5 ms·

What about electric propeller motors though? Aren’t they much quieter? If you could get the noise close to that of a glider then the only other pollution you’d

What about electric propeller motors though? Aren’t they much quieter? If you could get the noise close to that of a glider then the only other pollution you’d have to worry about is visual. Then we’d need to start investing in active cloaking methods :)

etrautmann 9y ago
Even small drones are awful from 100’ away. Scaling that up will certainly be loud enough to be a problem in most urban areas
- dspillett 9y ago
  While this will be significantly louder than a drone it will also be much lower pitch so might be less irritating to the human ear. Less like a mosquito on steroids! Still far worse than silence of course but perhaps not much worse than road traffic noise unless you are directly under a common flight path?
njarboe 9y ago
I might be more sensitive to noise than most, but I've been in urban parks where I'm enjoying my time, relaxing, and a single small drone flies far (100ft) overhead. Its unnatural buzzing sound is quite annoying. Glider only action I would guess would be fine, but you have to get to altitude first to glide. And then altitude control near landing will have to be powered. I would love to see it in action and get to fly around myself. Fun times. But imagine a million of these in the air at the same time like you would have over LA or the Bay Area.
- bdamm 9y ago
  Cheap drones are much louder than they have to be. Larger & slower blades make less noise. A full-size electric airplane can be quite quiet.
- matte_black 9y ago
  DJI made some advancements on their latest Mavic Pro which is 60% quieter and a much more pleasing pitch. You certainly would not hear it at 100 ft unless you were looking for it. The technology for quiet drones exist (blade design) it’s just that companies don’t give a fuck. Maybe with regulation...
  - reacweb 9y ago
    Yes, I am very surprised that a simple blade replacement can have such an impact on noise. The difference is so big, I can not understand why noisy blades are still sold. This kind of improvement should have occur since many years.
    - Retric 9y ago
      It's an efficiency trade-off. Larger blades for example add more weight and cost, but can rotate slower.
- tytytytytytytyt 9y ago
  It might be a fantastic tradeoff, considering how loud vehicles are anyway, and how much it might improve car traffic and shorten rush hour.
  - thinkloop 9y ago
    True. If it were up to me I'd move all transport under ground. We pay exhorbitantly in quality of life having car-centric cities.
762236 9y ago
The propellers create noise due to turbulence

etrautmann 9y ago

Even small drones are awful from 100’ away. Scaling that up will certainly be loud enough to be a problem in most urban areas

dspillett 9y ago
While this will be significantly louder than a drone it will also be much lower pitch so might be less irritating to the human ear. Less like a mosquito on steroids! Still far worse than silence of course but perhaps not much worse than road traffic noise unless you are directly under a common flight path?

njarboe 9y ago

I might be more sensitive to noise than most, but I've been in urban parks where I'm enjoying my time, relaxing, and a single small drone flies far (100ft) overhead. Its unnatural buzzing sound is quite annoying. Glider only action I would guess would be fine, but you have to get to altitude first to glide. And then altitude control near landing will have to be powered. I would love to see it in action and get to fly around myself. Fun times. But imagine a million of these in the air at the same time like you would have over LA or the Bay Area.

bdamm 9y ago
Cheap drones are much louder than they have to be. Larger & slower blades make less noise. A full-size electric airplane can be quite quiet.
matte_black 9y ago
DJI made some advancements on their latest Mavic Pro which is 60% quieter and a much more pleasing pitch. You certainly would not hear it at 100 ft unless you were looking for it. The technology for quiet drones exist (blade design) it’s just that companies don’t give a fuck. Maybe with regulation...
- reacweb 9y ago
  Yes, I am very surprised that a simple blade replacement can have such an impact on noise. The difference is so big, I can not understand why noisy blades are still sold. This kind of improvement should have occur since many years.
  - Retric 9y ago
    It's an efficiency trade-off. Larger blades for example add more weight and cost, but can rotate slower.
tytytytytytytyt 9y ago
It might be a fantastic tradeoff, considering how loud vehicles are anyway, and how much it might improve car traffic and shorten rush hour.
- thinkloop 9y ago
  True. If it were up to me I'd move all transport under ground. We pay exhorbitantly in quality of life having car-centric cities.

762236 9y ago

The propellers create noise due to turbulence