Micro helicopters buzz tech show
CEBIT ALWAYS HAS odd but cool things to show off, and this year one of them was a multi-rotor stable RC camera platform. There were three of them, think military drones but smaller and without the missiles.
Eight rotors and lots of LEDs
All were different forms of the same theory, and all came from the university-oriented organisation called Offis. They develop the technology, but don't have any commercial products. Offis is basically an R&D outfit.
That said, they had three on hand, the one above is the most sophisticated, and has colored LEDs so it is 17 times as nifty, just like a nine-year-old Honda, but without the baked-bean-tin exhaust. The other two are below, one has ducted fans, the other the most sophisticated electronic controls system you can fit in a CD spindle tub case. Since this is an R&D effort, that is a plus. Hack away.
CD tubs show up everywhere
Ducted fun
These designs are not really for sale, but the parts have been commercialized by Mikrokopter. You can see all their info here, and even buy enough parts to make one should you need a flying RC camera. At around $1,500 they aren't cheap, but what good geek toy is? With 30 minutes or so of fly time, you can have a lot of fun with these at your home or office.
That is what a good geek toy is all about. µ
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If it doesn't have missles?
You should try a real geek toy in this area - the E-flite Micro CX (mCX). It is cheap, and it really flies well indoors.
i love my radio controlled helis. but where is the fun if you cant do stunts? walkera 4G3 6 channel heli is probably the best indoor mini heli, full 3D flight, not for beginners though....
duhhhh... Charlie, you must really have a hangover.
Possible technology demonstrator for military recon. I know the US Marine Corps has been working on small, disposable flying cameras for urban recon missions.
Also, "news" companies might find them useful as adjuncts to helicopters.
Not just a toy, you know.
...just putting a normal 2-blade propeller inside a ring of plastic doesn't make it a ducted fan, Charlie :)
Ducted fans are turbine replacements that use high-rpm electric motors to spin small and precision-balanced multi-bladed at insane speeds. Over 20K rpm can be achieved.
Large EDFs are ~120mm diameter and deliver multiple pounds of thrust...and weigh more than that quad altogether :) Also, the "ducted" part means that they should be mounted inside a tubular enclosure, or they won't be efficient. One that's at least several times the EDF's own length, too..
Quad/Octocopters are geek toys, yes, but not because of the hardware - it's all about the control algorithms running the electronics under those CD tubs...which are open source, by the way.
Why does every tech writer use the "think" wording.
"This is a new product that blah blah, THINK blah blah blah"
Very annoying.
The article mentioned 30 minutes of flight times for these camera platforms yet there is no obvious power source so what's the trick?
Power source: in the first pic inside the square there is a rectangular battery held on with what looks like velcros straps. There also looks to be a place for a second battery below the control box, well there are more velcro ties there. That is a Li-Po battery normally used in remote control planes/cars/helis. 30 minutes is highly unlikely for this type of aircraft, normal electric helis get 10 minutes at the most. Planes get a lot longer as they use less energy to stay in the air.
Hi,
beeing responsible for the development of the flying robots here at OFFIS I just wanted to give you the link to our activities:
www.offis.de/flugrobotik (at the moment only available in german)
or http://www.offis.de/v/index_e.php for our other research activities.