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GeneralRe: The last gasp of Windows XP support? Pin
Mohamad M. Mohamad9-Apr-14 20:41
Mohamad M. Mohamad9-Apr-14 20:41 
GeneralAn upcoming anniversary Pin
Kent Sharkey9-Apr-14 10:46
staffKent Sharkey9-Apr-14 10:46 
GeneralRe: An upcoming anniversary Pin
Member 41945939-Apr-14 14:01
Member 41945939-Apr-14 14:01 
GeneralRe: An upcoming anniversary Pin
kalberts10-Apr-14 1:18
kalberts10-Apr-14 1:18 
GeneralRe: An upcoming anniversary Pin
Kent Sharkey10-Apr-14 6:58
staffKent Sharkey10-Apr-14 6:58 
General"No, Timmy, them ain't big crows up thar' on the 'lectric line; them be drones, perching." Pin
BillWoodruff9-Apr-14 10:32
professionalBillWoodruff9-Apr-14 10:32 
GeneralRe: "No, Timmy, them ain't big crows up thar' on the 'lectric line; them be drones, perching." Pin
Roger Wright9-Apr-14 12:12
professionalRoger Wright9-Apr-14 12:12 
GeneralRe: "No, Timmy, them ain't big crows up thar' on the 'lectric line; them be drones, perching." Pin
CDP18029-Apr-14 14:18
CDP18029-Apr-14 14:18 
"Mom, why do I always have to wear a helmet outside?"

"Shut up and bring more of those dead drones to the recycler than last month!"


The drones are built with the same components used for model helicopters.

The batteries last only minutes and every additional weight (including stronger batteries) costs more energy. Taking energy inductively from power lines can work, but at the cost of turning the power lines into drone highways. This may cause traffic jams and collisions. Also, the batteries had to be reduced to a minimum to allow a greater payload and the additional induction coil and battery charger. The drone could only reach places that are less than a few minute's flight time away from a power line.

The motors are not built for constant use. They produce too much heat which lowers their life time. Allowing the motor to cool down between flights prolongs their life, but even then they would only last some days of constant use. Failure would be hard to predict. Just last week a friend#s new motor failed after less than an hour of total flight time. Motor failure in the air leads to a nice destructive crash. A traditional helicopter at least allows a skilled pilot to land with auto rotation. The extra weight for heat sinks or more robust motors again would limit the usefulness of the drone too much.

Lithium polymere batteries tend to degrade quickly when they are discharged too low. In that case not only their capacity is quickly reduced. They can also heat up too much and catch fire or even explode. The batteries can be monitored, but what should a drone do when the battery fails and begins to heat up? Land? Ask for help?

Ah yes, another great cause of failure is vibration. Vibration can weaken carbon fiber structures or cut wires. No matter what breaks of fails that way, the result usually is a crash. And again, the extra weight for reinforcing everything as a precaution gets expensive.

What use would be drones that need that much maintainance or most probably crash within a few days of autonomous operation?
The language is JavaScript. that of Mordor, which I will not utter here

I hold an A-7 computer expert classification, Commodore. I'm well acquainted with Dr. Daystrom's theories and discoveries. The basic design of all our ship's computers are JavaScript.


modified 10-Apr-14 0:49am.

General::Workspaces seems quite popular. Pin
SoMad9-Apr-14 10:03
professionalSoMad9-Apr-14 10:03 
GeneralRe: ::Workspaces seems quite popular. Pin
Kornfeld Eliyahu Peter9-Apr-14 11:25
professionalKornfeld Eliyahu Peter9-Apr-14 11:25 
GeneralRe: ::Workspaces seems quite popular. Pin
SoMad9-Apr-14 11:49
professionalSoMad9-Apr-14 11:49 
GeneralRe: ::Workspaces seems quite popular. Pin
SoMad9-Apr-14 19:49
professionalSoMad9-Apr-14 19:49 
GeneralRe: ::Workspaces seems quite popular. Pin
Kornfeld Eliyahu Peter9-Apr-14 20:25
professionalKornfeld Eliyahu Peter9-Apr-14 20:25 
GeneralRe: ::Workspaces seems quite popular. Pin
SoMad9-Apr-14 20:31
professionalSoMad9-Apr-14 20:31 
GeneralHave you changed your password? Pin
Kenneth Haugland9-Apr-14 10:02
mvaKenneth Haugland9-Apr-14 10:02 
GeneralRe: Have you changed your password? Pin
ZurdoDev9-Apr-14 10:10
professionalZurdoDev9-Apr-14 10:10 
GeneralRe: Have you changed your password? Pin
Kenneth Haugland9-Apr-14 10:14
mvaKenneth Haugland9-Apr-14 10:14 
GeneralRe: Have you changed your password? Pin
Paul Watson9-Apr-14 13:04
sitebuilderPaul Watson9-Apr-14 13:04 
GeneralThe Overprotected Kid Pin
Jörgen Andersson9-Apr-14 9:38
professionalJörgen Andersson9-Apr-14 9:38 
GeneralRe: The Overprotected Kid Pin
Kenneth Haugland9-Apr-14 11:29
mvaKenneth Haugland9-Apr-14 11:29 
GeneralRe: The Overprotected Kid Pin
Jörgen Andersson9-Apr-14 20:38
professionalJörgen Andersson9-Apr-14 20:38 
GeneralRe: The Overprotected Kid Pin
Roger Wright9-Apr-14 12:43
professionalRoger Wright9-Apr-14 12:43 
GeneralRe: The Overprotected Kid Pin
Jörgen Andersson9-Apr-14 20:37
professionalJörgen Andersson9-Apr-14 20:37 
GeneralRe: The Overprotected Kid Pin
Paul Watson9-Apr-14 13:15
sitebuilderPaul Watson9-Apr-14 13:15 
GeneralRe: The Overprotected Kid Pin
Jörgen Andersson9-Apr-14 20:42
professionalJörgen Andersson9-Apr-14 20:42 

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