I saw this on one of the 24 hour news channels. The thing has eight propellers at it's base spread around it. It had better have pretty good collision avoidance or it'll be taking people's heads off. Alternatively they should redesign it so the rotors are at the top like on a helicopter (and that still happens with helicopters due to flutter).
Originally posted by DeepThought I saw this on one of the 24 hour news channels. The thing has eight propellers at it's base spread around it. It had better have pretty good collision avoidance or it'll be taking people's heads off. Alternatively they should redesign it so the rotors are at the top like on a helicopter (and that still happens with helicopters due to flutter).
I don't think I wan't too many cargo carrying drones around without safety precautions. Both the propellers and falling on someone are quite serious risks.
317 BCE Ge Hong writes his book Baopuzi ("Master who embraces simplicity" ). Here is an excerpt talking about Chinese flying technology:
Some have made flying cars with wood from the inner part of the jujube tree, using ox-leather (straps) fastened to returning blades so as to set the machine in motio. Others have had the idea of making five snakes, six dragons and three oxen, to meet the "hard wind" and ride on it, not stopping until they have risen to a height of forty li. That region is called [Taiqing 太清] (the purest of empty space). There the Qi is extremely hard, so much so that it can overcome (the strength of) human beings. As the Teacher says: "The kite (bird) flies higher and higher spirally, and then only needs to stretch its two wings, beating the air no more, in order to go forward by itself. This is because it starts gliding (lit. riding) on the 'hard wind'. Take dragons, for example; when they first rise they go up using the clouds as steps, and after they have attained a height of forty li then they rush forward effortlessly (lit. automatically) (gliding)." This account comes from the adepts, and is handed down to ordinary people, but they are not likely to understand it.
China also invented magazines for ammunition at the same time. The crossbow was called Cho-ko-nu.
But what drones are carrying does affect flight patterns.
When drones have been employed to strike military (or 'terrorist' ) targets, has there
been a high incidence of the 'propellers falling off'? I am unaware of quad-copters or octacopters being used by the military to strike targets. The vehicles they use that are commonly called 'drones' are in fact ROVs not drones as they have human pilots and typically use airports with proper runways and have fairly strict flight control patterns.
There has been a fairly high incidence of collateral damage from the bombs but reports of accidents where the aircraft crashed and killed someone are generally not published - the army being so secretive and all.
Originally posted by NoEarthlyReason I suppose the relative risk for that possible outcome would depend on the skill, health and fitness of the pilot, among other factors.
The drones in the OP are computer controlled. They do not have a pilot.
I didn't say it would, I was commenting on the drone that was demonstrated, not on non-existent cargo carriers. However I can think of a few reasons. No one would use a drone for carrying cargo, it's just too small to be of any real use, I doubt anyone outside the military or disaster relief communities would want a drone for freight for roughly the same reason that chinooks are not popular civilian helicopters. Besides freight tends to go to freight terminals so the flight path can be chosen to minimise risk, in the case of a random human passenger the point of departure and arrival are not known at any given time and likely to be densely populated, rather than a freight area where the approach can be chosen and everyone around has had a safety briefing.
Flying in a Drone
07 Jan '16 02:53
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