AeroVironment/DARPA Nano Hummingbird UAV flying

[3Yukon3]

Amazing technology we have.....there are too many loonies responding to this video

[ianwins1]

alex jones brought me here

[BombCenter]

I bought one of these for my nephew for Christmas, but I got the duck one since it was $3,999,960.01 cheaper.

[jjones1850]

@BombCenter You just made the kind of stupid remark everyone in hobby grade models hate. Some dumb ass 30+ year old person who thinks ALL models from turbine jets to Airhogs Toys R us junk is all the same, you know just kids stuff. Do us a favor and go back to fishing, golf and bolling and let the smart people have there world. thanks.

[BombCenter]

@jjones1850 Being mindful of mentally disabled people like yourself, I typically keep my posts brief and obvious in meaning, but in this instance I failed to anticipate the severity of your condition; namely your ability to read and correctly interpret the underlying meaning of one sentence. For this I apologize. As an aside, I've always found golf and fishing uninteresting, though I do quite enjoy 'bolling.' I'm 'bolling' everyday. I 'boll' so hard muthafuckas wanna fine me.

[RogerwilcoFoxtrot]

I wonder how many guards will be saying "oh look, a hummingbird" before the CIA guy knifes them and runs off with their state secrets...

[Rayvyn007]

The police could really use something like this. It would help to knock out a lot of crime.

[MinisterAilingTongue]

@Rayvyn007 Destroy liberty! I know what the police believe. "First, this badge means I can commit murder and get away with it because I am not subject to ANY law. No soldier, doctor, lawyer, scientist, janitor, truck driver, etc can claim those powers. I can kill you just because I feel like it--please test that. Second, 10 dead, disabled or humiliated Innocent men for 1 dead, detained or disabled Guilty man is OUR justice. Lastly, we'll never snitch on our brothers--not even a rapist/murderer."

[Rayvyn007]

@MinisterAilingTongue Check this out. The DEA and FBI already have Predator B drones and other unarmed drones doing surveillance over the USA. They track criminals and are used in a lot of investigations but they don't have that many of them, yet. Pretty soon you will see smaller drones all over the place used by law enforcement. They won't go into your home without a court order. If you get raped or one of yours gets killed, you'll beg the police to find them.

[wonedad23]

@Rayvyn007 at what cost to privacy? quite frankly, i don't like the idea of american citizens being the subject of constant robotic surveillance. last time i checked, most of us aren't members of the Taliban or al-Qaeda

[Rayvyn007]

@wonedad23 If you're outside where everyone can see you, you have no privacy. What you do outside your home is legally subject to view by anyone. What you do inside your home is only viewable by law enforcement with a court order. Of course if someone is inside and a person can see them strangle someone inside, they have the right to call the police and the police need no warrant. Right now spy drones are available to local law enforcement but there are limited numbers. For now...

[hiplazma]

MOTHER OF GOD!

[psmirage]

Put anesthetic darts in them, and you have a way to take out hostage takers. Or the Taliban.

[mys13isdirty]

This is amazing!!!

[pattoncommander]

@mys13isdirty Like who says Star Wars is futuristic..it's here. Who's going to be concerned about a hummingbird buzzing around. Deveoper is a genius.

[jjpl2001email]

SHIT!!! thats awesome!

[Mexxi0]

Alltimes10 brought me here.

[DjckJustice]

I guess this is how the manhacks from Half Life 2 started out as

[eskercurve]

Oh wow! I remember in college that some professors were starting to study the dynamics of flapping flight and the aerodynamics behind it. Looks like we cracked it.

[FazerAddict]

awesome, still my cat will chew on it fast!!

[beroth1]

That is awesome.



[OmarJunkman]

The MAIN question is how far can you be and control the bird? 200 feet? or 20 miles? It serves no purpose if you have to be close and control it. Also, the video needs to infared and much clearer than the demo.

Could be a huge game changer for the military and police if they can really master the technology.

[repo4sale]

DARPA IS CALCULUS ON THE 10TH LEVEL!!!

[gaBehcuoDsuoitneterP]

You can see the string and the crane that's pulling this around. Fake!111

[zombiewoof63]

@gaBehcuoDsuoitneterP

I can't see the 'string and crane'. If there is a crane, it gets about very quickly, is able to turn invisible and shrink to a size small enough to fit into a corridor.

[Serge1965]

This technology will be used against the freedoms, i can already smell it

[Harrydog075]

Ooh I want One!

[Harrydog075]

Ooh I want One!

[microlinx]

They should use this to examine the damaged nuke plants in Japan.

