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Saw John demo one of these a couple weeks ago at my FIRST Robotics club. Cool product, but man, I wish the battery lasted longer than 10 minutes per charge. A

Saw John demo one of these a couple weeks ago at my FIRST Robotics club. Cool product, but man, I wish the battery lasted longer than 10 minutes per charge. Also, it would be amazing if the IR dogfighting system included lasers to paint where the shots were landing, so you could visually adjust your aim. Gonna have to sign up for a sponsorship.

quinndupont 14y ago
All small rotocopters only get about 10 minutes per charge. My cheap and tiny Ladybird gets about 8 mins. They charge quickly though.
- R_Edward 14y ago
  I was thinking removable battery so you could have a couple spares and keep flying while another is charging, but now I'm thinking you might actually want that downtime while the fixed battery recharges, so the motors can cool down a bit.
  - mhb 14y ago
    And to replace the broken pieces.
dchuk 14y ago
isn't 10 minutes pretty standard for electric RC copters/planes? I don't think there's a battery that can last longer than that without being insanely expensive.
- Someone 14y ago
  I think weight is more the driving factor than cost.
  - starpilot 14y ago
    Yeah, this is the issue with electric aircraft. Fossil fuels are still much more energy dense than batteries (40 MJ/kg vs 2 MJ/kg [1]), plus burning fuel provides a nice weight reduction which increases range [2]. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_density#Common_energy_densities http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_density#Common_energy_de... [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Range_(aircraft) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Range_(aircraft)
    - gojomo 14y ago
      Are tiny combustion engines practical for RC aircraft?
      - wmf 14y ago
        Not indoors, but most RC planes are using engines (or were 15 years ago when I stopped paying attention).
        bigiain 14y ago
        If you're curious, it'll be enlightening to pay some attention to modern RC aircraft. Lipo batteries and inexpensive brushless motor controllers have changed the hobby dramatically since the '90s. Fuel powered RC aircraft are definitely no longer the majority.
      - pyre 14y ago
        Back in the 70's the CIA commissioned a watchmaker to build a hummingbird or dragonfly (forget which) that ran on a tiny two-piston combustion engine. [edit] Source: http://hackaday.com/2011/02/10/the-cias-amazing-bots/ http://hackaday.com/2011/02/10/the-cias-amazing-bots/
      - Scene_Cast2 14y ago
        Yes. Besides piston-based engines, you can even get real turbines, both for jets and helicopters - see JetCat for example.

quinndupont 14y ago

All small rotocopters only get about 10 minutes per charge. My cheap and tiny Ladybird gets about 8 mins. They charge quickly though.

R_Edward 14y ago
I was thinking removable battery so you could have a couple spares and keep flying while another is charging, but now I'm thinking you might actually want that downtime while the fixed battery recharges, so the motors can cool down a bit.
- mhb 14y ago
  And to replace the broken pieces.

dchuk 14y ago

isn't 10 minutes pretty standard for electric RC copters/planes? I don't think there's a battery that can last longer than that without being insanely expensive.

Someone 14y ago
I think weight is more the driving factor than cost.
- starpilot 14y ago
  Yeah, this is the issue with electric aircraft. Fossil fuels are still much more energy dense than batteries (40 MJ/kg vs 2 MJ/kg [1]), plus burning fuel provides a nice weight reduction which increases range [2]. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_density#Common_energy_densities http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_density#Common_energy_de... [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Range_(aircraft) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Range_(aircraft)
  - gojomo 14y ago
    Are tiny combustion engines practical for RC aircraft?
    - wmf 14y ago
      Not indoors, but most RC planes are using engines (or were 15 years ago when I stopped paying attention).
      - bigiain 14y ago
        If you're curious, it'll be enlightening to pay some attention to modern RC aircraft. Lipo batteries and inexpensive brushless motor controllers have changed the hobby dramatically since the '90s. Fuel powered RC aircraft are definitely no longer the majority.
    - pyre 14y ago
      Back in the 70's the CIA commissioned a watchmaker to build a hummingbird or dragonfly (forget which) that ran on a tiny two-piston combustion engine. [edit] Source: http://hackaday.com/2011/02/10/the-cias-amazing-bots/ http://hackaday.com/2011/02/10/the-cias-amazing-bots/
    - Scene_Cast2 14y ago
      Yes. Besides piston-based engines, you can even get real turbines, both for jets and helicopters - see JetCat for example.