Look out!! Here come the Nanocopters

[stomachmonkey]

This is some pretty cool stuff.

Get a power source for some extended flight and imagine the possibilities.

[Hugh R]

That is amazing, especially the figure 8s.

[rouxroux]

I've got some buddies who are heavy into RC Helo 3D, but this is really cool!

[RWebb]

wait until they all attack you with their poison injectors

[Zeke]

With the labor shortage to pick fruit, that's the answer.

[MBAtarga]

holy crap! It's Centipede in 3D!

[masraum]

[M.D. Holloway]

Design them to fuel up on nectar and blood and outfit them with heat seeking and ultra sonic receptors along with sarin stingers and you might have a pretty interesting toy...

[RWebb]

I think DoD has already recieved your proposal, Mike...


("GMO - its NOT just for food!!")

[masraum]

Voyeur Pron will be the first non-military application.

[onewhippedpuppy]

That is awesome.

[sc_rufctr]

Impressive stuff but I'm trying to think of a practical application.

What about surveillance in an urban combat environment? With a swarm of them you'd never be able to hide.

[willtel]

Originally Posted by sc_rufctr

Impressive stuff but I'm trying to think of a practical application.

What about surveillance in an urban combat environment? With a swarm of them you'd never be able to hide.

I think surveillance would be a great application. Say you had a multi-story parking garage you wanted to survey with cameras. Eight or ten of these things could fly a predetermined path and return to a charging bay when they need more power. It seems like they would be much more effective than stationary cameras.

Sort of a pipe dream but a neat idea.

[GH85Carrera]

Cool toys.

Until the quantum leap in battery technology arrives, just a toy.

Almost all the Sci-fi shows have a ship that can take off and land from a planet surface, the energy needed is many orders of magnitude more than what we can produce. The energy source like in the Terminator is needed. Don't hold your breath.

Those little toys are cool, but they can't carry any real payload.

[Esel Mann]

Correct, the battery technology is one of the flies in the ointment. Simply not enough run time.

The other drawback is they need to be intelligent. Machine intelligence too is a ways off.

Additionally correct that their payload capabilities are limited. Hence in order to be practical it would be necessary to operate such in small groups each with it's own "specialty". For example one would possess the long-range comms link, another the video camera, another the acoustics, another the ability to say pick up/drop off small packages, another with the friggin laser beam,

Nonetheless, they are still cool!

[stomachmonkey]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

Cool toys.

Until the quantum leap in battery technology arrives, just a toy.

Almost all the Sci-fi shows have a ship that can take off and land from a planet surface, the energy needed is many orders of magnitude more than what we can produce. The energy source like in the Terminator is needed. Don't hold your breath.

Those little toys are cool, but they can't carry any real payload.

Originally Posted by Esel Mann

Correct, the battery technology is one of the flies in the ointment. Simply not enough run time.

The other drawback is they need to be intelligent. Machine intelligence too is a ways off.

Additionally correct that their payload capabilities are limited. Hence in order to be practical it would be necessary to operate such in small groups each with it's own "specialty". For example one would possess the long-range comms link, another the video camera, another the acoustics, another the ability to say pick up/drop off small packages, another with the friggin laser beam,

Nonetheless, they are still cool!

If these guys can perfect their tech to rapid charge it opens up a lot of possibilities.

Powerharvester Receivers | Wireless Power Solutions | Powercast Corp.

What is being demonstrated is not so much the nanocopter but the AI for them to operate autonomously and perform cooperative tasks.

Battery life is less of an issue in a confined environment like light construction. As a NC nears end of charge it would simply fly and park itself on a recharging base and a freshly charged one would take off and replace it.

Check out the user channel on youtube.

A bunch more videos.

TheDmel's Channel - YouTube

[nota]

true nano would be dust size

anyone read diamond age ?

toner wars

[RWebb]

Originally Posted by sc_rufctr

Impressive stuff but I'm trying to think of a practical application.

What about surveillance in an urban combat environment? With a swarm of them you'd never be able to hide.

Who do you think is funding these guys?

Swarming is a key R&D plan for DoD. The real question for small targets (a human) is whether you build nano-machines, or genetically modify insects to get them. Who will win this race?

Swarming was also proven effective by a USMC General who was able to wipe out a USN fleet attack using small fast boats (war game).

Don't like aerial or naval? How about a bunch of "snakes" that lie around in the desert until somebody they are told not to like comes along. Another swarm attack.

Public records are a lot scarier than those SciFi movies.

[daepp]

Originally Posted by stomachmonkey

This is some pretty cool stuff.

Get a power source for some extended flight and imagine the possibilities.

So in this original post, what controls these swarms. Are they done by separate individual RC type controllers, or is their a computer program exercising their formations?

[daepp]

With respect to more power, if you are willing to give up some stealth, thing of all the amazing power-to-weight ratio RC planes weve seen!