[yoctocb]

While I am deeply impressed by this technology, some people seem to be under the impression that it's powered entirely by wing movement. It's not - pause the video at 1:32 or 1:33 and you can see that the base of the 'bird' is a rotary blade. I'm guessing that's for support.

Still any that can steer/stay upright through wing power alone is a brilliant achievement.

[RipDeLips]

@yoctocb That's incorrect. Those are metal wire feet to keep the bird upright upon landing. It's pretty obvious once you see the bird land on them and bounce up and down a bit. And never do you see the wire stands rotate at all. And it's unlikely they'd land on a lifting components, especially those that rotate. And the very beginning shows the bird upright prior to take off standing on wire legs. And just a tiny bit of searching shows very clearly the wire feet. And... and... and... and...

[yoctocb]

@RipDeLips Heh, I was just guessing from a low-res youtube video! Serves me right for being so presumptuous.

[KillerLoop777]

Cool! I want this!

[squito94]

By far the coolest drone around. Nature has the best technology since it's been developing for millions of years.

[roidroid]

give those figures, this thing might be able to travel 1 kilometre & back on one charge.

[kingofquartz]

Humm, somthing tells me if I look out the window and see a loud mechanical humming bird that is twice as big as a normal humming bird.. I wont go about my business as usual.

Lets be honest, no one is going to fall for this. A cheap mini R/C helicopter could do the same thing for far cheaper. Both are going to be spotted, but at least the helicopter would make less noise.

[kingofquartz]

@kingofquartz

Also, I would like to mention that humming birds are only found in the Americas. So if it wasnt obviously a oversized and loud fake, who exactly would this be used against? Apparently not anyone outside of North/South America since they have never seen humming birds.

[CuervoBlack06]

@kingofquartz That's why it's stated that this is a prototype. A proof of concept to show that this type of U.A.V with its only means of flight by simply flapping its wings is feasible. What makes you think they wont develop different types of bird drones that are native to foreign countries as well? I'm pretty sure DARPA has already thought out these questions and scenarios years before when they started developing this. Now if and when they make a pigeon drone then it will have multiple uses.

[kingofquartz]

@CuervoBlack06

I am sure they have but it will still be too loud and too large. Just seems a helicopter would work just as well and be just as cheap.

Bravo for making mechanical flight with flapping wings but this cost the tax payers 4 million dollars and existing technology can do the same jobs that this will.

[CuervoBlack06]

@kingofquartz How is this too loud? It's not exactly ear piercing. You do know when birds flap their wings it makes a sound right? Also please give me a break with that tired old " tax payers money" line. It's a sad excuse used over and over again. Things like the internet and other projects the government spent a shitload on were the result of tax payers money and look what we have now. Do you think these things just pop out of thin air? Development and materials cost time and money.

[kingofquartz]

@CuervoBlack06

Yes birds make noise, a swooshing sound, not a mechanical weed trimmer noise like this. Even a eagle with 6 feet of wingspan makes less noise. There is no way that if this thing flew by my house I would mistake it for an actual bird. It is a masterpiece no doubt & would sell millions as a toy but seems impractical for real world use. What happens if this is landed and a breeze knocks it over? I doubt it will be able to right itself and take off the same way a copter would.

[CuervoBlack06]

@kingofquartz Also there is no existing technology yet other than this company that can vtol with flapping wings. Others have to be hand tossed and they can't sustain their flight for long periods of time. Before you say "Oh we can do the same thing with a mini rc helicopter". Sorry no you can't seeing as they wont have the long battery life, range, needed when this thing is smaller and upgraded with better sensors too. Plus it would get spotted by people when a bird drone wont drive suspicion.

[kingofquartz]

@CuervoBlack06

You can honestly say that you would think something like this was an actual bird?

Its not a "tired excuse", personally I think its a pretty cool invention. It just seems the money could have been better spent since technology that already exists can do the same job that this does. How is this going to have better range than a R/C copter fitted with better batteries and controls? I would imagine this uses far more energy than a simple rotor blade.

[hornjunkie]

yea no better than a 50 dollar r/c helicopter. hummingbird still makes to much noise to function as needed 4 million to develop

[DanFrederiksen]

if you ever wonder how the nazi scientists could work for such evil, just look at this video.

these naive engineers have fun playing with toys and conveniently overlook what evil it will be used for by the shitheads in uniform

[FuckSlice]

I don't know what else to say other than "I want one!"

[007peterj]

This is so cool... Now when we look overhead, we won't know it it's a bird or a robotic spying bird! A hummingbird is appropriate for this idea.

