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You might be able to bring it down with a powerful enough laser, so a cheap weather balloon and a 50w laser plus a raspberry pi with adequate connectivity, fou

You might be able to bring it down with a powerful enough laser, so a cheap weather balloon and a 50w laser plus a raspberry pi with adequate connectivity, four propellers for course correction, and some servos ought to do the trick for under 1000$.

walrus01 4y ago
I am no expert on the upper atmosphere but I think the wind speeds at those altitudes vastly outstrip the ability of anything with batteries and electric motors to adjust its course. The only way to change directions is to rise or fall into a differently moving stream of air current. This is how the Google project loon things were supposed to navigate?
- sudosysgen 4y ago
  Presumably both balloons are affected by the same air currents, right? So as long as you lift it up from the right spot it should be able to get within a few kilometers of the target, no?
  - TheOtherHobbes 4y ago
    Doubtful. It's more like trying to steer a ship. There are currents, but also a lot of noise/turbulence.
    - sudosysgen 4y ago
      That's true, but it only needs to get within a few kilometers.
- Sai_ 4y ago
  Didn’t some guy freefall from something like 100k ft or something to a specific landing zone. Remember seeing a red bull video of the event. How did he manage to avoid high altitude winds blowing him off course? Think the name was Baumgartner or something like it.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
TylerE 4y ago
And you power the laser with…?
- sudosysgen 4y ago
  A battery. A 50Wh battery should only weigh around 100g and would be able to power the laser for a good while.
dylan604 4y ago
your laser doesn't need to do anything to the balloon and can be as weak as a laser pointer. just aim at the cameras and zap the sensors. assuming the ability to aim and hold would be achievable at this level. who cares if it's just floating there if it is blind?
- acdha 4y ago
  “Just aim” seems to be understating the challenge of hitting a tiny target through multiple miles of atmosphere and holding the same position long enough to damage the sensor. The laser alone seems like it would blow that $5k budget by a handy margin — not much economy of scale at that power level.
  - dylan604 4y ago
    i said assuming with caveat of "at this level" edit, however, lasing a camera sensor doesn't need a lot of holding time. so just keep bouncing it around and hopefully, eventually you'll cover enough to render useless.
    - acdha 4y ago
      Remember, I’m not saying it’s impossible - just a lot more expensive. I’m sure the U.S. military budget could include powerful lasers, precision sensors, and the software to keep focused on a small target at a long distance but I’d be surprised if it wasn’t at least two orders of magnitude more expensive.
  - stickfigure 4y ago
    With a portable generator, you can literally spend days aiming at the balloon. Eventually you're going to make contact with the sensors.
    - acdha 4y ago
      Yes, but damage is a function of power and time. If you can’t keep it on that a precise position you need to deliver far more power — there are links here to some research and they tend to be measured in seconds, which is a very aggressive target for something this far away through moving air. https://www.ilda.com/camera-sensor-damage.htm https://www.ilda.com/camera-sensor-damage.htm

walrus01 4y ago

I am no expert on the upper atmosphere but I think the wind speeds at those altitudes vastly outstrip the ability of anything with batteries and electric motors to adjust its course. The only way to change directions is to rise or fall into a differently moving stream of air current. This is how the Google project loon things were supposed to navigate?

sudosysgen 4y ago
Presumably both balloons are affected by the same air currents, right? So as long as you lift it up from the right spot it should be able to get within a few kilometers of the target, no?
- TheOtherHobbes 4y ago
  Doubtful. It's more like trying to steer a ship. There are currents, but also a lot of noise/turbulence.
  - sudosysgen 4y ago
    That's true, but it only needs to get within a few kilometers.
Sai_ 4y ago
Didn’t some guy freefall from something like 100k ft or something to a specific landing zone. Remember seeing a red bull video of the event. How did he manage to avoid high altitude winds blowing him off course? Think the name was Baumgartner or something like it.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]

TylerE 4y ago

And you power the laser with…?

sudosysgen 4y ago
A battery. A 50Wh battery should only weigh around 100g and would be able to power the laser for a good while.

dylan604 4y ago

your laser doesn't need to do anything to the balloon and can be as weak as a laser pointer. just aim at the cameras and zap the sensors. assuming the ability to aim and hold would be achievable at this level. who cares if it's just floating there if it is blind?

acdha 4y ago
“Just aim” seems to be understating the challenge of hitting a tiny target through multiple miles of atmosphere and holding the same position long enough to damage the sensor. The laser alone seems like it would blow that $5k budget by a handy margin — not much economy of scale at that power level.
- dylan604 4y ago
  i said assuming with caveat of "at this level" edit, however, lasing a camera sensor doesn't need a lot of holding time. so just keep bouncing it around and hopefully, eventually you'll cover enough to render useless.
  - acdha 4y ago
    Remember, I’m not saying it’s impossible - just a lot more expensive. I’m sure the U.S. military budget could include powerful lasers, precision sensors, and the software to keep focused on a small target at a long distance but I’d be surprised if it wasn’t at least two orders of magnitude more expensive.
- stickfigure 4y ago
  With a portable generator, you can literally spend days aiming at the balloon. Eventually you're going to make contact with the sensors.
  - acdha 4y ago
    Yes, but damage is a function of power and time. If you can’t keep it on that a precise position you need to deliver far more power — there are links here to some research and they tend to be measured in seconds, which is a very aggressive target for something this far away through moving air. https://www.ilda.com/camera-sensor-damage.htm https://www.ilda.com/camera-sensor-damage.htm