4 ms·

Startup aims to make piloting a jetpack as easy as flying a drone

16 points by samizdis 5y ago

nynx 5y ago
> Surrendering so much control to a computer might give some pause for thought Not sure why this would be — a computer is going to be much better at controlling it than a human.
- NikolaeVarius 5y ago
  A computer that flies a human into a wall at max speed is a PR nightmare
  - itake 5y ago
    airplanes and rockets run on computers. I can't imagine a human trying to drive a Falcon Heavy haha
    - NikolaeVarius 5y ago
      Only after a century of blood lessons
      - itake 5y ago
        You think human pilots won't have blood lessons (or maybe just less?)?
        smegcicle 5y ago
        a human flinging himself into a wall would surely be less of a PR nightmare than a computer bug killing someone who had been assured that the device was safe. "this is much safer than if i didn't have robot assistance" is similarly poor consolation when the machine is misbehaving
- outside1234 5y ago
  Not sure we have proved that yet given the autonomous driving shit show.
  - jeffreyrogers 5y ago
    That's more about perception than control. There are lots of things computers can control better than humans.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
deepsun 5y ago
Wait, cannot they make piloting Cessna 152s as easy as flying a drone? Sounds like a good first milestone before up-scaling it to jet engines.
- okwubodu 5y ago
  I have a feeling they just want to make cool jetpacks. Honestly I can't blame them.
  - jkestner 5y ago
    It's an MVP. Eventually they'll work their way to inventing the airplane.
- ceejayoz 5y ago
  Yes, they can. It'll cost more than the C152 is worth, but Garmin has a "press button to land plane" emergency feature recently approved by the FAA. It'll even announce itself to the relevant air traffic control frequencies. https://arstechnica.com/cars/2019/11/this-system-from-garmin-can-land-a-private-plane-when-your-pilot-cant/ https://arstechnica.com/cars/2019/11/this-system-from-garmin... > Simultaneously, Autoland analyzes terrain, weather, and nearby airports to determine the optimal airport for landing given the specific aircraft's available fuel and performance characteristics, winds, runway length, and a host of other factors. As the airplane descends, Autoland controls speed, altitude and flight path and manages throttles, flaps, cabin pressurization, and more. > Air traffic controllers are informed of the system's landing destination choice and clear traffic as they would with a human-flown emergency. On final approach, Autoland lowers the gear, flares the airplane, and brings it to a stop with automatic braking. Audible instructions for exiting the airplane then play. The real-life demo is pretty impressive: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-ruFmgTpqA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-ruFmgTpqA
  - consumer451 5y ago
    Maybe even cooler, in the sense of being interesting, is a European startup which is in the process of getting the first neural net certified by the FAA. https://daedalean.ai/ https://daedalean.ai/
1024core 5y ago
How long does that jetpack fly? I had read somewhere that those engines use up 1 gallon per minute of flying. That seems like a lot. Imagine having to fuel up after every 5 minutes of flying.
- cyberlurker 5y ago
  Just go really far in under 5 minutes
  - 1024core 5y ago
    What about coming back? :-D
nashashmi 5y ago