[shawnio]

yeah seriously, you can hear that a mile away (just likea hummingbird) you can see it a mile away (just likea hummingbird) you have the same size of brain (as a hummingbird)

that apparently costs 4 million dollars, I don't believe it, we have drones that can listen miles up in the air, we have drones that can attack from miles up in the air, the american military doesn't listen, they drop bombs and then sift thru the civilians bodies looking for men that look like their targets, FAKE

[OsuKitteh]

That building looks just like Rob Drydrek's Fantasy Factory. O_O

[rezaletAK]

Cool tech. but will it blend ?

[shuboo]

Does this mean I can finally watch my hot blonde, female neighbor take showers without having to continuously duck behind my fence every time she turns around? KIDDING! I use binoculars.

[DanielHesslow]

Luckly for me, I live in sweden and we don't got humming birds :D

[ionutgheorgheanghel]

Ok guys, but what is the point here? See what your colleagues from Delft done! DelFly Micro... That looks like really nano....And probably they didn't spend so much!! See their video published on youtube in July 2008.

[Orangebike666]

NOTE Paranoid Schizophrenics :

SPOILER ALERT!

[BasshuterZ]

If i see this im going to eat it.

[gravidplum]

All the people claiming they aren't impressed by this are full of it. If you showed them a clip of Arnie-Jesus, on a holographic hoverboard, turning motherfuckers into wine with a cosmic sphincter-laser they'd still feign disinterest.

[lolbroklol]

@gravidplum

Its because people are so used to seeing small things with cameras. The machinery is the the most impressive aspect of it since its not a traditional method of obtaining lift.

[matt073]

To everyone who doesn't seem to understand why this is impressive...

Building a machine that flies by flapping wings is VERY difficult to achieve. This thing is moving so fast it should really have flapped itself to pieces already. The fact that it steers and is actually controllable is the most amazing part. A helicopter is a very simple design in comparison to this, you can't compare the two by saying "I've got one of these things from radioshack". It's not the same...

Well done to them.

[gzur]

1) Add a stinger and and a cyanide payload.

2) Teach it to recognize weapons.

3) Mass-produce.

4) Unleash 50.000 units into an urban theater of war..

5+)PROFIT!!!

[st4ticblu3]

Drone, meet 12 gauge. Click, click, BOOM!

[Dahkeus3]

It looks incredibly fake (wings hardly flap), it's loud, and considering how far it would have to be, the camera quality is meh. It's got a good ways to go before it would be a very reliable spy device imo.

@GregOrca we do have hummingbirds in Texas.

[matt073]

@Dahkeus3 The wings appear to flap slowly, however this is just an illusion created by the frame rate at which the video is captured. It's the same illusion that makes a cars wheels appear to spin backwards on TV, know what I mean? They wings are actually flapping very quickly.

[Dahkeus3]

@matt073 No, this isn't the effect here. The bird is propelled by a clear propeller on the bottom (which accounts for the awkward angle that it flies at), so the wings don't flap at all. They make the wings flap slowly in order to attempt and replicate the effect you describe, but I don't think it's believable. However, judging by your comment, I guess it does work for some people.

[silas25222357]

@Dahkeus3 I think the "propeller" you see is really just a stand and the wings are moving at around the same FPS it was filmed in.. I think if you look on youtube for "Extraordinary stroboscopic effect" or Any Iphone vs propeller video you will see what I mean, however I could be wrong..

[matt073]

@Dahkeus3 I'm certain that the clear part that you can just about see on the bottom of the bird is just a stand, so it's able to land. You can see that the wings aren't just flapping slowly, but as @silas25222357 describes you can see the stroboscopic effect. Also if there was a single prop on the bottom, the bird would be spinning out of control because there is no tail prop. I'd like to see a higher resolution video.

[gantman]

I'm confused. I can buy one of those remote controlled helicopters from Radio Shack for 29.99 and it won't make as much noise. Why is this so impressive?

[gravidplum]

Shit, this is scary stuff man. Anyone reminded of the blurbflies in Jeff Noon's Nymphomation? Somehow can't see these being used for the forces of good.

[2danimm]

you can clearly see that it moves not natuarlly

[MoldyPotato1]

@2danimm thats because the camera cant pick up the wings properly as they flap so fast, FPS

[2danimm]

@MoldyPotato1 nope, he's simply moving like a machine, not naturally

[garagecrap]

Hmmm big deal. I've got a toy like this at home and even got better video than this flying crap.

[matt073]

@garagecrap You're an idiot. You clearly don't understand the how challenging it would be to engineer something like this, especially with such controlled flight. It's pretty damn impressive! It's not like your run of the mill £10 micro helicopters that you're probably referring to.

