3 ms·

I’m guessing that these aren’t yet more energy efficient than a quadcopter drone?

by jimmcslim 4y ago

worldsayshi 4y ago
Is there reason to believe they ever will be?
- krisoft 4y ago
  Yes. Birds themselves are super efficient. If you ever see a red kite staying stationary in a breeze by only wiggling some feathers here and now you can see that for yourself. You can also look at the distance flown by certain bird species. The current recorded longest continous bird flight is that of a bar-tailed godwit which has flown from Alaska to Tasmania. It was flying for 11 days nonstop, a journey of 8,425 miles (13,560 km).[1] These birds weigh approximatelly 290g. Quadrocopters in the same weight range fly for half an hour to maybe an hour? And the godwit fits into this weight budget the energy storage, propulsion, navigation, landing gear, and facilities to reproduce, and facilities to extract energy from stuff found in nature. If any roboticist could mimic this flying feat with any flying machine in the same weight category they would be pretty pleased with themselves. In short, there is plenty of reason to suspect it is possible to make more energy efficient flying machines than what we have currently. 1: https://earthsky.org/earth/longest-nonstop-bird-flight-world-record-bar-tailed-godwit-2022/ https://earthsky.org/earth/longest-nonstop-bird-flight-world...
  - worldsayshi 4y ago
    Interesting! > In short, there is plenty of reason to suspect it is possible to make more energy efficient flying machines than what we have currently. I have no doubt about that. Although I wonder what birds would look like if evolution had figured out ball bearings and rotational motors.
    - imtringued 4y ago
      It would have figured out that they are quite heavy.
      - worldsayshi 4y ago
        By necessity?
  - leobg 4y ago
    Let’s not forget how it all started: “Birdflight As The Basis Of Aviation” (Lilienthal, 1889).
alexvoda 4y ago
There are plenty of flying objects more energy efficient than quadcopters. Quadcopters are actually very inefficient. They brute force flying using thrust and with enough thrust anything will fly. The big advantage they have is maneuverability and mechanical simplicity. Quadcopters can move in any direction and can hover in place. Quadcopters do not need control surfaces or variable pitch props. All they need is 4 motors with 4 basic props and everything is done electronically in software.

I’m guessing that these aren’t yet more energy efficient than a quadcopter drone?

worldsayshi 4y ago

Is there reason to believe they ever will be?

krisoft 4y ago
Yes. Birds themselves are super efficient. If you ever see a red kite staying stationary in a breeze by only wiggling some feathers here and now you can see that for yourself. You can also look at the distance flown by certain bird species. The current recorded longest continous bird flight is that of a bar-tailed godwit which has flown from Alaska to Tasmania. It was flying for 11 days nonstop, a journey of 8,425 miles (13,560 km).[1] These birds weigh approximatelly 290g. Quadrocopters in the same weight range fly for half an hour to maybe an hour? And the godwit fits into this weight budget the energy storage, propulsion, navigation, landing gear, and facilities to reproduce, and facilities to extract energy from stuff found in nature. If any roboticist could mimic this flying feat with any flying machine in the same weight category they would be pretty pleased with themselves. In short, there is plenty of reason to suspect it is possible to make more energy efficient flying machines than what we have currently. 1: https://earthsky.org/earth/longest-nonstop-bird-flight-world-record-bar-tailed-godwit-2022/ https://earthsky.org/earth/longest-nonstop-bird-flight-world...
- worldsayshi 4y ago
  Interesting! > In short, there is plenty of reason to suspect it is possible to make more energy efficient flying machines than what we have currently. I have no doubt about that. Although I wonder what birds would look like if evolution had figured out ball bearings and rotational motors.
  - imtringued 4y ago
    It would have figured out that they are quite heavy.
    - worldsayshi 4y ago
      By necessity?
- leobg 4y ago
  Let’s not forget how it all started: “Birdflight As The Basis Of Aviation” (Lilienthal, 1889).

alexvoda 4y ago

There are plenty of flying objects more energy efficient than quadcopters. Quadcopters are actually very inefficient. They brute force flying using thrust and with enough thrust anything will fly. The big advantage they have is maneuverability and mechanical simplicity. Quadcopters can move in any direction and can hover in place. Quadcopters do not need control surfaces or variable pitch props. All they need is 4 motors with 4 basic props and everything is done electronically in software.