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Autonomous Model Glider Flies from 60,000 Feet

Posted by michael on from the buzz-bomb dept.

saccade writes "A couple years ago we read about a telemetry laden balloon launched to 80,000 feet single-handedly built by a laid-off engineer. Here's an even more elaborate one built at around the same time: A balloon launched model glider taken to about 60,000 feet that autonomously finds its way home. It had an auto-pilot and elaborate mission control system. Also impressive is the extensive testing done before launch."

22 of 170 comments (clear)

  1. Dangerous? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    I guess I'm just glad that when it "finds its way home" it doesn't define "home" as "the White House Lawn" - and that the laid-off engineer who built it isn't angry with the world.

    1. Re:Dangerous? by ThisNukes4u · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Parent was modded up funny, but this raises a serious question: what is stopping somebody with bomb-making skills from flying a plane like this loaded with explosives to a high-profile target such as the White House or other government buildings?

      --
      thisnukes4u.net
    2. Re:Dangerous? by Beryllium+Sphere(tm) · · Score: 5, Funny

      >Nothing at all, which is why missile defence against 'rouge nations' is a farce.

      Are "rouge nations" something like red states?

    3. Re:Dangerous? by gl4ss · · Score: 4, Insightful

      what is stopping? nothing really.
      what's stopping them from gassing some public place? nothing really.
      what is stopping a not-fit-for-driving driver from driving into a crowd by accident ? nothing really.

      what COULD stop an intelligent man from turning the hell loose if he was determined, except maybe luck? personally i'm surprised how the big nations leaders can stay alive so well(proves that the world isn't as dark as you might think at first, there isn't a whole lot of people who are determined in breaking shit up like that, or that typical terrorists are narrow minded or uneducated.. which pretty much could be true, if you weren't narrow minded you'd find something more enjoyable to do).

      just get over it.

      --
      world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
    4. Re:Dangerous? by Mudcathi · · Score: 4, Interesting
      No, the laid off engineer who was angry at the world and had a latent interest in aerospace technology, now lives in various caves along the Afgani and Pakistani borders.

      (and too bad that he still lives, sez i)

      --

      "He who throws mud, loses ground." - proverb

    5. Re:Dangerous? by mangu · · Score: 3, Informative
      acting on "angry, desperate & psychopathic" motives as opposed to some other agenda where they might be in it to gain power, money or some other goal


      Those people will opt to become CEOs instead of terrorist masterminds. For the goals you mention where religious fanatism isn't a factor, it's usually considered better to have a penthouse in New York or Monaco, instead of a cave somewhere between Afghanistan and Pakistan to live in.

  2. It does something by odioalsoco · · Score: 3, Funny

    Well, it is nice to see that people actually employs some time doing pretty impressive things. Not like the guy sitting in a chair hanging at 10000 feet using balloons. ;)

  3. On the off chance it's slashdotted: by Saint+Aardvark · · Score: 4, Informative
    http://www.saintaardvarkthecarpeted.com/mirror/son de

    All I have to say is "WOW". And well done.

    --
    Carousel is a lie!
  4. Pretty rudimentary by Dancin_Santa · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It can correct its flightpath, but it can't react to obstacles. A cliff would kill it, as would a tree.

    What would happen if we dropped something intrinsically warm like a slab of uranium on Titan

  5. Amateur guidance system? by Saeger · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Quick! Somebody call the Dept of "HomeSec" on this evildoer, before he makes his "homing glider" plans available to terrerhists like that DIY cruise missile guy tried to. And if they find any Estes model rocket engines in his home (while he's away, of course), I they throw the book at him!

    --
    Power to the Peaceful
  6. For once I read the FA by toby · · Score: 4, Informative
    And noted that the glider was eventually lost in inaccessible terrain, due to drift after launch and various other problems...
    Sept 6, 2003: Glider Lost, 50nm north of the nearest paved road
    Back to the drawing board...
    --
    you had me at #!
    1. Re:For once I read the FA by mtrisk · · Score: 5, Funny

      Well if it was only 50nm I'll go out and get it myself then...

      --

      Without a proper flamewar, Anonymous was undecided on what shell to run.
  7. That is really hard... by Slashamatic · · Score: 4, Interesting
    Planes fly rather differently at altitude. I'm impressed that he has been able to do anything up there where other craft start having to use elaborate control systems because of the thin air.

    OTOH, he seems to have had some problems with navigation and obstacles (i.e., the mountain in the way), but I can't see how he can deal with that without using something like EGPWS. Standard GPWS (ground proximity warning systems) use radar and the power needs would be far to high. EGPWS extends this with a digital ground model and a GPS. He has the GPS, but whether he could make and store an model with terrain elevation would be an interesting question.

  8. Last Launch - Sept 6 2003 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    /.'s a little slow getting the headlines these days?

