votingprawn

8 ms·

31.
by votingprawn 10y ago
Tabs are a way to reduce the amount of stick force (i.e. force applied by the pilot) required to deflect a control surface in a mechanically linked system. In most modern aircraft hydraulic or electric systems fill the same purpose To give
32.
by votingprawn 10y ago
I built a system a few years ago as part of my undergraduate degree that could localise aircraft using microphone arrays and acoustic beam forming. My primary sources for information were books on SONAR. The system worked in real time but
33.
by votingprawn 10y ago
Some types of SONAR send out sound, other types (e.g. [0]) passively listen for sounds and use beamforming to localise the source of the noise. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Towed_array_sonar
34.
by votingprawn 10y ago
Yes it is. Despite all the other replies asserting SONAR is active, passive SONAR systems are very much a thing. For my undergraduate project years ago I built a microphone array that could be used to locate noisy objects. I demonstrated
35.
by votingprawn 10y ago
Years ago I started coding qbasic with a photocopy of a book given to me by a friend of the family. I progressed from there to medicore competency in PHP, rails, and c++. Then I went to university to study comp Sci...but almost immediately
36.
by votingprawn 10y ago
> In reality, Tesla is doing you a favor by making their body panels so expensive because that means it's easier for your car to get declared a total write off in an accident and you can get a new car I think the chance of getting n
37.
by votingprawn 11y ago
> Does that matter? No, but when someone alludes to something without saying what it is, curiosity is aroused in people.
38.
by votingprawn 11y ago
Oddly enough accelerating like that isn't always "legal". Where I'm from it could be classed as dangerous driving, and I believe in the USA it could fall under "Exhibition of Speed". By and large it is more ef
39.
by votingprawn 11y ago
Do you accelerate at 100% each time though? I dont think I ever floor my car "off the line", I think I only use maximum power to go from 60-80 on the motorway.
40.
by votingprawn 11y ago
The effectiveness of a UV lamp decreases with age, so they can stop being effective long before they actually burn out. There should be a manufacturer rating on the lamp, which will depend on its composition and other things. As an example
41.
by votingprawn 11y ago
Admittedly my last interaction with the NHS was three years ago, but the GP had to go away and research what to do. I have no problem with that, they can't be expected to know everything offhand! The human mind is a complex thing. My o
42.
by votingprawn 11y ago
> Get checked and officially diagnosed. That can be a surprisingly difficult process. For example the NHS isn't entirely sure how to diagnose ADHD in adults. My GP didn't even know it was possible, and had to go and make phone
43.
by votingprawn 11y ago
Are you talking Cloud Cap style turret gimbals? If so I'd be interesting in hearing more, as we're always on the hunt for more payloads for our larger (20kg) fixed wing aircraft.
44.
by votingprawn 11y ago
> or directly contacting the surface with an instrument This is more challenging than you might initially think, as conventional multirotors can't easily generate the forces you need to place a tool/sensor against a vertical st
45.
by votingprawn 11y ago
> At 10000ft, pressure is around 30kpa. Do you mind if I ask where you are getting that pressure value from? The ICAO Standard Atmosphere gives a value of 70kPa for 10,000ft.
46.
by votingprawn 11y ago
One of my colleagues has done some investigations into the effect of density on multirotor performance before. I don't have time to run the model for this specific case, but from a similar case with a lower air density of 0.71kg/m
47.
by votingprawn 11y ago
Well I gave a payload (gopro, 350-400grams with gimbal) and a duration (10 minutes), I'm not sure what else to say! The aircraft was completely controllable with no memorable handling differences apart from a very slightly reduced res
48.
by votingprawn 11y ago
> 10,000 ft has to be above or near the "service ceiling" of what a quad copter is even capable of. As altitude increases, air density decreases. Its "only" a 25% reduction in density, you can still get a fair amount
49.
by votingprawn 11y ago
Apologies, your phrasing "make it to that altitude" made me think otherwise! Multi-rotors using BLDC motors cannot really be compared to small general aviation aircraft with infernal combustion engines. "Reasonable duration&q
50.
by votingprawn 11y ago
The Falcon Heavy can take 21 tons to GTO, but for $90 million you can only take 6.4 tons. I.e. 21 tons is the max payload, and the guide price they're giving is just for 6.5 tons.
51.
by votingprawn 11y ago
There is some confusion in this particular case stemming from the difference between altitude above sea level and above ground level. The UAV in question was spotted at ~10,000ft above sea level, but it was only about 800-900ft above the lo
52.
by votingprawn 11y ago
And also numerous rivers with sinuosity < 1, i.e. the river is shorter than the straight line distance between the source and mouth.
53.
by votingprawn 11y ago
If most motorway/a-road network have "average speed cameras liberally placed" along them as you and maccard claim, then presumably us driving different roads on different days would make no difference? Of course we might jus
54.
by votingprawn 11y ago
> In my experience driving in the U.K, most of the major roads (motorways/dual carriageways)have average speed cameras liberally placed on the road. Most major roads definitely do _not_ have average speed cameras placed liberally al
55.
by votingprawn 11y ago
> because far more efficient electrical heaters How are you defining efficiency here? Efficiency is usually defined as (useful power out)/(power in), and basically all the power that goes into a computer comes out again as heat, whi
56.
by votingprawn 11y ago
> Probably not, as it will refuse to work at both the altitude and speed of an airplane ;-) Well sub in the garmin with one of the other low cost consumer units that work at those altitude and speeds then!
57.
by votingprawn 12y ago
>The media and authorities' reactions do not make this action irresponsible. It is irresponsible because they are flying a dangerous vehicle in an area where if they lost control they could cause harm to members of the public. And
58.
by votingprawn 12y ago
> This isn't a highly populated area. There is little chance that if this drone fell at any time it would hit someone or land in a street. Only if you consider the only failure mode to be a descent straight down. These 'consum
59.
by votingprawn 12y ago
Yep, although as I understand it they've worked so hard on it since the Kickstarter I'm not sure how much is still recognisable as the core ETH code. At the very least their software is rooted firmly in the PX4/Lorenz design
60.
by votingprawn 12y ago
Unless they've had a massive and sudden change of heart, Airdog is based on the PX4/NuttX stack, not on the APM:Copter.

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