Human Power Heli Demo YouTube

[1toots]

Look up "Davinci III Flight", you may just need thicker wings! And your pedal design on the other vid looked great... reminds me of a bird pumping it's chest. Very cool

[Jammieg001]

I think bamboo would be the lightest strongest cheapest structural material, cheap being the most important factor.

[madjimms]

2 words, carbon fiber.

[TheTomLangley]

The University of Maryland "Gamera" project just succeeded in getting about 4 inches off the ground for a few seconds. Your design looks more practical to me. I'm looking forward to your progress & hope you post a video soon.

[fackyoutoobe2]

Two words briggs saraton

[Downfacingdog]

I'm glad to see you stick to what you started years ago.

Cheers!!!

[obooth]

Great project efrain. I'm no expert, but reckon the only flight you can effectively achieve and maintain using human power for any decent length of time, would only be a ground effect vehicle, surely? However, I've been proven wrong before, regardless, I wish you the very best of luck. It's the folk like you who ignore the nay sayers, and sometimes surprise everybody with a good result!

[yakcrasher]

This is great I hope you have the best of success. I believe it is possible to make a human powered helicopter but I don't see the helicopter actually being able to fly anywhere(via forward, back, left right, etc etc), but that is my conspiracy. Your design look great but I think the materials your using are to heavy, you should try to get sponsored, and i think it would be possible for you to do it to because you have the wits for and a design.

[efrainpalermo]

Thanks for your positive comments. I am working on redesigning the framework to make it lighter. If I could get sponsored would go a long ways in being to afford to finish building it:)

[harley1157]

Wow that is some project you took on! I wish you the best of luck!

[efrainpalermo]

Thank You! :)

[TheTomLangley]

There are windmills for example a design made by Honeywell which are designed for low wind speeds. I wonder if any of these designs or something similar would be applicable for your human powered helicopter? When will you post a video update showing the progress of your project?

[efrainpalermo]

That is interesting about maybe adapting windmill design to low rpm helicopter blades. I'm in the process of designing a new power train when it's done will post some videos :)

[CHESSmaster69SH]

what about the cyclic and the collective?

[efrainpalermo]

Since the helicopter is only going straight up (and down) there is no need for cyclic or collective pitch

[CHESSmaster69SH]

@efrainpalermo it doesn't matter, unless you have it perfectly balanced, it's like balancing a ball on a needle flying a helicopter.

[TheJefedesapuka]

and work??????

[efrainpalermo]

Im still working on it, redesigning my 'transmission', testing out a magnetic drive

[TheTomLangley]

Efrain, if you google 'Arantix' bicycle you will find out about a company that has made a mountain bike out of carbon fiber wrapped in kevlar that only weighs 2.7 lbs. The design is not streamlined but is open. Maybe you could get the company to donate for your human powered helicopter to show what their extremely light weight material can do, hell all they could do is say no. One of their bicycles cost $8000. It would be great for your dream & good publicity for their company, a win-win.

[efrainpalermo]

Thanks Tom, I'll look into that!

[Andiinos]

yo ! What look your heli have now since 1 year :O

[rab3286]

dude. put a briggs 8 hp motor. that should get you up

[RotorHead2652]

its not going to work ... putting props at the end of the blades is just going to cause drag your not going to get enuf head speed for lift .... and im pritty sure it dosent take care of tourque reaction ..... oh and leonardo didnt invent the helicopter he just made a mock up drawing of somthing that would i know for definate .... spin round very vast in a uncontroled state

[TheNewVideos]

hmm.... does not fly. That is all I have to say.

[goraiders62]

you kan do anything you put your mind to i followed that and ran a mile under 5 mins

[heckfricker]

human powered heli just doesn't seem very realistic. The power needed only to lift yourself by forcing the air around you downward with a heli that weighed nothing would take incredible human force. Does not at all seem like a practical idea.

[RuiModesto]

what 's up, I read your blog, Efrain, I just gave up in my hph project, after finished it

didn't work, because of corioli's effect. One less competitor for you and good luck.

by the way, forget the 2000 rpm, and be glad with 150 rpm, corioli's effect won't

let your rotor system to rotates, not by human power.

[freecash4udotws]

Looks like you have the frame ready to fit a bike motor on and turn that little sweetie into an auto gyro! Have a driving propeller behind you and an impeller on top for lift. People are too weak/heavy to fly vertically on their own strength, that is a physical law that won't ever be overcome no matter what the frame weighs. Gyro copters have been around for quite a while and there are all kinds of plans to be had , maybe one could do this frame of yours justice.

[yumberri]

heck yeah man you can do it!

i will buy if u sell  : )

[efrainpalermo]

@yumberri

hehe thanks when I win the contest i will put it up for sale:)

[TheTomLangley]

I am afraid that the aluminum would be too heavy. I know that the carbon fiber is very expensive but maybe you could consider polyurethane or polystyrene both of which are used to make surfboards which are both lightweight & strong. Duroplast & bakelite are two other plastics which have fiber incorporated in them. When is your next video coming out & do you have a date in mind to try to get the AHS prize? Best of luck!

[Fangornmmc]

Grear project. Is there a site or something to look up details? If you ever come to finish a final design I'll definetely rebuild it.

I really hope this will work!

[mermaidmariah]

loved watching this! when is the competition?  You are amazing

[mermaidmariah]

Loved watching this!!!!

[yonigga223]

Fantastic idea, man.

[lshachar]

uh, k.i.s.s? calculator? physics? a talk with a mechanical/aeronautical engineer friend?

-this video breaks my heart. at the same time I give kudos for following your dream.

[lp000028]

human can produce about 1/4 horse of power . good luck with that.

