

Robot Dragonfly - blueintegral
http://www.indiegogo.com/robotdragonfly

======
htf
In the video, the founders suggest that I can "spy on people" and
simultaneously show a picture of little girls. I would suggest removing that
from the video.

Also in the video, they proudly announce that "the dragonfly has 5 technology
patents on its design, ranging from mechanics, aerodynamics and flight
controls". The fact that they intend to use the patent system to prevent
competition might help them attract investors, but it sure as hell is not
going to encourage me to contribute to their funding campaign.

------
htf
Can someone explain something to me. These guys have 5 patents for their
Dragonfly and, according to them, the research that led to these patents was
funded by taxpayers to the tune of $1,000,000. So, the government funds the
research, and the researchers get to patent the results for themselves? Is
that the usual arrangement?

~~~
haliax
Typically, you'll have something like the following: \- The government funds
the research \- The developers get first refusal on patenting \- If they
refuse, the government can patent \- If they patent, the government is given a
perpetual free license to use the technology

------
dharma1
would love to know how much noise this wing design makes. The
quadra/hexa/octocopters we fly are great but pretty noisy

Ours are slightly bigger though - designed to lift a RED Epic camera and a big
bunch of batteries :) <http://londonhelicam.co.uk> \- password to see the
video is 'helicam'

~~~
klous
The reel has some very nice cinematic shots. I wonder when we will start to
see more of this in Hollywood cinema.

~~~
dharma1
thanks :) It's all very new tech but a similar setup (rc heli with RED Epic)
was used in a couple of aerial shots in Skyfall - the latest James Bond film

------
jsilence
I find it disturbing that they advertise it with "spying on people".

~~~
tucosan
At least they are honest about the true use case of their minidrone.
Unsettling nonetheless.

------
srlake
Hardware ftw. See also the Mimix quadrocopter on Kickstarter:
[http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/qfolabs/mimixtm-tilt-
to-...](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/qfolabs/mimixtm-tilt-to-fly-
controller-and-nanoqtm-copter?ref=6342p1)

Wish these kinds of toys were available when I was a kid!

------
JonSkeptic
I like all the comments about how "original" and "innovative" this...even
though the CIA did this 40 years ago. [http://www.engadget.com/2012/07/30/cia-
dragonfly-drone-uavs-...](http://www.engadget.com/2012/07/30/cia-dragonfly-
drone-uavs-40-years/)

On a side note, I wonder how well it holds up in the wind?

~~~
TenJack
I was wondering about the wind as well. One of their use cases is recording
yourself on a hike, but that seems like a pretty precarious environment...

------
leeoniya
neat. but conveniently no mention of battery life or range; always a huge
issue with tiny fliers.

~~~
nrmn
They have the battery life/flight time as follows (assuming this is for the
alpha variation)

Hovering Time: 8-10 minutes

Hybrid Flight Time: 25-30 minutes

Image source:
[http://d2oadd98wnjs7n.cloudfront.net/medias/521391/pictures/...](http://d2oadd98wnjs7n.cloudfront.net/medias/521391/pictures/full/20121103172245-Picture7-2_copy.jpg?1351988574)

~~~
dave_sullivan
For anyone that has experience with various types of fliers like this, why
does battery life suck so much and are there any options that can be used to
extend it very significantly? Is it a matter of needing to invent better
batteries, would reducing weight be the best option, or does it need to run
off of some different fuel source to improve?

I guess my question really is: will this improve over time, or is there some
real stumbling block that's holding that back?

~~~
noonespecial
The power/weight ratio. Particularly the energy density of available
batteries. Unless batteries can be given a much greater stored energy capacity
per unit weight, "toy" flight will be the only kind of battery powered flight
possible.

------
jahansafd
Not sure if you can spy on people. These things are going to be too loud.

