen background .. very easy manipulation can take place in front of a blue screen.

2 - The video was not contiguous, rather it was choppy - first you see the little helicopter, then it jumps frames to the helicopter in the hand of the assistant with the propellors moving .. then it jumps frames again and you sort of see it flying around but moving in a wierd pattern with the assistant sort of looking directly at it but maybe looking over it, Jar Jar Binks style in Star Wars I ...

3 - Why was the video 40 seconds if the thing can fly for three minutes?

4 - Why was the helicopter flying facing the camera and sort of tilting left and right?

Sorry, it looks completely fake to me.

Re:Can carry a spare battery!

[EvilTwinSkippy]

Or better yet, power the sucker with a microwave beam.

Re:Can carry a spare battery!

[Alwin Henseler]

Maybe a good candidate for using a tiny ethanol-powered fuel cell? Low empty weight, direct fuel -> electricity conversion, and ethanol has fairly good energy-weight ratio (better than batteries anyway). You could even use a lightweight plastic bag as fuel tank.

Fill up just a bit for short flights, or fill up to max. for longer fun.

Re:Worth the Money?

[EvilTwinSkippy]

Or until they realize this thing wouldn't last 10 seconds outdoors. A simple gust of wind would carry this thing WAY off course. It looks like it has a hard enough time dealing with normal air currents sans wind.

Re:Old Story From Nov 18, 2003

[BasilBrush]

It's still tethered. Watch it's movement again and you'll see it's hanging on a line.

Solar power?

[SmallFurryCreature]

Could a solar panel be light enough and still deliver enough juice?

Epson the arms dealer?

[Teahouse]

I can think of one very effective purpose for these little buggers....anti-personnel.

How about rigging it with a half-ounce of magnesuim shrapnel-encased C-4 and replacing the camera with an infra-red sensor? Set 1000 loose on a bunch of terrorists holding up in a holy-site like say, oh I don't know, a mosque in Iraq?

It would take very little networking between the craft to make sure they all picked independent targets. It would take even less to provide "do not kill" RFID tags to those in a room you want to spare. The code would be simple.

No more special forces or SWAT teams are required to take out the bad guy hiding in a building. Simply run in a swarm of these through a window and set them to kill mode.

Re:Worth the Money?

[bill_mcgonigle]

Or until they realize this thing wouldn't last 10 seconds outdoors.

Lots of politics is indoors nowadays and not just in back rooms.

Loaded with 3.5 grams of C4 this could be flown across a convention hall at a target on stage. Not much power, but at point-blank range probably enough.

I'd be surprised if you couldn't make one that could fold down into a cell-phone case and be expanded past the security checks. Alot easier than getting a rifle inside.

Re:Faked?

[rossifer]

No need. It's only 1/8 the weight of a kit you can buy, build, and fly yourself for a few c-bills: Helistar Micro Helicopter

And if you've ever tried to learn how to hover a fixed pitch micro helicopter, you'll swear to god that there's a demon yanking on it with a string. Further, fixed pitch helicopters get harder and harder to fly the smaller they get, so I'm not suprised that hover isn't completely smooth, even in a controlled environment.

As someone who owns and flies a micro-helicopter that's a bit bigger still, the video looked completely credible and believable. It looked like my copter did when I was learning to hover.

Regards,
Ross