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Tri/Quadcopter awesomeness

Posted by Chris Anderson on March 23, 2010 at 9:51pm


[There was a bunch of very cool Tri/Quadcopter stuff on the RCG blogs today. Here's a sampling:]


Above: A very cool custom tricopter with a Trex body so you can tell which direction is forward. Check out the post for details on the pro quality pan-tilt camera mount.


And check this next one out. Did you know that you can make a Mikrocopter amphibious? This video is mindblowing. It starts underwater, but keep watching:



Finally, a "best of" video of Mikrocopters as camera platforms. How many Hollywood movies or TV shows have you seen recently that used quads rather than cranes?



Both of those quad videos are from this post, which is great introduction to Mikrocopters. Worth reading the whole thing.

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Comments

  • Moderator
    Brian March 27, 2010 at 1:00pm
    Ok, Roger that. I was trying to wrap my mind around commercial bl motors and it wasn't sinking in. You're talking a very specialized setup. I was thinking that I could use an electic motor (bl preferred) and have the motor/electronics in a sealed compartment and use a series of chambers with sealed shaft housings to minimize water intake due to possible leaking seals. I've also read about using submerged bilge pumps as thusters. We're still early in the project so ideas are welcome.
  • Moderator
    Brian March 27, 2010 at 10:24am
    It does look like the camera pod is the only part under water. If you watch close, until it actually lifts out of the water there's not much in depth changes. Still cool though...

    @Bill - Been working on a plan to remote my B-in-law's underwater fish cam... So your brushless motors are inside a sealed compartment and not actually in the water?
  • Daniel Nugent March 24, 2010 at 7:32pm
    that second video had amazing video quality! how did they make a camera that small with such high video quality!!!
  • Jack Crossfire March 24, 2010 at 2:08pm
    Mikrokopter did show one taking off from underwater a long time ago. Funny how the tri rotor got 2 cameras & he went through all the trouble of gimbaling......the camera that doesn't record anything. People have to be told what they want.
  • Developer
    John Arne Birkeland March 24, 2010 at 12:19pm
    Even if brushless motors work under water, they are are terrible at low rpm / high torque operations. So a big prop underwater would not work very well I think. But the idea is great! Just scale it up to full size and put it in the next Bond movie. :)
  • Xander March 24, 2010 at 11:23am
    Actually, brushless motors hold up OK under water. If you waterproofed everything else it could run. Whether you'd do much more than just churn the water with your props I'm uncertain. Intriguing idea though...
  • IKE March 24, 2010 at 6:59am
    Do you have any more information about the amphibious drone? That was amazing!
  • izo March 24, 2010 at 6:11am
    It was my impression as well that only camera was submerged.
    Still pretty awsome.
  • Paul Marsh March 24, 2010 at 6:00am
    P.S. -- Kind of a "duh" moment, but I guess the camera just hangs in the water below the quadracopter. Still, I enjoyed the mental visual while it lasted. :-)
  • Paul Marsh March 24, 2010 at 5:19am
    Been waiting 45 years for the flying sub to become a reality, and now I can't fit in it! Pretty cool, though.

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