REFLEXX

Hello all!

I posted this in another forum, but I thought I'd try here also..

Has anyone done a quad rotor that is tethered to the ground or a vehicle?

My company is developing a Medium sized UGV (unmanned ground vehicle) and we had the idea of mounting a tethered quadrotor to the top. It would be like a very tall camera/observation platform.

The idea is simple. Our vehicle arrives in a certain (wooded / urban) area and stops. A protective dome opens up. The heli would be powered up and a small winch would feed out the tether line allowing it to go up 50 feet (or more?). It would then become a video platform for situational awareness?

Once it looks around, the heli is then winched back down into the protective "dome" and the vehicle moves on.

Some ideas:

1. No batteries necessary. We can supply power along the tether line, thus giving us unlimited hover time.

2. No need for gyros, if the rotors all face slightly outward? creating a cone of air and pulling against the tether line.

3. fixed pitch is fine. The motors just operate on enough throttle to pull on the tether/winch line.

4. perhaps a conventional heli design is better. Easier to rotate the heli to look in a different direction?

5. Camera & payload would be bigger because we can supply unlimited 24v power.



any thoughts? suggestions? Want to volunteer and get involved?


thanks,

Gene S.

Sky High

Have you seen the latest advances with DFI's newest X6 or Old Man Mike's custom DF modifications? Other than constant power from a cord and those new advances allowing near autonomous flight, why fool with a tethered power line? Have you also considered how heavy a power cord at least 60 feet long would be when ounces count? Good luck and let us know how it works out with pictures and video.

REFLEXX

Here's why.

Scenario #1. Our vehicle is doing sentry duty around an arifield, five miles from the nearest human. The remote tele-operator wants a better view than one at ground level. Perhaps there is a wall or structure in the way. He deploys the tethered heli and it looks around at any height (within reason). It can be left "on location" indefinitely. There's reason watchtowers are so tall.

Scenario $#2. Now imagine a gun battle in an urban area. There;s a sniper keeping the good guyd from advancing through an intersection. Our vehicle drives to below a window and the heli pops-up to take a peek inside. Or to the middle of the intersection to check out all the windows and rooftops. Sure this can be done from a RC heli, but would take an operator who's really good and if they are under fire, that would be extra difficult. In our case, all you control is height (via the cable) and rotation (via joystick). If the operator of our system drops the control pad, nothing happens.

60 ft of kevlar/powercord would be a few lbs. The heli could be upwards of 10 lbs. Allowing for more advanced (better) camera systems).

Sky High

Have you ever flown an RC aircraft? If not, it looks like you have alot more research to do. I'm not sure about the flying out of the roof of a truck but what you are describing is definitely possible and already in operation with large scale, long range RC helos. However, they are very complex and expensive.

It's not as cool as the helo but how about using a 55 ft pneumatic mast with a camera on top like the one on the news truck below. It's simple, safe and affordable.

Isn't what you're talking about using an RC helo? As far as controlling it, it will drift and will need correction whether it's done manually or automated. The lighter the power tether, the more it will whip around in the downwash and the heavier it is, the more power you'll need to stay in the air. It just goes on and on. Keep us posted.