One of the more exciting things to come out of CES so far is the upgraded version of the Parrot AR.Drone. This quadcopter made a splash at last year’s show, with its on-board camera, WiFi connectivity, smartphone control, open source software, and under $300 price point.
A clever idea, first reported by Gareth a couple years ago: Architects are trying to figure out how to use quadrotors to haul and place individual bricks. The above link is in French; here’s a Google translation. In 2011, Gramazio & Kohler and Raffaello D’Andrea launched a pioneering project around training dynamic and robotic procedures […]
Marcus Olsson and Fredrik Leijon built a zeppelin that uses a Fio, Xbee, and TV-B-Gone added to a toy RC blimp, and is controlled by a Wiimote. My favorite detail, the Lego Technics gears they added.
It’s being widely reported as the first time an electric multi-copter has carried a human being aloft. Germans Thomas Senkel, Stephan Wolf, and Alexander Zosel are the brains behind e-volo, a 16-copter with four groups of four blades, each of which is driven by a separate motor. The first human-carrying flight is reported to have lasted one minute and thirty seconds.
In support of the latest issue of MAKE, Volume 28, MAKE contributor Stefan Jones sent me a link to this PDF of a booklet from the 1950s on model airplane building. It was put out by Sterling Models and reprinted from Flying Models Magazine.
More solid-gold scratch-building from The Internet Craftsmanship Museum. Shown here, the original M.A.S.H. helicopter in magnificent brass by modeler Ken Foran. The work is a commission for Fine Art Models, for use as a master to cast molds for a production run.
Retired dentist Young C. Park built this 1/16 scale replica of the WWII-era fighter plane mostly from common aluminum roof flashing, like the kind you can buy in big rolls at most hardware stores. Dr. Park spent considerable time and energy developing special methods for working this material, including an annealing technique that’s a real gem of practical hands-on shop technique…
