Worlds first controllable robotic samara monocopter MAV, University of Maryland's Ulrich flyer

[GreenmeGo]

nice robotics

[anjin33]

I want one!

[warren52nz]

They have some stuff to sort out if they're ever going to make a manned version. I get dizzy just watching it. 8^)

[MrAirparen109]

Хочется что-то подобное сделать.

[netsoftware]

Классно!!! =)

[inanium]

You could attach it to a fix body that could be stabilized as an ordinary helicopter (with a second propeller) and put some useful equipment (such as a camera) in that fix body. The efficiency would decrease surely, but the utility might increase significantly...

[drewparrott]

the first thought I had when I saw the night view was "I bet you could use that to fool some hillbillies into thinking it was an ufo"

[polka23dot]

No other aircraft shakes so violently.

[stonerpanda]

@polka23dot

It's actually perfectly balanced around the center of rotation like any RC helicopter. An airplane can fly with 1 propeller blade if the opposite side is balanced with a counterweight. Search wikipedia for "single blade propeller". The EDF as a spinning mechanism is a nice touch though.

[JPK1990]

Nice timeflow. What is this music?

[macouno]

You know... it's a nice idea by a couple people to "sync" the camera to the rotation speed of the device... but cameras need a tiny bit of time to capture an image... So even if you could get a "still" image, I think with the cameras we have now, it would be rather blurry.

That said... great tech! I hope they make it into a commercially available toy ;)

[golyandro]

@macouno i think that blur can be solved with some dsp. using the data of adjacent frames. or maybe with dual camera + special lens assembly.

[bat999]

Nice video.

I listened to the interview on BBC radio.

w w w .bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00w7dlf

[WhichDoctor1]

These are so cool!

[gumonthepants]

I look forward to one of these engineers giving their talk on TED.

[kay486]

How long it can stay in air?

[jimday666]

@kay486 it depends on the battery, I guess a few minutes.

[truestyleoutlaw]

can you.... make it solar powered?

[EATABAGOFHELL]

there needs to be a little strip of about 8 or 10 leds running along the thing's wing spar, so that it can blink little pixel-art patterns as it spins. search "led pov display" to see what i'm talking about.

[modu3182]

when you were testing at night it looked like the classic UFO image they say they see.

LOL

[Nexgcs]

That's inspired...

Great stuff

[ArknineYT]

Clever.

[Moratorium]

Yeah, nice. But what do you use it for?

[eyhexs]

they are calling it "the head chopper" in military circles;

mmh, i wonder what uses theyll find for it...

[bestamerica]

'

try put 2 leaves and see test

[RedFathom]

now all you need is a computer type scaner ic, and a computer on the ground to use the data from that, and an accelerometer to make some video.

[LeeStone101]

4:11 UFO sighting LOL

[Firedraikke]

Awesome. I foresee UFO reports from night-time operation.

[rosham82]

for what chopping birds head off ?

[Ekki1701]

Wonderful idea, and so nice to see the evolution of your monocopter. Can it carry weight? On the other hand so much mass in motion? Is this just beautiful or is it efficient as well?

[NinjaApe]

would you ride in something like this? COULD you ride in something like this? without puking your guts out?

[sk8sonh2o]

Add a POV message LED system and sell advertising on it.

Can you get it to "glide", fall in a controllable/predictable spin

Maybe use it as a seed spreader or chemical sprayer

Can you make a solar-powered version

[DenisKz]

@sk8sonh2o read the description. it says it can auto rotate like a proper helicopter, which means it can float back to earth unpowered.

[baloneyjazz]

it must be difficult to fly when that music keeps coming up.

[opikalo]

Can you credit the music in the video?

[megaknightz]

MANHACKS!

[RevolutionGGM]

That thing is so BadAss

[RevolutionGGM]

I must say... That's so BadAss!

[izakaman]

this thing is witchcraft

[Andros55]

Why am i thinking of Manhacks from Half-Life 2 when i see this ? ...

[zenoah17]

How is the thrust-to-weight ratio compared too a normal helicopter and too a plane?

This would be a really cool rc "thing", but if it took about 4 yours to get it stable then itl probably won't become something you could build in a few hours...

Jacar

[UCreateChange]

so cool. the plane actually looks pretty cute when it's flying. doesn't look very stable though..

[soverato3]

cooool

[daveparker777]

How is forward controlled flight achieved? Vary angle of attack of wing during portions of rotation? Must be, as I don't think that motor thrust modulation would be quick enough to have the desired control...

[daveparker777]

I still don't understand how forward flight is made controllable... I assume that changing the pitch of the wing during certain portions of the rotation provide directional control without compromise of total lift (collective)

[genexstyle]

If you make it bigger, lets say 2 humans can fit in it, than modify it a bit rounder on top and bottom, maybe add a second blade, than you make a section that doesnt spin used for the cockpit and it totaly looks like a ufo! mistery solved :D

[darkdesire13]

like a helicopter... lol? :p

[robwgibbons]

Some of the advantages of this design include a much simpler construction than multi-winged / multi-prop flying devices. Less parts means less to break. This design also requires a smaller, less powerful motor to facilitate the horizontal rotation of its entire body, which provides upward lift, as opposed to several props using direct motor thrust to provide upward lift.

