4 ms·

Never underestimate the bandwidth of several autonomous drones loaded up with ultra-light USB drives :) Now all we need is a more advanced drone which can gene

by camtarn 15y ago

Never underestimate the bandwidth of several autonomous drones loaded up with ultra-light USB drives :) Now all we need is a more advanced drone which can generate or pirate its own power. I love the idea of these homing in on power lines, clamping on, and sipping juice like some sort of mischievous electrovorous jellyfish - I'm assuming this isn't practical since AC clamps are metal and rather heavy, and I don't know how much current you can actually get out of them (they're usually just used for measuring current) but it's a cute image :)

stcredzero 15y ago
There's already work that's been done to supply quadcopters with power over monofilament line to enable instant comm towers. Just have these tethered in random locations, then enable them to "bugout" in the event of a search warrant.
angersock 15y ago
You know, I think you're on to something. I think the frequency for overhead power lines is basically just 50 or 60 Hz, depending on region. You could probably setup a lightweight tuned secondary coil on the robot, and then use some clever rectifier/zener tricks to get a reliable trickle charge out of it. Hm. EDIT: BAHAHAHA THIS IS TOTALLY POSSIBLE (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rogowski_coil http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rogowski_coil)! WE CAN HAVE DRONES LIVING OFF THE GRID! FUCK DA POLICE! :D :D
- camtarn 15y ago
  Oh man, those Rogowski coils are cool :) I've only ever seen the type used on AC clamp meters, which are ferrite-cored and thus heavy.
  - angersock 15y ago
    Yeah, you apparently don't need to have a ferrous core, and you can hook them over something instead of needing a full circle core. So, like, a little arm with a clamp could totally do this. EDIT: Looks like the output is something like an impulse train... would need some kind of passive integrator circuit to make something a power supply could use for charging, I'd bet. Possibly a full-wave rectifier, followed by a passive integrator, followed by your charging circuit?
- electromagnetic 15y ago
  In my region, a fine for "stealing electricity" has a fine starting at like $30,000. This is normally aimed at grow ops, which tap into the service lines before the meter (usually by an interior cut below grade so it goes unnoticed), however when the government is already abusing its power, I don't think it's a wise idea to actually get into a position where you could be facing a massive fine. So I certainly wouldn't suggest going anywhere near power lines. I'd suggest solar-cells. If you get the right efficiency-weight ratio, they might actually add to the flight duration of the craft, and when the battery starts dying simply have the UAV target a south-facing roof and ditch. As the UAV would likely already have motion-sensors, simply program it so that any abnormal shakes in this 'sleep mode' and it takes off so no one goes up on a ladder and tries to grab it. Also using this latter method, they could collect data on how long it takes before they get disturbed to find friendly zones for if they are disturbed in sleep mode.
  - angersock 15y ago
    Considering the outlandish fines being levied for something on the order of ten unlicensed copies of a song, being caught with a drone carrying hundreds or thousands would seem to overshadow electricity stealing fines. I like the solar-cell idea though.
    - electromagnetic 15y ago
      I thought the whole point of the drones wouldn't be to carry pirated data, but simply act as a means of unregulated information communication. It would be too complicated and convoluted to ensure data went where you wanted it if you're only uploading gigs to a certain drone in a swarm. It would also ensure you're traceable for any piracy you do commit (IP #.#.#.# at _____ this location is sending Lada Gaga Album leak to IP #.#.#.# at ____ location). In my mind, the swarm should be using a mesh network. Without ISP's assigning your IP based on ones they own, you can literally join the local network with any random IP address and the mesh net handles getting your data between the drones and to your destination. What's better, is if these drones are connecting to open wifi nodes the mesh net doesn't have to be contiguous. A mesh net can be formed by a few open wifi nodes bridging the gap between major cities.

by camtarn 15y ago

stcredzero 15y ago

There's already work that's been done to supply quadcopters with power over monofilament line to enable instant comm towers. Just have these tethered in random locations, then enable them to "bugout" in the event of a search warrant.

angersock 15y ago

You know, I think you're on to something. I think the frequency for overhead power lines is basically just 50 or 60 Hz, depending on region. You could probably setup a lightweight tuned secondary coil on the robot, and then use some clever rectifier/zener tricks to get a reliable trickle charge out of it. Hm. EDIT: BAHAHAHA THIS IS TOTALLY POSSIBLE (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rogowski_coil http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rogowski_coil)! WE CAN HAVE DRONES LIVING OFF THE GRID! FUCK DA POLICE! :D :D

camtarn 15y ago
Oh man, those Rogowski coils are cool :) I've only ever seen the type used on AC clamp meters, which are ferrite-cored and thus heavy.
- angersock 15y ago
  Yeah, you apparently don't need to have a ferrous core, and you can hook them over something instead of needing a full circle core. So, like, a little arm with a clamp could totally do this. EDIT: Looks like the output is something like an impulse train... would need some kind of passive integrator circuit to make something a power supply could use for charging, I'd bet. Possibly a full-wave rectifier, followed by a passive integrator, followed by your charging circuit?
electromagnetic 15y ago
In my region, a fine for "stealing electricity" has a fine starting at like $30,000. This is normally aimed at grow ops, which tap into the service lines before the meter (usually by an interior cut below grade so it goes unnoticed), however when the government is already abusing its power, I don't think it's a wise idea to actually get into a position where you could be facing a massive fine. So I certainly wouldn't suggest going anywhere near power lines. I'd suggest solar-cells. If you get the right efficiency-weight ratio, they might actually add to the flight duration of the craft, and when the battery starts dying simply have the UAV target a south-facing roof and ditch. As the UAV would likely already have motion-sensors, simply program it so that any abnormal shakes in this 'sleep mode' and it takes off so no one goes up on a ladder and tries to grab it. Also using this latter method, they could collect data on how long it takes before they get disturbed to find friendly zones for if they are disturbed in sleep mode.
- angersock 15y ago
  Considering the outlandish fines being levied for something on the order of ten unlicensed copies of a song, being caught with a drone carrying hundreds or thousands would seem to overshadow electricity stealing fines. I like the solar-cell idea though.
  - electromagnetic 15y ago
    I thought the whole point of the drones wouldn't be to carry pirated data, but simply act as a means of unregulated information communication. It would be too complicated and convoluted to ensure data went where you wanted it if you're only uploading gigs to a certain drone in a swarm. It would also ensure you're traceable for any piracy you do commit (IP #.#.#.# at _____ this location is sending Lada Gaga Album leak to IP #.#.#.# at ____ location). In my mind, the swarm should be using a mesh network. Without ISP's assigning your IP based on ones they own, you can literally join the local network with any random IP address and the mesh net handles getting your data between the drones and to your destination. What's better, is if these drones are connecting to open wifi nodes the mesh net doesn't have to be contiguous. A mesh net can be formed by a few open wifi nodes bridging the gap between major cities.