Strange New Propulsion Method.

That is pretty cool. I wonder what it could lead to in the future. At the moment, I bet it could get some people going in a youtube UFO vid,If it works outside. Put some lights here and there on it, label it shapeshifting UFO filmed over wherever..Keep an eye open,could make for an easy debunk later.That thing is pretty darn cool though.

Vasa Croe mentioned that it somehow reminded him of a solar sail,which for some reason it did for me also. Pardon me if this is a dumb question,but if you were somehow find a way to attach a cable system to it,to where it wouldn't get tangled with the way the thing moves.Could someone use the principles of this thing to build a solar sail? Ride the solar winds and also get a slight extra push from the way that it moves?

Purdy cool, and I wonder what, if anything this mimics from nature. Sea creature maybe, pollen or seed pods?

The design is based on the inverted cube shape discovered by inventor and mathematician Paul Schatz. By dissecting a cube into three parts, two star-shaped units can be produced at either end with an invertible belt in the middle section which is the same shape as the flying band. The system reproduces the entire structure: it opens to release the band while the ends remain on the ground as a docking station.

Ahhh, the ole inverted cube design.
I swear a few of the thousands of ufo vids looked similar and surely a spectator may cry ufo!
Put some LED's on it and woohoo, blow some folks minds!

The flying object itself is made up of six identical prisms filled with helium, held together by a carbon-fibre framework. Three motors drive the motion coordinated by a tiny onboard computer, pre-programmed to replicate the inversion sequence. Using a smartphone, a person on the ground can guide the object around a room, which will be demonstrated on Monday at a trade show in Hanover, Germany.

So it does have some helium in it. They propose some potential industrial use maybe. Any guesses for what?
How about personal 'drifting' device, similar to hang gliding or hot air balloon. The size would probably be too big, but with a little helium maybe?
SOURCE
Hang a candle and...."American Lanterns" anyone?

It's helium filled. It floats. It does not produce aerodynamic lift.

None at all huh?

spec

reply to post by Bodaciouschief

It doesn't seem like it.
The thrust is produced by part of the cycle which pushes air backwards. Can't really do that in space.

Originally posted by Bodaciouschief
Vasa Croe mentioned that it somehow reminded him of a solar sail,which for some reason it did for me also. Pardon me if this is a dumb question,but if you were somehow find a way to attach a cable system to it,to where it wouldn't get tangled with the way the thing moves.Could someone use the principles of this thing to build a solar sail? Ride the solar winds and also get a slight extra push from the way that it moves?

I'm sure an electromagnet would work for tethering in space.
Or place it in a bubble with a trailing apparatus in tow.
Who knows, just a lighter than air project that will be forgotten when the next breakthrough is released.

Originally posted by Phage
reply to post by Bodaciouschief

 

It doesn't seem like it.
The thrust is produced by part of the cycle which pushes air backwards. Can't really do that in space.

If you had a trailing antimatter powered laser to fire at the sail you could but the motion would only affect direction predominantly.

reply to post by paratus

If you have a light sail I don't see the point of going through the trouble of having it flip itself inside out. It's the laser itself which provides the thrust.

It slightly resembles the alien craft in the new sci fi movie Battle for LA. One could apply the thrust the other way and the servos become generators, a new kind of ring wind generator, in more segments. I think the use of helium is just a cheat to get it to near zero mass and the propulsion dynamics need to be improved before vertical flight without helium can be achieved. It has to carry a battery, receiver and servos.

thats very odd..

its the weirdest kite Ive ever seen..

Practical uses?

An art piece.

Practicality debatable. Unless you're an art fan.

Still cool nonetheless.

reply to post by boncho


Yer right, it has the big problem that it has as much drag as thrust in two of the cycles.

reply to post by Phage


wow, clever ,,,kids of a different generation thought an oscillating Flywheel (spinning bicycle tire) propelling them on a skate board was pretty cool too, until the energy bled off in relation to oscillation.....

the things kids these days think is cool

I like that, the models are changing air pressure in and around them, with their movements, and swimming in the air. The jellyfish is the 'embodiment' of an OOBE dream.

I went to a chilli festival once, it went well. I ate chilli's, flushed it down with copious amounts of alcohols and had a great night.

Not so much the next day...

The way my rectum felt that day has finally been reproduced by science! Huzzah!

(pretty nifty toy btw thanks for posting it phage)

This is clever but...

If you have a lighter than air craft where you can change the buoyancy, it's a lot simpler and more efficient to make it an airfoil shape and glide up as well as down depending on which way the buoyancy is shifted.

So this turning inside out like a water-weenie for propulsion seems more like a proof that something can be done rather than something much more useful in the long run.

It seems like it is swimming in air. fantastic aircraft technology. Put a camera on it and you have a silent drone.

Very hypnotic.

Makes me think of some sort of flying moebius strip.

That thing is relying on air displacement to provide thrust. I have no ides why they showed an animation of that thing working in outer space because it would not, there is no air there!

reply to post by Vasa Croe

If we constucted craft with sails to catch the solar winds,We would travel to a point in space where the craft would be inbetween stars.The craft would then stop and go no further for the solar winds would lock the craft right between stars,Then come to mind lost in space.

Originally posted by forddavidjunior
reply to post by Vasa Croe

 

If we constucted craft with sails to catch the solar winds,We would travel to a point in space where the craft would be inbetween stars.The craft would then stop and go no further for the solar winds would lock the craft right between stars,Then come to mind lost in space.

Momentum still has a place in this universe - the craft would not stop at all, and you could alter the angle of the sails to catch the right wind just as you would in a traditional sailing vessel on an ocean, or even catch no wind at all.