In addition, the fact that this device can be hand-launched means rescuers may throw the device into a space once activated.

[Thinktank58]

Now I'm curious. Why not just have a helicopter design under the same principle (full body rotation)? The overall size and noise would be reduced - equal lifting surface area but lower blade tip speed.

[Forewarned76]

Now add LED's to it and fly the thing at night... preferably outside of a loony bin

Doctor Fritz, they've come back for me!

[vingsxr]

Passionnant ! J'en veux un aussi... où peut-on acheter ? lol

[cgrant26]

With the proper electronics and gyros you could sync a camera's framerate to the rotations for a stable video feed.

Neat!

[thereallybigj]

funded by the army! they'll use it for something.. awesome little toy tho.. i want one

[243rf34ew]

Maybe I'm missing something but i fail to see what significant advantages, if any, this design has vs current aircraft models.

[saaaammmmm]

Take these broken wings,

You've got to learn to fly, learn to live and love so free,

When we hear the voices sing,

The book of love will open up for us and let us in

Yeah, yeah!

Ooooooh, yeah!

[ObiTrev]

I love the sound the ducted fan ones make. Try putting a whistle on that, drive animals crazy!

[douro20]

The basis of this project is that Lockheed spent millions trying to make a similar craft and DARPA cut the funding because the project was going nowhere. This was built using only $500 in parts.

[ObiTrev]

Lockeed was not the first to attempt this! In the early 1900s a full sized aircraft was attempted. The Papin-Rouilly Gyroptère

[thatpspguy]

get in touch with a company called Silverlit( if you didn't already know of them) and bring this to market as one of the best Toys, ever!

[Knochi77]

Why you don't trigger the Camera in the OnBoardCam with the rotational speed, to get a still picture?

So you can easily implement a 360° roundview.

[adrastea99]

@Knochi77

Better yet use a 360 degree lens and capture corrected the image with software

[DAZOID55]

Interesting concept and nice execution. If you can figure out a way to accurately de-spin a centrally-mounted video camera (ie, using a gyro-slaved angle rate platform), you'll have an interesting little surveillance ROV.

[DanFrederiksen]

is it one of those inspirational but ultimately useless inventions?

or is it more efficient than any other lifting design

[BFDK]

Amazing work! I hope you go further with this.

[citronitro]

Nice work :D

But where is the catch?

It is basically half a propeller, which is smart, if you are a tree. Instead of one seed with a full propeller, the tree gets to throw two seeds into the air flying off on half-propellers = double chance of reproduction.

But if you are the US Army you have the resources to mount a full propeller or even a double propeller to the UAV's. This will get you more lift /longer fly time and no single propeller vibration/instability.

[KileSimons]

Needs a bigger wing.

[carbonccc]

Being that it could use gravity as "power" it should be able to have extended flight times in comparison to other "helicopter" variants.

[KileSimons]

Helicopters can use gravity in the same way, in the event of an emergency engine failure

[nasalflute]

It doesn't use "gravity" for power. There is energy in the drag but only to keep it from a free fall. Feathers have much drag also.

Heli's also use this drag when there is power failure to keep from a free fall.

If there is any extended flight time it's because of drag and not the gravity.

[The3iz]

Turn off all the lights and put an LED on it.

Sweet vid and creation

[nasalflute]

Or a laser.

[isezgz]

Equip it with a camera with variable capture frequency (never heard of anything like that, but it must exist). That way you alter the frequency until it has the same as the spin, so you get a frame every time it is facing the same orientation (or a frame every two complete turns, etc..).

[mozart237]

I'm sure it wouldn't be too hard to sync up the spinning camera's FPS with the monocopter's RPM with some programming to get a stable shot in a solid direction.

[mozart237]

i'm sure it wouldn't be too hard to sync up the spinning camera's FPS with the monocopter's RPM with some programming and give a stable shot in a solid direction.

[pa1pa1]

how is it powered? if its batteries, then i'll have a very small airtime. How much of flight time does it have?

[tferoli]

25+ min @ 70g

[greggamma]

Needs a central off axis stabilizer gyro to prevent spin. Otherwise this is UMV only!

Too much wobble and vibration for a video or weapons application. Cool "toy."

[shadowshian]

well unless theyd put a gyro and free rotating ring in the base to minimize the vibration and wobbling then it might be atleast usefull as a camera.

[VideoVegetable]

Could be the basis for modern cheap urban air transport of the future. I can envision a small portable and easy to store monocopter using this principle with counter balanced attached bearing cockpit of some sort to hold a single human occupant or more. really cool idea!

[MrBigRubberChicken]

This is realy cool!! I want one!! Great job!

[CousinoMacul]

That was amazing!

[shadowace421]

lol, so simple, i cant believe they just now came up with this

[brendansimons]

Absolutely fantastic. (Great theme music too). Sell a kit to us hobbyists and you'll make a fortune

is there a technical report somewhere? I'd love to learn more about the sensor / actuator package.

[IanDavidOnDU]

OMFG! I want one to play with!