Flight tests revealed some of the potential problems, most of which were associated with operating the drone rather than the printing itself, Jaeger said. 'Even with a small amount of wind, something this small will get buffeted around,' he said. They also had to figure out the logistics of launching a drone from a ship, getting it back
Too windy? A 3d printed drone won't be applicable for that mission, much the same way a Zodiac-based landing party wouldn't be suitable during a hurricane.
Need to launch? Toss in air. [youtube.com] It's launched.
Need to land? Land. If it falls in the water, oh well. Your disposable drone is disposed of. It's not like these are $4m Predators being made. The military spends more on consumables to flush a toilet than what these cost to make.
Too windy? A 3d printed drone won't be applicable for that mission, much the same way a Zodiac-based landing party wouldn't be suitable during a hurricane.
Need to launch? Toss in air. [youtube.com] It's launched.
Go old school. Take what is essentially an old K-gun depth charge launcher and add a container for the drone that breaks apart at a certain height. This would allow the drone to get far enough away from the wind for controlled flight and doesn't waste power on the drone by having to take off in all the wind.
The decision doesn't have to be logical; it was unanimous.
Uncontrollable? (Score:1)
Flight tests revealed some of the potential problems, most of which were associated with operating the drone rather than the printing itself, Jaeger said. 'Even with a small amount of wind, something this small will get buffeted around,' he said. They also had to figure out the logistics of launching a drone from a ship, getting it back
Shouldn't they be fixing this first?
Re:Uncontrollable? (Score:2)
What's to fix?
Too windy? A 3d printed drone won't be applicable for that mission, much the same way a Zodiac-based landing party wouldn't be suitable during a hurricane.
Need to launch? Toss in air. [youtube.com] It's launched.
Need to land? Land. If it falls in the water, oh well. Your disposable drone is disposed of. It's not like these are $4m Predators being made. The military spends more on consumables to flush a toilet than what these cost to make.
Re: (Score:2)
What's to fix?
Too windy? A 3d printed drone won't be applicable for that mission, much the same way a Zodiac-based landing party wouldn't be suitable during a hurricane.
Need to launch? Toss in air. [youtube.com] It's launched.
Go old school. Take what is essentially an old K-gun depth charge launcher and add a container for the drone that breaks apart at a certain height. This would allow the drone to get far enough away from the wind for controlled flight and doesn't waste power on the drone by having to take off in all the wind.