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Tiny, Morphing, Electricity-Stealing Spy Planes Developed

Posted by Zonk on from the go-go-gadget-gadgetery dept.

tkohler writes "The Air Force Research Lab is developing an Electric Motor-powered Micro Air Vehicle (MAV) that can 'harvest' energy when needed by attaching itself to a power line. It can also temporarily change its shape to look more like innocuous piece of trash hanging from the cable. For domestic spying, maybe it will morph into a pair of sneakers?"

2 of 163 comments (clear)

  1. weird warnings.. by wfberg · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Challenges abound, though. Zac Richardson, a power-line engineer with National Grid in the UK, warns that if the MAV contacts an 11-kilovolt local power line, it could short circuit two conductors, causing an automatic disconnection of the very power the plane seeks.

    Why do they assume the UAV would be conductive? Wouldn't your best bet for tapping energy off power lines be to simply use induction? You don't even need to land on the lines themselves; a fluorescent tube light will light up at yards from the power line.

    Do National Grid power-line engineers not know of this?

    --
    SCO employee? Check out the bounty
    1. Re:weird warnings.. by richard.cs · · Score: 5, Interesting

      so are you telling me that if I throw a fluorescent light at a power line it will glow?

      Not quite. Hold one end of the tube, point the other end at the line. Needs to be one of the higher voltage ones cos experience shows that 11kV doesn't cut it (although it might work if the lines were really close to the ground, depends on the electrostatic field in Volts per meter). The tube will light but not that brightly so you'll have to do it at night for it to be visible. Ever see this photo?