Solar Constant at 1AU ~ 3500 W/m^2 Efficiency of Best Cells ~ 15% Surface Area of Robofly ??? ~ 20mm^2 (2e-5m^2)
Now the average tropical daylight solar availability is much lower, around 1800 W/m^2
The best cells for efficiency are not flexible enough to use on the wings, and are pretty dense. Lets just assume that it is possible to find such a cell, and that it has an efficiency comparable to Silicon (~9%) even though we know they won't work either. Oh, you can forget that weight estimate of 43mg they gave too. Mylar wings aren't going to collect power.
Now with my wild-ass guess of 20mm^2 for the upper surface area, we get about 3.2mW total available power. But wait, that is for a fly sitting flat still with every bit of its surface area perpindicular to a bright tropical sun. Once those wings start flapping and turning, any part that is more than 60 degrees from the sun will lose power completely, and any lesser angle will still mean significant loss of efficiency.
In operation, outside in daylight, I'd expect the fly to be receiving an average of around 1mW. Indoors, an order of magnitude lower (0.1mW).
Never say Never, but certainly not in the next decade.
Yep, this extraordinary new technological possibility does not thrill me, it scares me. Not because I think of nefarious uses, but because I know that I don't have the desire to go back and really learn to use Hamiltonians that I haven't seen since Advanced Engineering Math. I also don't want to brush up on the quantum physics that I never truly understood to begin with.
There was a day (year/decade), when the idea of learning new things and facing new challenges thrilled me. Now I'm just glad that I have saved enough money to retire comfortably.
I'm old and I haven't even turned forty yet. I can't scoff at all those old used-up professors any more; I am one.
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Solar Constant at 1AU ~ 3500 W/m^2
Efficiency of Best Cells ~ 15%
Surface Area of Robofly ??? ~ 20mm^2 (2e-5m^2)
Now the average tropical daylight solar availability is much lower, around 1800 W/m^2
The best cells for efficiency are not
flexible enough to use on the wings, and
are pretty dense. Lets just assume that it is possible to find such a cell, and that it has an efficiency comparable to Silicon (~9%) even though we know they won't work either. Oh, you can forget that weight estimate of 43mg they gave too. Mylar wings aren't going to collect power.
Now with my wild-ass guess of 20mm^2 for the upper surface area, we get about 3.2mW total available power. But wait, that is for a fly sitting flat still with every bit of its surface area perpindicular to a bright tropical sun. Once those wings start flapping and turning, any part that is more than 60 degrees from the sun will lose power completely, and any lesser angle will still mean significant loss of efficiency.
In operation, outside in daylight, I'd expect the fly to be receiving an average of around 1mW. Indoors, an order of magnitude lower (0.1mW).
Never say Never, but certainly not in the next decade.
Yep, this extraordinary new technological possibility does not thrill me, it scares me. Not because I think of nefarious uses, but because I know that I don't have the desire to go back and really learn to use Hamiltonians that I haven't seen since Advanced Engineering Math. I also don't want to brush up on the quantum physics that I never truly understood to begin with.
There was a day (year/decade), when the idea of learning new things and facing new challenges thrilled me. Now I'm just glad that I have saved enough money to retire comfortably.
I'm old and I haven't even turned forty yet. I can't scoff at all those old used-up professors any more; I am one.