[PedalLEOtour2010LIVE]

wants to know about new efrainpalermo videos...?

[efrainpalermo]

Im working on a small scale model to test out my wing design and will tape and post it here. After that will be a full size test and will post that as well. Stay tuned:)

[PedalLEOtour2010LIVE]

@efrainpalermo thanks. patiently. i build...along side you! PeaZe™~!

[efrainpalermo]

Cool, good luck!

[PedalLEOtour2010LIVE]

wants to know... Is there's any new footage, efrain...?

[abemore]

This youtube video says you can increase lift under the same power by adding a groove in the rotor blade:

Coanda effect "slot-wing extra lift"

watch?v=bSZy4WTmVQ4

[efrainpalermo]

very interesting going to have to look at that see if I can fit it into my design..thanks!

[abemore]

i've never seen a design like that before. very interesting. keep at it!

[efrainpalermo]

Thanks!

[abemore]

@efrainpalermo You know, I watched the Cal Poly Da Vinci III video from 1989 a number of times and I didn't realize until now that it was also driven by props at the ends of the rotors. Clearly stability was an issue for them.

[efrainpalermo]

The CalPoly rig also wasn't strong enough and collapsed before it could get up to speed. If you make something too light weight then you sacrifice strength, too strong and it's now too heavy, a conundrum for this endeavor:)

[abemore]

@efrainpalermo A lot of it is also about finding the most efficient method of generating lift given the power output of the human motor. There seems to be no agreement on how to best generate lift. I wonder also if we are maximizing the human power output. Someone must have tested different methods of maximizing power output during the race for human powered airplanes. Where is that data? Which is more efficient: the standard pedal method or your leg press method? I wish i could build things :-)

[efrainpalermo]

Human powered airplane flight is actually much easier to do than a helicopter. Rotary flight takes a lot more horsepower. Aside from using the best mechanical advantage I am also working on a novel rotor blade design. I'm working on a small scale model to test my wings, will be testing it tomorrow.

[HubristicIcarus2]

Your human motor has to weigh from 110 to 125 lbs and generate 500 watts for at least 5 to 10 minutes. He will have to be someone who is less than 5 foot 4 inches and is a cycling or rowing specialist.

[calimagfan]

@HubristicIcarus2  You're not going to find someone capable of 500 watts for 5 minutes.

[RuiModesto]

I think you have a good aproach in your hph, I would like to know how is the development so far, did you finish your

project already, does it fly? I am also trying

to buid a hph for the contest, it will be complete by april/2010

[efrainpalermo]

I'm in the process of rebuilding the frame work to make it lighter. Good luck on your endeavor!

[phx2830]

Too heavy. Let's compare this to the YURI-I, the Da Vinci III and the Thunderbird. The thunderbird, least successful of the 3, weighed 145lbs empty. The Da Vinci III, second most successful, and the Yuri, most successful, weighed only 75 lbs. You REALLY need to think about weight again. A super light airframe will be challenging made from a ladder...

[STUCASHX]

"darkhungers" is right.

When designing a human powered vehicle the simplest forrm of transmission of power from the "human" to the "vehicle" will be the most efficient. There will inevitably be extra weight, frictional and torque losses the more you add.

The real challenge with this type of project is reducing weight.

1. Minimise the chassis and triangulate.

2. Simplify the mechanism.

3. Reduce friction.

I still like your leverpedal mechanism ;-)

Good luck...

[efrainpalermo]

Thanks for the suggestions!

[mrps21994]

my relatives live in palermo =) lol

[l3MTA3l]

so lets say you did get it to lift and go 200 feet up and you get a muscle cramp, what now?

[efrainpalermo]

It's a good thing this contest only calls for getting up to ten feet, then if you get cramped out you can bail out, no parachute needed:)

[h4ppydriver]

that should be a minor problem.. lets make it lift first :p

good luck with it tho, love your project

[leviterande]

o hallo man nice to see you:), first when i clicked the video and saw you I didnt know you but whne I heared the voiced I thought.. hmm I heared that voice before where where.. aaaah it is you in that old video... how is everything going now

[Cuan95]

awsome, im no expert but could you not use aluminium?

[efrainpalermo]

Im planning on using aluminum as much as possible. the framework is already aluminum and the rotor blades will be skinned with it as well

[darkhungers]

Actually, your rotation problem with be from torque. The designs with little jets on the blades *generate* power on the blade. You are still transmitting power through the shaft, so your will still have a torque reaction. And it should be equal to the work, (power) no matter if your redirect it to tip propellers or not I think. All of this adds weight.

Jets or motors on the blades create friction in the bearing and rotation *with* the blade.

But good luck.

[737flyguy]

dude i like your ideas but your in construction not aero engineering I suggest (as I am a pilot) just to get more of the fundamentals of aero dynamics first talk to some chopper engineers learn how lift and drag work. then good luck with it all.

[efrainpalermo]

There's more to me than just swinging a hammer:) Construction is what I do for a living but is only a very small portion of what I do and study. But right now it is not even a question of aerodynamics, haven't gotten to testing that part yet, I'm working on the power train in this phase.

[TheTomLangley]

It looks like a great plan. I am no physicist but it seems to me that with the rotor connected to the main shaft that the force of movement (I don't know if you would call it torque or friction or what) would tend to make the craft autorotate even with the tip propellers. If that is correct do you have a backup plan, either a tailrotor or a counterrotating main rotor like a Russian KA-50 helicopter? Best of luck!

[efrainpalermo]

I have thought of that but the counter rotation will be from friction and not from torque. If it does happen I think it will be a slow spin, and since I only have to go straight up and down, it will not be a factor in its performance.