Micro-Helicopter Fun

zymano writes "Now this is a cool toy for the office or home! RC microhelicopter here that is flat out cool but not for sale. So small that it can drop a sugar cube into your cup of coffee. It's 100 grams or lighter now. Some gallerys and videos on the page. You can buy one here and here."

When are companies going to

[Angry White Guy]

build a USB controller for these things? I'd love to be able to run a network of these things from my pc.

Flying Assassin

[zwaffle]

Coupled with a wireless camera link, this would make a perfect recon system for the military or law enforcement. Add a weapon to it,...

This thing kicks ass

[Omkar]

It also reminds me of the opening of MIB - you see an insect, it looks like highly advanced tech. Then it splats onto a windshield. This sort of durability limits battlefied (and many other) apps, right?

Re:Flying Assassin

[sigep_ohio]

Biological or chemical agents don't need to be large. Some infact need very little(a teaspoon or sugar cube) to be very deadly. A system of several of these helicpoters could be used in large crowded areas to inflict high amounts of damage.

Also, you could use them as kamakazi type drones. Only a small amount of explosive would be needed for them to drive into a crowd or attack a single individual(assasination) and inflict damage. Of course they would need to be pretty quiet for that.

This is hardly new

[MikeStammer]

These arent as micro as micro gets in the heli world! They are small, but not as small as home made kits. These birds also are NOT ballsy (is that a word?) enough to hoist around a camera, let alone a weapon. There are helis that can and do do that. Check this out: http://www.mh.ttu.ee/risto/index.htm He hooked a camera and GPS to his logo and posted some video. cool stuff!

You don't need a big gun

[simgod]

... just a toxic needle in a air-compressed tube and you are ready for an assasination...

Bigger than a micro, but 100 g sugar no problem

[wwwillem]

If you like to kick it up a notch, check out www.flycam.nl [flycam.nl]. These machines are app. 2 meter long and can carry an 11 kg payload, so that should be enough for your sugar cubes :-). To get details and specs [flycam.nl], click the site-map link.

I once read somewhere that these helicopters go for a price of 30-40 thousand. Same as a car....

How hard is helicopter AI control?

[Boss, Pointy Haired]

How hard would this be to do?

Flying a model (or real helicopter) for that matter require continuous delicate feedback - far more than flying a fixed wing aircraft.

Do modern real heli's have auto-pilot? I'm sure they do; but how hard would it be to incorporate the necessary sensors into the model of this size and have controlled by computer?

Re:How hard is helicopter AI control?

[thatnerdguy]

if you look here [hobby-lobby.com] near the bottom you will find a "Headinglock Module" for the helicopter. What it does is memorizes the last direction the copter was flying in, and in case of interference from wind or something it automatically corrects. This allows you to concentrate more on other aspects of flying.

Re:I wonder....

[drinkypoo]

These little tiny helicopters are seriously difficult to fly. Of course, all of them are. But should you take the time to master flying them without running them into walls, you will now have to worry about anchoring every little model on your set as the wind to push even a light heli around is not inconsiderable.

Also, because of the fact that they are lighter and smaller, they will not move anything like a real helicopter. Clever work with models will produce more realistic-looking motion.

Ultimately, CPU power getting endlessly cheaper should provide the solution to your problem. :P

Re:How hard is helicopter AI control?

[aberson]

CMU has one called HELI [cmu.edu]. Supposedly, it was being considered to fly over the Somerset crash site on 9/11 to map out the area, but the authorities decided that if it crashed also, it would just complicate the crash site more. Lots of other places [google.com] have similar creatures. There's also the Aerial Robotics Competition [gatech.edu]

I OWN a Piccolo Helicopter. And...

[Anonymous Coward]

This was the BEST FUN ive ever had with ANY
RC gadget. Be WARNED though, ITS INSANELY
difficult to FLY it. This is about the most
difficult RC helicopter to fly. Its problem
areas are at TAKE off and Landing when the
rotor wash begins to cycle back into the blades.
With the utmost concentration I could hover it
withing a 5 foot area, but its ALL OVER that
5 foot area.. Flight times are about 5 mins.
Also, the other posters are correct is realistically impossible to fly it outdoors with
its STOCK configuration. But Ive HAD TONS of fun
scaring my cats with it indoors. With the piccolo
helicopter I also experienced the opposite of
ground effect (Enhanced lift closer to the ground)
which I called "Ceiling" effect, the closer
to your ceiling indoors, the higher the chance
of it sucking itself into the ceiling due to
suction.