Reminds me of the nuisance at San Francisco airport. Where a guy with a jet pack caused f16s to dispatch. They never caught him. Had they, I don't think their first question would be why are you driving a jet pack. But rather how does it work for so long.
- nradov 5y ago
  You're probably referring to a series of incidents at LAX, not SFO. I don't think they ever determined if it was a person in a jetpack or an unmanned drone built to resemble same. https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/41742/jetpack-man-spotted-yet-again-by-pilots-on-approach-to-los-angeles-international-airport https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/41742/jetpack-man-spot...
- trutannus 5y ago
  How on earth do you escape in a jetpack. You own a jetpack. First, I'm sure the list of jetpack owners is very short, and second, it's not exactly a subtle object to own. Assuming the person has burred it in their garage since...
jkestner 5y ago
We were promised jetpacks and instead we got a military-industrial complex funded by the promise of jetpacks. Can't wait til these trickle down to police departments.
madengr 5y ago
Won’t one of these engines cut you in half if it fails?
nradov 5y ago
Improving flight control automation is useful, and relatively straightforward. The hard part is emergency procedures. If an engine fails then should the system attempt to compensate with the other engines, or trigger the ballistic recovery parachute? Does the optimal response change if you're at 50ft altitude instead of 500ft? The general problem with relying on automation is that software developers can't necessarily anticipate and code for every possible failure mode. Whereas an experienced human pilot at least has a chance to invent new solutions in real time based on knowledge of first principles. For a prime example look at how Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger intentionally disregarded parts of the official checklist during the US Airways Flight 1549 emergency because he recognized that the procedure hadn't been written with their situation in mind.
- beambot 5y ago
  It's important to keep in mind the average (or median) case rather than outliers. I.e. how frequently would an automated system outperform a human during an emergency. Presumably the checklists were created for a good reason. Had Sully's outcome been different, there would've been a lot of hemming & hawing about not following procedure.
  - withinboredom 5y ago
    This is pretty much impossible to measure. If we could predict every failure mode imaginable, then I think it might be possible if you could predict humans. However, humans are not predictable and you can’t predict every failure or combination of failures. In other news, I’m looking forward to Uber Eats saying “Jesus is on a jetpack” instead of his usual bicycle.
    - beambot 5y ago
      > The good news is that general aviation flying is getting safer. Accidents through 2018 are essentially flat over the preceding four years: about 1200 accidents per year and 200 fatal accidents per year. https://landing.redbirdflight.com/posts/ga-safety-trends-what-should-we-worry-about https://landing.redbirdflight.com/posts/ga-safety-trends-wha...
microtherion 5y ago
Considering that I've occasionally found other people's drones in my garden, I'd rather hope I won't find their jetpack-equipped bodies in the future.
rich_sasha 5y ago
I’m waiting for this to be available in a broom form factor so we can finally play Quidditch.