[socalkyle98]

WANT

[FYRFOX198]

Damn......what next....? THE END

[GregOrca]

Now imagine combining the flight control of the nano hummingbird with the photoreal appearance of the following robotic pelican duck and other birds

youtube.com/watch?v=l9SqoAcpep­0

A hummingbird in texas or london would be a WTF? and anyone would guess it shouldn't be there, but imagine a robot pigeon..... oh, hang on , I'm just getting a call now from the govt. They want a robot pigeon!

[jayedwards1]

Oh great another spy tool for use on people. "i think the government has been taken over by the banks" *knock knock* " good afternoon sir your coming with us down to the station"

[fantamize]

Big Brother is expanding.

[JenkoTV]

Amazing engineering.

[monstero111]

Day 1: "Oh a nice bird :) "

Day 2: "FBI open the door! Now!"

[monstero111]

why i cant do a coment ?

[heavyweather]

what is the advantage over a micro quadcopter or monocopter?

even coax helis can be built that small and carry a camera for FPV that small.

Its loud as hell and slow (read something about 18kmh) btw.

battery is empty after 6min.

[chemicalovercast]

waste of money

[teargardens]

Well great, time to start KILLING ANY AND ALL BIRDS. How freakin' creepy you F'N' BASTARDS!!!

[elevul]

Doesn't it do too much noise?

[DanVentresca]

C'mon. That thing is wayyy bigger than a hummingbird.

[linutas]

DHARMA?

[PureRebelM1ko]

DOOMED I TELL YOU

[lianyguen]

another DARPA invention........yay \o/ .....let's use it to remotely kill some defenseless strangers overseas.

[isair81]

Good for keeping tabs on all those dangerous homegrown terrorists, y'know... the evil, evil people who voted for Ron Paul.

[jugzter]

You can build nice gadgets with Chinese money... Just remember to pay back the loan one day.

[TheLoad4u]

Maybe someone can fly this into O'bumbles oval office and really what is going on as he works to destroy our nation each day.

[mygaffer]

This is equal parts awesome and scary as hell.

[insideaNWO]

Terminator Vision next...

[keithallenlaw]

What do ya think? Bird shot or double ought?

[iliatay]

tax money well spent!

[TheStreeser1]

thats were our tax moneys going...

[GrandFunker]

@TheStreeser1 Sweet! So they're not wasting ALL of it! You just made my day!

[taylor1038]

News flash: Terrorists are training armies of house cats to combat this new threat.

[steamidjf]

This reminds me of Lord of the Rings, where Gandalf tells Frodo to be careful when he speaks, because Sauron has animal spies.

[todd987]

I love how the camera refreshes making the illusion that the wings are flapping slow.

[SunnyLovetts]

Fuck warrentless spying.

[qoaa]

Damn Silicon, you scary

[LFCsoldier]

Great, just what we need.

Who cares about free energy or healthy food.

[sheshoxare805]

Welcome to Skynet.

[britrb32]

I love the way innovations like that are comming along, and cant wait till they hit the shops!!

Brian :)

[soulcalibur22]

its cool with that being said here comes the troll SORETHUMB humminb birds dont move like that at ALL hahaha sure it looks like one at a glance but once the video started no mater how silent it is it might as well LOOK like a robot or a black box if you were to use it on a stealth mission no one "over the age of 5" would mistake that for a real bird even if it made no noise.

but again thats prety cool.

[DzikiPedofil]

WIADOMOŚC OD WYKOP.PL: JAN PAWEŁ II GWAŁCIŁ MAŁE DZIECI

[pauljs75]

Nifty toy. But if they tried flying this near a real hummingbird, I think the results would be quite comical. (And perhaps a bit costly for the owner of the R/C toy.)

[Chakail]

No one tell Belichick about this thing.

[ArT1Tuvsho]

SKYNET SIR SKYNET!

[soulcalibur22]

@ArT1Tuvsho ahaha yeah its moving that way isnt it. very nice

[OmahaRenegade]

That's nuts. What a neat little UAV :)

[lyaeger]

Pretty cool, but let's see... 8 minute battery life, hovering. Up to 11mph. So it has an absolute maximum range of .73 miles if it wants to get back to where it started. Probably 0.5 mile, more realistically. Well, that's better than I was expecting.

But why did they have to misuse "nano"? It's bigger than most actual humming birds, and *way* larger than a few nanometers. Feh.

[SnoopJeDi]

@lyaeger Everything that has length can have that length expressed in nanometers. Optical light is considered "nanometer scale," but it's really much closer to femtometer (1e-12) than to nanometer (1e-9).

