

HyperSphere - continuous surveillance - dsego
http://www.hipersfera.hr

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mistercow
> proprietary innovative autonomous MALE UAV airship

I love when companies try to use "proprietary" as a selling point. The point
they're trying to convey is "our competitors don't have this", but the point
they _do_ convey to savvy customers is "Hoh boy is there some ugly code in
here, and we aren't going to let you see it when something goes wrong."

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BojanP
Just a couple of short comments:

* Hypersphere is not a blimp, balloon, airplane or rocket. it is a rigid airship. difference matters.

* yes, remote sensing can be done with RC toys. But those toys do not ensure quality and continuity of the RS service, let alone cost-effectiveness.

* why is Hypersphere different? Look at the first two pages of the brochure from the webpage, or at the end of the animation for the keypoints (again from the web: <http://www.hipersfera.hr>). In short - the most cost-effective Remote Sensing system in the world, offering 24/7 continuous REAL TIME covering of large ground areas.

* applications: ppl at ycomb cannot see apps for a real time high res online remote sensing database? i usually expect this from people without the "vision capability". think about smartphone market 20 years ago. nuff said.

* Skylifter is another type of vehicle, designed for transport, and Hypersphere is designed for loitering. Might look similar, but the similarity stops there.

* "proprietary" issue. no code has been patented. we have the PCT patent granted on the overall airship design, proving that we're "novel, innovative, and relevant for the industry". that is the point of "proprietary".

* privacy: cell phone penetration is around 100% or more in most of the developed world. hence, there are technical means for govmnts and corporations to know exactly where you are, what are you doing, what are you saying, etc, at any given time, regardless if ur phone is turned on or off. hence, the point is in efficient regulation of the technology.

* linked article title says the project is worth 7.5Bn$. what I actually said is that the RS market is valued at 7.5Bn$ today, and that Hypersphere, with a right strategic partner, has the potential to become the market-multiplier, coz it enables a complete change of the Remote Sensing Business model, because of 2-order-magnitude image price drop.

* there is a flight tested scaled prototype, which confirmed innovative flight concept.

Bojan Pecnik, founder and CTO

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polyfractal
Soooo...they reinvented a blimp, strapped on some gimballed cameras and are
using a proprietary equivalent to ArduPilot?

One of my hobbies is FPV RC planes/quadrotors. People are doing this with
planes and quads for a fraction of the cost. Not 100 hour deployments sure,
but that's because blimps are boring to fly.

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ChuckMcM
Actually its a dirigible according to the render (rigid structure) and it has
exploited the same "design innovation" that the Australian company [1] did
which is that by making is a saucer shape you avoid some of the stationkeeping
issues as the vehicle presents a uniform air resistance profile in every
direction.

I wonder though who the target market is for this thing which is clearly out
looking for funding. Given the scale on the render by a hanger it seems to be
quite large, and while being predominantly clear would have it be hard to spot
at altitude its overall size and the slow maneuverability of gas filled
aircraft suggests it would be an easy target.

It doesn't seem to have the payload to carry a communication substation
(another proposed application of long loiter aircraft) thus the market seems
like it might be drug lords wanting surveillance around their home base
(always a bad idea since its also a flag "here is my home base") or perhaps
border patrol.

The good news is that being specialized you only have a few possible customers
and you can quickly ascertain if they will buy from you or not thus you won't
waste a lot of time.

[1] <http://skylifter.com.au/>

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dsego
The following article (in croatian) states that the project is worth 7.5
billion euros. The inventors are saying that they want to keep the project in
Croatia, but that there's no interest from the government or anyone else here,
so they're forced to look elsewhere for investors. They claim that one
particular european country has already shown interest and considers the
project important to protecting its national interests. The project was also
exhibited in London and on Google's campus.

[http://dnevnik.hr/vijesti/hrvatska/doznajemo-hrvatskoj-iz-
ru...](http://dnevnik.hr/vijesti/hrvatska/doznajemo-hrvatskoj-iz-ruku-klizi-
domaci-projekt-vrijedan-7-5-milijardi-eura.html)

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tzaman
The geek inside me loves the idea. The human inside me, however sees this as a
+1 for big brother.

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zactral
Balloons like this tend to have high drag. These small propellers seem
inadequate for keeping the direction in strong or even medium winds.

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ivanbrezakbrkan
The founder has stated that he doesn't want to see it used for military
purposes.

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greenyoda
Other than the military and the police, there aren't a lot of people who have
lots of money to spend on "continuous surveillance".

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zacharyvoase
So, does this exist yet or is it just an executive summary and some
renderings?

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dsego
According to croatian news portals, there's a fully functional smaller scale
prototype.

More in this news report: <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDKyRy43NxQ>

~~~
dsego
The youtube video is in english.

