DailyDirt: Robot Helicopters

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Flying is a great mode of transportation. Technically, though, there are a few different kinds of flying. Gliding or soaring like a sparrow (African or European, it doesn't matter) is fine, but the capabilities of a helicopter are sometimes much more useful. Hovering and vertical take-offs are really neat tricks. Maybe not as neat as a Firefly "Crazy Ivan" -- but it's a bit unfair to compare fictional flying maneuvers to actual aerial feats. Anyway, here are a few cool robotic helicopters.
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Filed Under: helicopters, samaras, skynet
Companies: boeing


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  1. icon
    :Lobo Santo (profile), 28 Jan 2011 @ 5:09pm

    Crazy Ivan...

    ...is a submarine maneuver IRL.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  2. icon
    Derek (profile), 28 Jan 2011 @ 5:45pm

    Sparrows?

    The African or European joke should be swallows, not sparrows, IIRC.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  3. identicon
    trilobug, 28 Jan 2011 @ 5:48pm

    That's pretty cool.

    Yeah I saw this on Colbert, I'd like to see just exactly how planners/contractors/architects utilize this tech once it has matured, to the real world level.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  4. icon
    Steven (profile), 28 Jan 2011 @ 8:15pm

    It's worth mentioning there are also open source auto pilots for both helicopters and fixed wing aircraft. Based on the arduino.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  5. icon
    Michael Ho (profile), 28 Jan 2011 @ 10:51pm

    Re: Sparrows?

    Oops. got the bird wrong. my bad. it's been a while since I've watched Monty Python....

    link to this | view in thread ]

  6. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 30 Jan 2011 @ 2:45pm

    For the DIY crowd here are some links:

    - The Helipov a RC helicopter that has some display capabilities, why didn't the marketeers think of that?
    - The Grab Lab helicopter may have been the prototype for the Army one.
    - The Flexicopter is a glove controler for remote control.
    - Helivid puts a camera on a homemade build RC helicopter, he was so suscessful that he build a company, this link shows you that.
    - n900copter, the power of your cellphone.
    - Vicacopter basic UAV.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  7. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 30 Jan 2011 @ 9:41pm

    Re:

    Very active community here http://diydrones.com/

    link to this | view in thread ]


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