Hey! Engineering and tech nerds! What nifty upgrades could you make for this toy

[BlueStarLizzard]

  http://www.wimp.com/coolesttoy/   

Maybe a mini automatic paintball gun for funnsies? 

[Viking]

I don't know what the hell that is, but I want one. Scaled up to fit a human .

[Jamisjockey]

Want!

[AJ Dual]

There's actually a lot of RC quad-copters out there for around $300-500 already.

I'm kind of amazed nobody's weaponized one yet. Some of them even have a rated payload capacity of a pound or two. More than enough for a self-forging copper disk warhead.

[MicroBalrog]

There's actually a lot of RC quad-copters out there for around $300-500 already.

I'm kind of amazed nobody's weaponized one yet. Some of them even have a rated payload capacity of a pound or two. More than enough for a self-forging copper disk warhead.

Already.

Both Western and ex-Soviet militaries deploy various RC quadcopters.

[TechMan]

I will see your quad copter and raise you a hexacopter.

It can lift 9 lbs.

[RoadKingLarry]

How long before DHS.gov starts outlawing such potentially evil devices.

[vaskidmark]

How long before DHS.gov starts outlawing such potentially evil devices.

Too late.  A person I might or might not know has or has not mounted a .22 with a video camera sighting system.  No, it is not fired by an electromechanical servo motor or rubber bands as that would violate NFA regulations.  I do not know any more about how they get the thing to fire but I understand that tree rats do not like the thing.

There is loose talk about equipping one with mechanical talons and making a raptor.

What I'd like to see is a way to dampen the rotor noise.

stay safe.

[Brad Johnson]

Want for the sound alone!

Brad

[Hawkmoon]

Too late.  A person I might or might not know has or has not mounted a .22 with a video camera sighting system.  No, it is not fired by an electromechanical servo motor or rubber bands as that would violate NFA regulations.  I do not know any more about how they get the thing to fire but I understand that tree rats do not like the thing.

An electromechanical servo firing mechanism violates the NFA? How? If it's illegal on a remote-controlled bird, how are electronic triggers legal of rifles?

[Harold Tuttle]

The parrot Ar drone is pretty advanced tech.
 http://ardrone.parrot.com/parrot-ar-drone/usa/

The U Penn aggressive-quad-rotor perchers and window passers are scarey fast
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvRTALJp8DM

But imho, the Japanese sphere drone is the future form.
http://techcrunch.com/2011/10/25/video-japans-defense-ministry-develops-awesome-ball-shaped-drone/

[vaskidmark]

An electromechanical servo firing mechanism violates the NFA? How? If it's illegal on a remote-controlled bird, how are electronic triggers legal of rifles?

My bad.

Whatever the firing mechanism is, it will only cause one round to fire with any activation of the mechanism, as opposed to a mechanism that will "cycle" as long as the activating switch is depressed.

Better?

stay safe.

[Harold Tuttle]

The detcord dropper is the #1 APS requested mod

[Harold Tuttle]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wibPWv6Hjw

[HankB]

I'm thinking of an "egg dropper" along the route of a police speed trap . . . when Office Not-So-Friendly stops a car for some minor traffic violation and gets out of his squad . . . splat!

Or attach a spray paint can and do something about traffic & surveillance cameras, which don't work very well with a layer of paint over the lenses.

A neighbor's loud outdoor parties keeping you awake late at night? Dropping some skunk scent from above would break things up.

There are lots of opportunities here . . . 

[kgbsquirrel]

http://youtu.be/xZJtPDdhS2Q

[brimic]

I'm kind of amazed nobody's weaponized one yet. Some of them even have a rated payload capacity of a pound or two. More than enough for a self-forging copper disk warhead.

Scary that you thought of that.
When I saw the video, I was thinking home made predator-drone-guided-bomb.

[lee n. field]

I don't know what the hell that is, but I want one. Scaled up to fit a human .

That.

[kgbsquirrel]

You know, you probably COULD scale one up to human passenger dimensions with a few hundred motors and what not. Would look like one of those steampunk rotary wing airship contraptions. Dunno how long it could remain airborne for though. Anyone got any endurance info on that heavy-lift hexacopter Adively posted?

[TechMan]

You know, you probably COULD scale one up to human passenger dimensions with a few hundred motors and what not. Would look like one of those steampunk rotary wing airship contraptions. Dunno how long it could remain airborne for though. Anyone got any endurance info on that heavy-lift hexacopter Adively posted?

kgbsquirrel,
I dug a little further and found a wiki for you.  http://www.mikrokopter.de/ucwiki/en/MikroKopter

ETA:  From the engine wiki page:

I use these motors on my APMk 1 and 2, with either GWS 10x6 3-bladed props or APC 12x3.8SF props and converted TowerPro 25A ESCs. With RTF weight of about 1.7kg I get flight times of 8-9minutes out of 3300-3650 mAh 3s1p Lipo's. The motors do not get warm at all.

[AJ Dual]

You know, you probably COULD scale one up to human passenger dimensions with a few hundred motors and what not. Would look like one of those steampunk rotary wing airship contraptions. Dunno how long it could remain airborne for though. Anyone got any endurance info on that heavy-lift hexacopter Adively posted?

It's been done.

Love the Pilates exercise ball as the "landing gear". 

http://www.theverge.com/2011/11/2/2532113/first-manned-multicopter-flight-germany

[kgbsquirrel]

So...... does that qualify as an ultra-light?  *has a new Christmas wish*

[roo_ster]

Quad & hexacopters are all the rage in RC flight right now.  Well, they are with a particular subset.

Most are gyro-ed out the backside and some have limited UAV/programmable route capability. 

Even with all the gyros and computed aided flight, getting that fancy with the maneuvers is not as easy as it looks.  Start out with that sucker and expect many tears.

Also, any of the RC copters will be pretty inefficient with power, just the nature of the beast.  For a similar investment in lipo batteries and motors, you can design a fixed wing RC aircraft that will lift a LOT more.

I am fairly new to RC, but I can keep a reasonable 4-ch (throt, elev, rudd, ail) fixed wing in the air, but only a coax rotor copter.

[Fly320s]

Helicopters are inherently unstable.  The little bastards just won't sit still without constant input by the pilot.

[Harold Tuttle]

hover bike:
http://www.gizmag.com/hoverbike/18813/

 With a 1170 cc 4-stroke engine delivering 80 kW driving two ducted propellers, the inventor of the Hoverbike, Chris Malloy, says with its high thrust to weight ratio, the Hoverbike should be able to reach an estimated height of more than 10,000 feet and reach an indicated airspeed of 150 knots (278 km/h or 173 mph).