
Darpa Unveils Perfected Nano Hummingbird | Walyou - ctingom
http://walyou.com/nano-hummingbird/
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ehsanu1
This type of flying machine is called an ornithopter in general, and many
hobbyists have made their own. You can even buy toy ornithopters I believe.
However, most cannot be controlled, and those that can probably can't be
maneuvered as well as with this particular design.

<http://www.ornithopter.org/>

Many ornithopters use elastic bands for power, whereas this seems to be
battery-based. I'm impressed with the 11 minutes of flying time. I wonder what
sort of battery they are using that's so light. The weight of batteries seems
to me to be the biggest issue in making smaller ornithopters.

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senthilnayagam
Awesome, 11 minutes of flying is not bad considering its size and current
battery technology.

It literally gives a birds eye view :)

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bane
More interesting, at small scale, aerodynamics gets all funky (the viscosity
of the air becomes critically important). For small ornithopters like this,
the wings aren't just flapping back and forth, they're probably _rotating_ as
well...operating more like paddles in a pond.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micro_air_vehicle>

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reynolds_number>

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jamesaguilar
Very cool. From the sounds of the video it is quite a bit louder than a real
hummingbird, but it might pass in an intelligence gathering situation outside
a window, for example.

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thefreshteapot
Company who made it:

AeroVironment <http://www.avinc.com/>

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guscost
Awesome, although my definition of "perfect" would include "quiet."

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tzury
reminds me of this
[http://www.youtube.com/user/ciagov?blend=21&ob=5#p/c/7DA...](http://www.youtube.com/user/ciagov?blend=21&ob=5#p/c/7DAEBD9D7D3080A6/0/dJyNU1aXXwo)
which was developed by CIA's Office of Research and Development in the 1970s

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tomp
I just don't get what's nano about it... It's about the size of a living
humming bird, if not bigger.

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personalcompute
Nano compared to any other UAV.

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ComputerGuru
Sorry, but the title is pure BS and linkbait. Not surprising since it's one of
those sites with pictures w/ catchy subtitles to generate click traffic and
OMG LOLZ photos.

Define "perfected." How is this "perfected?"

And nano? What about a larger-than-life hummingbird is nano?

