4 ms·

No prototypes?

RegW 3y ago
Yes, I thought I must be missing something. Seems like a great idea, but I only see animations and not much to suggest that this isn't just a dream.
CamperBob2 3y ago
I doubt one exists, or will anytime soon. People have literally been trying to build this sort of thing since the days of Leonardo^WIcarus, but power-to-weight ratio has always gotten in the way. Besides having hollow bones that weigh basically nothing, birds have a combination of fine motor control, proprioception, and power management that we don't even have good models for yet. We'll get there, of course, but not this month. Would love to be proven wrong with an actual video, but there's nothing on the site but rendered animations. If they had something to show, they'd show it.
- thenickdude 3y ago
  Remote-controlled ornithopters are already flying today: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vm-Yq6xiSk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vm-Yq6xiSk The 3D renders don't look much more ambitious than this.
  - CamperBob2 3y ago
    That's pretty cool, but I don't agree that it's in the same league as what's being sold here. They'll need to scale it up 10x and make it soar, glide, and turn, and climb and dive under power, without sounding like a steampunk automaton, and while still looking like an actual bird with articulated wings.
- perilunar 3y ago
  Power-to-weight is only an issue for human-powered ornithopters. Battery or internal combustion powered (and even rubber band powered) ornithopters work fine.
- ricardobeat 3y ago
  A company called Festo has been showing prototypes of biomimetic flying machines for many years now [1]. After a little more digging, they do have videos of prototypes in their 'news' section, it's odd that these are not easily findable via the home page: https://www.silentflyer.tech/testing-its-wings/ https://www.silentflyer.tech/testing-its-wings/ [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUE8o056Cpc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUE8o056Cpc
  - Dunati 3y ago
    Love all the slow motion video, where they done look ridiculously unbirdlike.
  - Log_out_ 3y ago
    Mostly airships?
- imtringued 3y ago
  As others have said. These already exist in various forms. The problem for this company is that they have absolutely nothing. Meanwhile some other company builds these for advertising and hobbyists for fun.
tzm 3y ago
> Flygildi has partnered with Purdue University to test the prototype Silent Flyer and is working closely with a range of other partners to bring even more cutting-edge tech to the UAV, including fellow Icelandic startup Nanom.

No prototypes?

RegW 3y ago

Yes, I thought I must be missing something. Seems like a great idea, but I only see animations and not much to suggest that this isn't just a dream.

CamperBob2 3y ago

I doubt one exists, or will anytime soon. People have literally been trying to build this sort of thing since the days of Leonardo^WIcarus, but power-to-weight ratio has always gotten in the way. Besides having hollow bones that weigh basically nothing, birds have a combination of fine motor control, proprioception, and power management that we don't even have good models for yet. We'll get there, of course, but not this month. Would love to be proven wrong with an actual video, but there's nothing on the site but rendered animations. If they had something to show, they'd show it.

thenickdude 3y ago
Remote-controlled ornithopters are already flying today: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vm-Yq6xiSk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vm-Yq6xiSk The 3D renders don't look much more ambitious than this.
- CamperBob2 3y ago
  That's pretty cool, but I don't agree that it's in the same league as what's being sold here. They'll need to scale it up 10x and make it soar, glide, and turn, and climb and dive under power, without sounding like a steampunk automaton, and while still looking like an actual bird with articulated wings.
perilunar 3y ago
Power-to-weight is only an issue for human-powered ornithopters. Battery or internal combustion powered (and even rubber band powered) ornithopters work fine.
ricardobeat 3y ago
A company called Festo has been showing prototypes of biomimetic flying machines for many years now [1]. After a little more digging, they do have videos of prototypes in their 'news' section, it's odd that these are not easily findable via the home page: https://www.silentflyer.tech/testing-its-wings/ https://www.silentflyer.tech/testing-its-wings/ [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUE8o056Cpc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUE8o056Cpc
- Dunati 3y ago
  Love all the slow motion video, where they done look ridiculously unbirdlike.
- Log_out_ 3y ago
  Mostly airships?
imtringued 3y ago
As others have said. These already exist in various forms. The problem for this company is that they have absolutely nothing. Meanwhile some other company builds these for advertising and hobbyists for fun.

tzm 3y ago

> Flygildi has partnered with Purdue University to test the prototype Silent Flyer and is working closely with a range of other partners to bring even more cutting-edge tech to the UAV, including fellow Icelandic startup Nanom.