4 ms·

Israel's Butterfly UAVs

46 points by nyellin 14y ago

kiba 14y ago
Use the butterflies to identify privacy-invading butterflies.
- spudlyo 14y ago
  ... and then destroy them with robotic spur-winged plovers.
drpancake 14y ago
Imagine gaming the stock market with one of these. Just fly it into your nearest Fortune 500 boardroom.
hnhg 14y ago
Would the technology demonstrated to target and destroy mosquitoes with lasers be useful in some application against these?
ph0rque 14y ago
Just make the wings of semi-transparent solar cells (http://www.theverge.com/2012/4/19/2958923/flexible-transparent-solar-panel-heliatek http://www.theverge.com/2012/4/19/2958923/flexible-transpare...) and you've made it immortal (at least during the day).
- ars 14y ago
  You wouldn't be able to collect enough energy, solar energy is very diffuse, and those wings are tiny.
  - zdw 14y ago
    Maybe not for continual use, but if you had it land and charge then launch again, you'd greatly increase the deployment time, range, and utility of such a device. Put a microphone or timed camera on it, and it would be pretty slick.
nivertech 14y ago
1. Re: airports and train stations - its much easier and more productive to hijack security cameras. 2. Re: forests and jungle - much better results can be achieved by implanting cameras and control chips into real birds.
milkshakes 14y ago
Just in case anyone is wondering what the USAF is dreaming up for drones over the next 50 years: http://www.uadrones.net/military/research/acrobat/090724.pdf http://www.uadrones.net/military/research/acrobat/090724.pdf
ynniv 14y ago
Harvard recently developed an improved manufacturing technique for similar robots based on self-deforming materials and origami construction techniques: [ http://www.seas.harvard.edu/news-events/press-releases/pop-up-flying-robots http://www.seas.harvard.edu/news-events/press-releases/pop-u... ]
FrankBooth 14y ago
Nobody ever suspects the butterfly.
sigil 14y ago
The latest New Yorker also has an interesting article on drones: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2012/05/14/120514fa_fact_paumgarten http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2012/05/14/120514fa_fact_...
Someone 14y ago
20 grams? http://www.delfly.nl/?site=DIII&menu=&lang=en http://www.delfly.nl/?site=DIII&menu=&lang=en is almost an order of magnitude lighter.
- hartror 14y ago
  I am sure that weight/size isn't the only parameter they're optimizing around. Likely battery life/flight range is the other primary parameter and optical & audio quality and transmission range secondary priorities they would be considering.
gnu8 14y ago
It would be best if israel didn't have these.
- Zhenya 14y ago
  Tell us why.
JabavuAdams 14y ago
The time-lines seem unrealistic. While the mechanical design seems impressive, what about imaging, computing, and comms? I.e. it's one thing to make a mini UAV flight demonstrator, but quite another to put a payload on it and have it transmit data over a usable range, for a useful length of time.
- bigiain 14y ago
  You might be surprised to see what hobbyist-grade gear is capable of today. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zogJ-hIM-90 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zogJ-hIM-90 and some discussion of it: http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1650766 http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1650766 That's only a few hundred bucks worth of off-the-shelf equipment (and a fair few tens or hundreds of hours worth of acquiring the skills needed to make it all work together)
  - JabavuAdams 14y ago
    The original article is about a UAV that masses 20 g, whereas the links you mention have video from a Funjet, which is has a mass of 550g, according to this: http://www.barnardmicrosystems.com/L4E_arctic.htm#x3 http://www.barnardmicrosystems.com/L4E_arctic.htm#x3 So, that's 27x the mass -- a completely different problem in terms of engineering.
- nl 14y ago
  Depending on your situation, a a usable range, for a useful length of time might mean "around that corner 1 meter away, for 10 seconds" (As anyone who has played a first peson shooter will tell you).
ChuckMcM 14y ago
Clearly the reporter has dialed up their glasses to 100% rose tint :-) There are power, material, and optical problems that have 10 year lifetimes between this vision and reality.

