4 ms·

It's interesting how simple this looks, off the shelf parts, and 3D printed components. I'm almost surprised this doesn't already exist after looking at it.

by ch4s3 10mo ago

alexpotato 10mo ago
If this what can be done with off the shelf parts and 3D printing, imagine what DARPA and the like have been doing for the past 20 years. Makes the UFO/UAP stories about "it transitioned from the water to the air and back to the water!!" seem way more plausible.
- ch4s3 10mo ago
  > imagine what DARPA and the like have been doing for the past 20 years. People always say this, but anyone I know who's ever worked in one of these companies that contracts for the DoD or DARPA always complains about how behind the market government tech is. Obviously private industry isn't producing competitors to the F35, but for less complicated kit the government doesn't seem to be doing anything super sophisticated. In fact a bunch of people I knew who went to Iraq bought supplemental gear on the private market.
  - engineer_22 10mo ago
    > In fact a bunch of people I knew who went to Iraq bought supplemental gear on the private market. Like, photography gear?
    - ch4s3 10mo ago
      No, like armor and rifle optics.
      - engineer_22 10mo ago
        Oh, the people you're talking about were deployed military personnel?
lm28469 10mo ago
> I'm almost surprised this doesn't already exist after looking at it. What's the use case? We have very good dedicated aerial drones and very good dedicated submarine drones. If something is technically possible but no one makes it usually it means it's not that interesting
- engineer_22 10mo ago
  If your mothership is low-observable/submersible you could park it in a harbor and when time is right unleash a swarm of hybrid aerial underwater drones with mission payload. This design uses 1 swashplate server plus 1 brushless drive motor for each prop for a total of 8 motors. Designs in Ukraine are now using 1 brushless drive motor to synchronously drive all 4 props and 1 swashplate servo each prop, reducing total number of motors to 5, which might be a natural path of optimization for this type of hybrid aerial underwater?
  - echoangle 10mo ago
    Why do the drones need to be able to work underwater? Can’t you just connect some floats to them and launch the drones once they’re at the surface?
    - engineer_22 10mo ago
      The floats would mark the location the mission originated
ge96 10mo ago
I feel like I've seen some of these before without the variable pitch part ex. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlMDabBfJp0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlMDabBfJp0
- efskap 10mo ago
  You can waterproof regular fpv quads with silicone coating on the pcb. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzUy6Wk86-A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzUy6Wk86-A
  - ge96 10mo ago
    Right I remember this spray stuff like rusteoleum or something. I always flinch when I see a motor run underwater ha.

It's interesting how simple this looks, off the shelf parts, and 3D printed components. I'm almost surprised this doesn't already exist after looking at it.

by ch4s3 10mo ago

It's interesting how simple this looks, off the shelf parts, and 3D printed components. I'm almost surprised this doesn't already exist after looking at it.

alexpotato 10mo ago

If this what can be done with off the shelf parts and 3D printing, imagine what DARPA and the like have been doing for the past 20 years. Makes the UFO/UAP stories about "it transitioned from the water to the air and back to the water!!" seem way more plausible.

ch4s3 10mo ago
> imagine what DARPA and the like have been doing for the past 20 years. People always say this, but anyone I know who's ever worked in one of these companies that contracts for the DoD or DARPA always complains about how behind the market government tech is. Obviously private industry isn't producing competitors to the F35, but for less complicated kit the government doesn't seem to be doing anything super sophisticated. In fact a bunch of people I knew who went to Iraq bought supplemental gear on the private market.
- engineer_22 10mo ago
  > In fact a bunch of people I knew who went to Iraq bought supplemental gear on the private market. Like, photography gear?
  - ch4s3 10mo ago
    No, like armor and rifle optics.
    - engineer_22 10mo ago
      Oh, the people you're talking about were deployed military personnel?

lm28469 10mo ago

> I'm almost surprised this doesn't already exist after looking at it. What's the use case? We have very good dedicated aerial drones and very good dedicated submarine drones. If something is technically possible but no one makes it usually it means it's not that interesting

engineer_22 10mo ago
If your mothership is low-observable/submersible you could park it in a harbor and when time is right unleash a swarm of hybrid aerial underwater drones with mission payload. This design uses 1 swashplate server plus 1 brushless drive motor for each prop for a total of 8 motors. Designs in Ukraine are now using 1 brushless drive motor to synchronously drive all 4 props and 1 swashplate servo each prop, reducing total number of motors to 5, which might be a natural path of optimization for this type of hybrid aerial underwater?
- echoangle 10mo ago
  Why do the drones need to be able to work underwater? Can’t you just connect some floats to them and launch the drones once they’re at the surface?
  - engineer_22 10mo ago
    The floats would mark the location the mission originated

ge96 10mo ago

I feel like I've seen some of these before without the variable pitch part ex. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlMDabBfJp0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlMDabBfJp0

efskap 10mo ago
You can waterproof regular fpv quads with silicone coating on the pcb. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzUy6Wk86-A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzUy6Wk86-A
- ge96 10mo ago
  Right I remember this spray stuff like rusteoleum or something. I always flinch when I see a motor run underwater ha.