Laser Powered RC Car - KC Space Pirates

Preparing for the Space Elevator Games we made a laser Powered E-Maxx. It is powered by an 8Kw TRUMPF industrial laser. We had to do this testing in the middle of the Mojave desert to make sure that we did not burn anything important. The conversion efficiency is still a secret ahead of the competition. But I will say this is not as fast as it can go.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Laser
• high
• Power
• Beaming
• Space
• Elevator
• Games
• KC
• Pirates
• Nasa
• Spaceward
• Burn
• Rocket
• Alternative
• travel
• mo

[hanbacca]

dang i am going to try that on a micro scale. i ordered a bunch of lasers from china and am going to build a tiny car circuit to test it on.

[KCSpacePirates07]

@hanbacca Be sure and get safety glasses for you and any friends that might come watch. I also would test the power requirements of the car before I spent a lot of money on lasers. Then do the math for how much laser power is required.

[DocWolph]

I'm sure you've been asked this but: what would this be used for? I can see Lunar exploration, firing a laser as a rover in a shadowed crater, or a space elevator, but is there anything else?

[KCSpacePirates07]

There are a number of small niches where this would work. One example is providing power to aircraft that stay aloft for days or months. like flying cell towers, border patrol, search and rescue.

[Bmr4life]

Back in 1964, a model helicopter was powered only by a microwave beam.

[KCSpacePirates07]

Yes, I've seen that one. It went up about 10 or so feet indoors. We ran out to around 3/4 of a mile in these tests. Microwaves have a hard time keeping the beam tight over distance.

[PortmanteauStudio]

It appears you have an excellent idea that I could see applied to many different real-world technologies. I wish you the best I look forward to seeing more videos on this topic!

[danleafkiller]

@leo4033 We used green lasers for tracking testing. This allowed us to see that the tracking was actually working while the car and climber were powered by batteries. In the shots where you can't see the laser, it was being powered by a 1030nm laser which is in the peak efficiency range of silicon solar cells.

[Nadirion1]

what is a conversion ratio of electrical power to beam and beam back to electrical?

[Nadirion1]

@DocWolph Wireless electronics in your house, electric cars that are charged in city by laser installed on buildings (for a fee, of course), solar powerplant in space where real estate is cheap and beam that power to earth

[leo4033]

@hanbacca I have a similar question: why did you use a green laser? Silicon's peak responsivity is at near-infrared wavelengths. I take it you made your own solar cell?

[leo4033]

@hanbacca I have a similar question. Why did you decide to use a green laser? If I'm not mistaken, Si's peak responsivity sits at ~960nm which is near-infrared. I'm taking it you made your own solar cell?

[hanbacca]

@KCSpacePirates07 yeah i will; all that i am getting is like 10 5mw laser modules to see if they will even work before i make a bigger financial commitment. Do you find that lasers at the higher wavelength end of the spectrum work better with solar panels? or did you guys use specially made photovoltaics?

[Marcus60661]

0:53 it did a wheelie :)

[WanaBeRCRacer]

Sweet!!!