

Ask HN: Computer aided RC combat airplanes - 0xdeadbeefbabe

http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=4Vh_R1NlmX0 is from 2011 SWARM and shows RC aircraft or combat wings trying to hit each other in the air. Scoring a hit is pretty rare. I&#x27;d like to enable pilots to score more hits with the help of computers, computer aided targeting to be specific, an event for which they&#x27;d use airwolf theme music instead of offspring.<p>What low cost sensor(s) would you use for detecting planes going 40-80 mph?
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nabla9
First thing that comes to mind is cheap optical sensors. I think you can even
use small laser/ir led and detect the reflected light because distances are so
short. If you want to detect direction with single sensor, you might want to
use optical modulator (rotating reticle) just like many IR guided missiles do.
Maybe the reticle could even be tiny rotating rotor powered by the air.

Tactics should be same as real missiles have. Approach others from below if
possible so that signals from ground can't mess the signal. Calibrate against
sky before flight. You should also make sure that the plane does not chase sun
or moon.

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0xdeadbeefbabe
Thanks for your response.

So, you could use a small IR LED in outdoors in daylight to find objects less
than X yards away. I wonder how to calculate X. I suppose you'd need 3 light
sensors to determine direction. I wonder how far apart they need to be. The
rotating reticle sounds interesting. Wouldn't that prevent false positives
from the sun?

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nabla9
You should use optical filters if possible to filter unwanted wavelengths and
receiver should have relatively narrow field of view. The main goal would be
to detect difference from the background.

Rotating reticle would be really good idea if you can make it work
mechanically. You would need only one light sensor to detect direction if you
use reticle. See:
[http://wiki.scramble.nl/index.php/Sidewinder_article#Reticle](http://wiki.scramble.nl/index.php/Sidewinder_article#Reticle)
Simple C type reticle would be enough to separate target from the background
and find out the direction of the target.