  9. Send it to Mars! by FuturePastNow · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Research like this bodes well for future exploration of other planets. A glider, or better yet a powered aircraft, can cover more ground in an hour than Spirit and Opportunity have in a year. With the communications delay, it would have to be autonomous.

    Landing to conduct experiments would be a one-time deal (unless it can take off again), but such a vehicle could do great recon for future rovers or human explorers, in addition to all sorts of atmospheric experiments.

    --
    Give a man fire, and you warm him for the night. Set a man on fire, and you warm him for the rest of his life.
  10. Big deal by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    I built a glider that can find its way home from 60,000 feet in the air too. The only limitation is that "home" has to be directly below it. Apart from that, my glider, which I have named "SpaceBrick One", has a 100% success rate.

  11. Odds... by narl · · Score: 3, Insightful
    There's only about 0.0001% of the population that's angry, desperate & psychopathic enough to consider acts of terruh, times about 0.001% smart enough to plan an overly-complex scheme, times 0.1% motivated enough to follow through, times 50% odds of success. (So, worry about dying in a traffic accident instead.)

    Uh, I don't know if you meant this to be intentional, but taking your "Drake's equation" and the last number I remember hearing for the US population:

    (0.0001*0.001*0.1*0.5) * (population of US: ~200 million) = 1

  12. nm being nautical miles... by PornMaster · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I know that you were being cute, but figured some people wouldn't pick up on it.

    --
    500GB of disk, 5TB of transfer, $5.95/mo
  13. Re:Wow by chinakow · · Score: 4, Informative

    they already do, I saw a video where the pilots said the autoland is great in fog, zero visibility but the plane fined the runway, the real problem is taxing to the gate when you can't see out the window.

    Anyway, it took me a while to find someone talking specificly about a 747 but here is a linkhttp://www.airliners.net/discussions/general_a viation/read.main/1882971/

    Forget emergencies, try routine basis to keep certified, if you travel a lot, you probably have already been on an aircraft that has done an autolanding.

  14. bonsai by macpeep · · Score: 3, Interesting

    The two stories mentioned in the article were the source for inspiration for me that caused me to start building a wheeled robot that I had been thinking about for a long time. I read the baloon story on Slashdot and then searched for more similar stuff online and I found the glider article. That was about a year ago - maybe a year and a half.

    Today, the robot (which I call Bonsai) is ready. The goal for it was to be able to do a couple of fairly basic things that would allow it to be a platform for later ideas that could be built on the base work. The things it had to do were:

    It had to be able to know where it was in the world, how it was oriented and moving in the world, and to be able to use that information to figure out how to drive to get from point A to point B (possibly through a complex path).

    It had to be able to be manually controlled in addition to the automatic control.

    It had to have a good remote control software complete with moving map, full telemetry of all functions on the robot, and the ability to command every function of the robot remotely.

    It had to have a camera, and the remote control software had to be able to see the image from that camera real-time (or as close to real-time as possible).

    It had to have a wireless communications link.

    It would have to be able to operate at least 60 minutes.

    It had to have a solid vehicle base that had to be able to operate for at least 60 minutes and be able to operate precisely and reliably.

    The vehicle base would have to be able to carry the load of the computer, batteries, as well as a sizeble amount of additional electronics and equipment in the future.

    The whole thing would have to look decent.

    It took about a year to design and build, but it was very fun and in the end, it turned out to be fairly easy and nowhere near as expensive as I imagined it would be. Projects like that are a great way to learn new stuff about electronics and I highly recommend it to anyone who has been thinking about something like this. In the end, all the goals of the project were met, and I now have a really fun toy! :)

    The URL below is a picture of the robot in its final form:
    http://www.saunalahti.fi/macpeep/bonsai/bon sai1.jp g

  15. AMA Rules on UAVs by flyingV · · Score: 3, Informative
    Note that the Academy of Model Aeronautics has rules in its current code [warning: PDF] that severely restrict the use of UAVs (if you plan to be covered by AMA insurance). The clause is as follows:

    9. The operator of a radio-controlled model aircraft shall control it during the entire flight, maintaining visual contact without enhancement other than by corrective lenses that are prescribed for the pilot. No model aircraft shall be equipped with devices which allow it to be flown to a selected location which is beyond the visual range of the pilot.
  16. QOTD from this Story by thelizman · · Score: 3, Funny
    On their first flight, their craft landed about six km inside US territory, which mean they had to deal with US Customs. Being Canadian, and therefore unaccustomed to homeland security paranoia, they were honest with the border guards, which resulted in an extensive questioning and search before being allowed into the US. They found their ship, and headed back, at which point they had to deal with draconian entrance procedure at the Canadian Border:

    " The border crossing back into Canada consisted of a big red sign at the end of a deserted marina slip, with a 1-800 number. We called the number from a cell and they "let us back in" over the phone. Oh, Canada."