46 points by nyellin 14y ago

kiba 14y ago

Use the butterflies to identify privacy-invading butterflies.

spudlyo 14y ago
... and then destroy them with robotic spur-winged plovers.

drpancake 14y ago

Imagine gaming the stock market with one of these. Just fly it into your nearest Fortune 500 boardroom.

hnhg 14y ago

Would the technology demonstrated to target and destroy mosquitoes with lasers be useful in some application against these?

ph0rque 14y ago

Just make the wings of semi-transparent solar cells (http://www.theverge.com/2012/4/19/2958923/flexible-transparent-solar-panel-heliatek http://www.theverge.com/2012/4/19/2958923/flexible-transpare...) and you've made it immortal (at least during the day).

ars 14y ago
You wouldn't be able to collect enough energy, solar energy is very diffuse, and those wings are tiny.
- zdw 14y ago
  Maybe not for continual use, but if you had it land and charge then launch again, you'd greatly increase the deployment time, range, and utility of such a device. Put a microphone or timed camera on it, and it would be pretty slick.

nivertech 14y ago

1. Re: airports and train stations - its much easier and more productive to hijack security cameras. 2. Re: forests and jungle - much better results can be achieved by implanting cameras and control chips into real birds.

milkshakes 14y ago

Just in case anyone is wondering what the USAF is dreaming up for drones over the next 50 years: http://www.uadrones.net/military/research/acrobat/090724.pdf http://www.uadrones.net/military/research/acrobat/090724.pdf

ynniv 14y ago

Harvard recently developed an improved manufacturing technique for similar robots based on self-deforming materials and origami construction techniques: [ http://www.seas.harvard.edu/news-events/press-releases/pop-up-flying-robots http://www.seas.harvard.edu/news-events/press-releases/pop-u... ]

FrankBooth 14y ago

Nobody ever suspects the butterfly.

sigil 14y ago

The latest New Yorker also has an interesting article on drones: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2012/05/14/120514fa_fact_paumgarten http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2012/05/14/120514fa_fact_...

Someone 14y ago

20 grams? http://www.delfly.nl/?site=DIII&menu=&lang=en http://www.delfly.nl/?site=DIII&menu=&lang=en is almost an order of magnitude lighter.

hartror 14y ago
I am sure that weight/size isn't the only parameter they're optimizing around. Likely battery life/flight range is the other primary parameter and optical & audio quality and transmission range secondary priorities they would be considering.

gnu8 14y ago

It would be best if israel didn't have these.

Zhenya 14y ago
Tell us why.

JabavuAdams 14y ago

The time-lines seem unrealistic. While the mechanical design seems impressive, what about imaging, computing, and comms? I.e. it's one thing to make a mini UAV flight demonstrator, but quite another to put a payload on it and have it transmit data over a usable range, for a useful length of time.

bigiain 14y ago
You might be surprised to see what hobbyist-grade gear is capable of today. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zogJ-hIM-90 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zogJ-hIM-90 and some discussion of it: http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1650766 http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1650766 That's only a few hundred bucks worth of off-the-shelf equipment (and a fair few tens or hundreds of hours worth of acquiring the skills needed to make it all work together)
- JabavuAdams 14y ago
  The original article is about a UAV that masses 20 g, whereas the links you mention have video from a Funjet, which is has a mass of 550g, according to this: http://www.barnardmicrosystems.com/L4E_arctic.htm#x3 http://www.barnardmicrosystems.com/L4E_arctic.htm#x3 So, that's 27x the mass -- a completely different problem in terms of engineering.
nl 14y ago
Depending on your situation, a a usable range, for a useful length of time might mean "around that corner 1 meter away, for 10 seconds" (As anyone who has played a first peson shooter will tell you).

ChuckMcM 14y ago

Clearly the reporter has dialed up their glasses to 100% rose tint :-) There are power, material, and optical problems that have 10 year lifetimes between this vision and reality.