16 points by samizdis 5y ago

nynx 5y ago

> Surrendering so much control to a computer might give some pause for thought Not sure why this would be — a computer is going to be much better at controlling it than a human.

NikolaeVarius 5y ago
A computer that flies a human into a wall at max speed is a PR nightmare
- itake 5y ago
  airplanes and rockets run on computers. I can't imagine a human trying to drive a Falcon Heavy haha
  - NikolaeVarius 5y ago
    Only after a century of blood lessons
    - itake 5y ago
      You think human pilots won't have blood lessons (or maybe just less?)?
      - smegcicle 5y ago
        a human flinging himself into a wall would surely be less of a PR nightmare than a computer bug killing someone who had been assured that the device was safe. "this is much safer than if i didn't have robot assistance" is similarly poor consolation when the machine is misbehaving
outside1234 5y ago
Not sure we have proved that yet given the autonomous driving shit show.
- jeffreyrogers 5y ago
  That's more about perception than control. There are lots of things computers can control better than humans.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

deepsun 5y ago

Wait, cannot they make piloting Cessna 152s as easy as flying a drone? Sounds like a good first milestone before up-scaling it to jet engines.

okwubodu 5y ago
I have a feeling they just want to make cool jetpacks. Honestly I can't blame them.
- jkestner 5y ago
  It's an MVP. Eventually they'll work their way to inventing the airplane.
ceejayoz 5y ago
Yes, they can. It'll cost more than the C152 is worth, but Garmin has a "press button to land plane" emergency feature recently approved by the FAA. It'll even announce itself to the relevant air traffic control frequencies. https://arstechnica.com/cars/2019/11/this-system-from-garmin-can-land-a-private-plane-when-your-pilot-cant/ https://arstechnica.com/cars/2019/11/this-system-from-garmin... > Simultaneously, Autoland analyzes terrain, weather, and nearby airports to determine the optimal airport for landing given the specific aircraft's available fuel and performance characteristics, winds, runway length, and a host of other factors. As the airplane descends, Autoland controls speed, altitude and flight path and manages throttles, flaps, cabin pressurization, and more. > Air traffic controllers are informed of the system's landing destination choice and clear traffic as they would with a human-flown emergency. On final approach, Autoland lowers the gear, flares the airplane, and brings it to a stop with automatic braking. Audible instructions for exiting the airplane then play. The real-life demo is pretty impressive: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-ruFmgTpqA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-ruFmgTpqA
- consumer451 5y ago
  Maybe even cooler, in the sense of being interesting, is a European startup which is in the process of getting the first neural net certified by the FAA. https://daedalean.ai/ https://daedalean.ai/

1024core 5y ago

How long does that jetpack fly? I had read somewhere that those engines use up 1 gallon per minute of flying. That seems like a lot. Imagine having to fuel up after every 5 minutes of flying.

cyberlurker 5y ago
Just go really far in under 5 minutes
- 1024core 5y ago
  What about coming back? :-D

nashashmi 5y ago

Reminds me of the nuisance at San Francisco airport. Where a guy with a jet pack caused f16s to dispatch. They never caught him. Had they, I don't think their first question would be why are you driving a jet pack. But rather how does it work for so long.

nradov 5y ago
You're probably referring to a series of incidents at LAX, not SFO. I don't think they ever determined if it was a person in a jetpack or an unmanned drone built to resemble same. https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/41742/jetpack-man-spotted-yet-again-by-pilots-on-approach-to-los-angeles-international-airport https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/41742/jetpack-man-spot...
trutannus 5y ago
How on earth do you escape in a jetpack. You own a jetpack. First, I'm sure the list of jetpack owners is very short, and second, it's not exactly a subtle object to own. Assuming the person has burred it in their garage since...

jkestner 5y ago

We were promised jetpacks and instead we got a military-industrial complex funded by the promise of jetpacks. Can't wait til these trickle down to police departments.

madengr 5y ago

Won’t one of these engines cut you in half if it fails?

nradov 5y ago

Improving flight control automation is useful, and relatively straightforward. The hard part is emergency procedures. If an engine fails then should the system attempt to compensate with the other engines, or trigger the ballistic recovery parachute? Does the optimal response change if you're at 50ft altitude instead of 500ft? The general problem with relying on automation is that software developers can't necessarily anticipate and code for every possible failure mode. Whereas an experienced human pilot at least has a chance to invent new solutions in real time based on knowledge of first principles. For a prime example look at how Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger intentionally disregarded parts of the official checklist during the US Airways Flight 1549 emergency because he recognized that the procedure hadn't been written with their situation in mind.

beambot 5y ago
It's important to keep in mind the average (or median) case rather than outliers. I.e. how frequently would an automated system outperform a human during an emergency. Presumably the checklists were created for a good reason. Had Sully's outcome been different, there would've been a lot of hemming & hawing about not following procedure.
- withinboredom 5y ago
  This is pretty much impossible to measure. If we could predict every failure mode imaginable, then I think it might be possible if you could predict humans. However, humans are not predictable and you can’t predict every failure or combination of failures. In other news, I’m looking forward to Uber Eats saying “Jesus is on a jetpack” instead of his usual bicycle.
  - beambot 5y ago
    > The good news is that general aviation flying is getting safer. Accidents through 2018 are essentially flat over the preceding four years: about 1200 accidents per year and 200 fatal accidents per year. https://landing.redbirdflight.com/posts/ga-safety-trends-what-should-we-worry-about https://landing.redbirdflight.com/posts/ga-safety-trends-wha...

microtherion 5y ago

Considering that I've occasionally found other people's drones in my garden, I'd rather hope I won't find their jetpack-equipped bodies in the future.

rich_sasha 5y ago

I’m waiting for this to be available in a broom form factor so we can finally play Quidditch.