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Ask HN: Computer aided RC combat airplanes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Vh_R1NlmX0 is from 2011 SWARM and shows RC aircraft or combat wings trying to hit each other in the air. Scoring a hit is pretty rare. I'd like to enable pilots to score more hits with the help of computers, computer aided targeting to be specific, an event for which they'd use airwolf theme music instead of offspring. What low cost sensor(s) would you use for detecting planes going 40-80 mph?

nabla9 13y ago
First thing that comes to mind is cheap optical sensors. I think you can even use small laser/ir led and detect the reflected light because distances are so short. If you want to detect direction with single sensor, you might want to use optical modulator (rotating reticle) just like many IR guided missiles do. Maybe the reticle could even be tiny rotating rotor powered by the air. Tactics should be same as real missiles have. Approach others from below if possible so that signals from ground can't mess the signal. Calibrate against sky before flight. You should also make sure that the plane does not chase sun or moon.
- 0xdeadbeefbabe 13y ago
  Thanks for your response. So, you could use a small IR LED in outdoors in daylight to find objects less than X yards away. I wonder how to calculate X. I suppose you'd need 3 light sensors to determine direction. I wonder how far apart they need to be. The rotating reticle sounds interesting. Wouldn't that prevent false positives from the sun?
  - nabla9 13y ago
    You should use optical filters if possible to filter unwanted wavelengths and receiver should have relatively narrow field of view. The main goal would be to detect difference from the background. Rotating reticle would be really good idea if you can make it work mechanically. You would need only one light sensor to detect direction if you use reticle. See: http://wiki.scramble.nl/index.php/Sidewinder_article#Reticle http://wiki.scramble.nl/index.php/Sidewinder_article#Reticle Simple C type reticle would be enough to separate target from the background and find out the direction of the target.

nabla9 13y ago

First thing that comes to mind is cheap optical sensors. I think you can even use small laser/ir led and detect the reflected light because distances are so short. If you want to detect direction with single sensor, you might want to use optical modulator (rotating reticle) just like many IR guided missiles do. Maybe the reticle could even be tiny rotating rotor powered by the air. Tactics should be same as real missiles have. Approach others from below if possible so that signals from ground can't mess the signal. Calibrate against sky before flight. You should also make sure that the plane does not chase sun or moon.

0xdeadbeefbabe 13y ago
Thanks for your response. So, you could use a small IR LED in outdoors in daylight to find objects less than X yards away. I wonder how to calculate X. I suppose you'd need 3 light sensors to determine direction. I wonder how far apart they need to be. The rotating reticle sounds interesting. Wouldn't that prevent false positives from the sun?
- nabla9 13y ago
  You should use optical filters if possible to filter unwanted wavelengths and receiver should have relatively narrow field of view. The main goal would be to detect difference from the background. Rotating reticle would be really good idea if you can make it work mechanically. You would need only one light sensor to detect direction if you use reticle. See: http://wiki.scramble.nl/index.php/Sidewinder_article#Reticle http://wiki.scramble.nl/index.php/Sidewinder_article#Reticle Simple C type reticle would be enough to separate target from the background and find out the direction of the target.