8 ms·
Wow. I spent most of my undergrad extracurricular effort working on my university's HPH team. Incredibly difficult challenges in aerodynamics and structures. Th
by starpilot 14y ago
Wow. I spent most of my undergrad extracurricular effort working on my university's HPH team. Incredibly difficult challenges in aerodynamics and structures. The goal is to go for a whole minute and reach 3 m altitude. In the few decades the prize has been offered, the record has been seconds and centimeters high.
- option_greek 14y agoI can understand the altitude limitation but whats limiting hover time.. losing balance ?
- carlhu 14y agoInsufficient sustainable power output.
- archangel_one 14y agoPresumably the pilot must be pedalling pretty hard to get this thing in the air, so they're not going to be able to keep that up forever.
- smackfu 14y agoIt may help to see a video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q70tM5sDQhc http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q70tM5sDQhc They are right on the edge of flight/no flight. The driver is pedalling flat out and it's not flying. Then it hovers for a few seconds, then it goes back to on the ground.
- Unoeufisenough 14y agoIs storing energy against the rules? for example pedaling for an hour or two to store up say mechanical energy in a flywheel, spring tension, hydraulic pressure or other means then just put the rotors in gear to lift off?
- heretohelp 14y agoI have to assume so. Leverage is presumably allowable though. Once you're in the business of storing mechanical energy, you haven't solved the problem of sustained human-powered flight and you're really just a technology epoch away from using a motor and a capacitor.