Besides, you're picking hairs over a term derived from one for a small horse. If you've got a bone to pick, let it be with Latin.

[lyaeger]

@SnoopJeDi Everything that has length can have that length expressed in kilometers too. But they didn't call it the Kilo Hummingbird. And whatever issues you have with modern usages of Latin are irrelevant. I don't much care, but still think it was a poor choice for the name. The only vaguely sensible interpretation for the word's use in this context is that this is smaller than most other flying craft, but nano doesn't mean "smaller". But, whatever, it was just a throwaway comment. No biggie.

[derkaiser2000]

Hmm, wings that flap 20 times a second. I'm guessing a 3 minute battery life on this birdie?

[raven50x]

I don't think they have Hummingbirds in Afghanistan... might not fool anyone, cool story bro.

[lordkoos]

Pretty expensive survellience. If you saw one, a shotgun would take care of it.

[Robindahoodz]

@lordkoos

a giant net with metal spheres on the corners of the net would take care of it too

[TheDetrepid]

Great work here by AeroVironment, I hope to see you guys posting the details of the non-proprietary stuff at the next big GNC confrence.

[elsu3]

How long do the batteries last?:P

[fagan411]

I predict this will have a negative impact on hummingbirds.

[DrD0000M]

No doubt the CIA will want to add a poison stinger to the beak for assassinations.

[Asymmatrix]

This is very disturbing

[jasonpfrey]

Wow it's hard to believe this is now a reality. That's VERY impressive and ingenious. I guess this means that Spynet is that much closer to taking over humankind.

[Evi1M4chine]

@jasonpfrey: Dude, the CIA admitted to having these things in the 60s! (You can google the link to their official PDF.) But it had a tiny gasoline engine built by a watchmaker. The problem was putting a microfilm and camera in it, so they just put a microphone in. Still everything was analog, and so it was not much of a success. Nowadays, you can bet your ass that they have a working system somewhere.

[flootedbeam]

o look a plastic bird with a propeller on its bum.

[khxml]

Is a bird in the hand worth 2 in the bush?

[itasev]

How much for the hellfire missile carrying model ?

[Evi1M4chine]

@itasev: Murder is not approved in the civilized world. (This might not include your country.)

[itasev]

@Evi1M4chine Ooo that`s why you go and kill people in other countries.. :P

[MetalMarine825]

@itasev It's sold as a pack of 500, 950 if you want them to be able to carry a fire control system for the hellfire...

[briansmobile1]

This is bad news for humming birds.  They'll all get shot down like they were carrier pigeons.

[sinlander]

@briansmobile1 how many humming birds do you see everyday in the park? for all you know they been testing them out for a while now to see if people notice

[briansmobile1]

@sinlander That's it, it's pellet gun time.  All vertically poised humming birds with hair like landing protrusions are gonna get it!

[shaneeeeak]

when do we start getting paranoid?

[ONPRIEL]

@shaneeeeak so we still have begone long ago, you did not notice it. We are in the thick of paranoia.

[Plur307]

@shaneeeeak

Apparently you have not heard about the DARPA robot capable of fueling itself off of organic fuels such as human flesh, among other things. No I am not joking. Google the "DARPA EATR".

[Evi1M4chine]

@Plur307: STFU, that’s just Alex Jones putting bullshit in your head. He’s just as much an evil fucker on a agenda as the CIA, and worse than the DARPA. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s actually a professonal social engineer working for some government organization that fights some other government organization (with both sides being evil).

[THeScoobyNoob]

@Evi1M4chine Hey bud why don't you STFU! Plur is right there are new articles out about just this thing. clocks that eat flys, etc and on to robots that could live off of biologicals. the obvious jump would be giant crawlers that would eat the dead bodys of the battle field. research before you attack. Dont be a mental midget.

[Plur307]

@Evi1M4chine

Actually I don't listen to Alex Jones. I think he is a tool. The DARPA EATR is real. Yes I know it is not designed to run on human flesh. But it can run on human flesh... I just find it humorously scary. It's like these guys are actually trying to bring about an evil robot apocalypse.

[jgt56]

@shaneeeeak Too late

[shaneeeeak]

@jgt56 lol



[mrjimmyos]

@shaneeeeak Put down that hotpocket and look our your window

[shaneeeeak]

@mrjimmyos eeew you eat that processed stuff?!!? gross. lol

[mrjimmyos]

@shaneeeeak Heheh, nah, they're an American thing

[siakusiek]

@shaneeeeak

Too late...

[sanforce]

pretty damn incredible.