Tag Archives: flying

Man Builds a Functional Tabletop Flight Simulator Out of LEGO

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Because if you can dream it, you can build it (at least with LEGO bricks), Riley of Youtube channel Brick Science wanted to build a tabletop flight simulator entirely out of LEGO. Something that would sit on the table, and you could move with functional controllers. And that’s exactly what he did.

The LEGO EV3 joystick and throttle control the plane, with the throttle making the airplane’s propeller spin faster and the joystick controlling the plane’s axis of movement. In addition to the biplane, Riley also demonstrates a helicopter and jet that also work on the flight simulator platform. Impressive! Now submit it to LEGO so they can make it an actual set you can buy!

Personally, I love flight simulators. They’re way less scary than actual flying, which is terrifying. Especially when your older brother and all his friends convince you to repeatedly jump off the roof with a pair of cardboard wings because you weren’t flapping hard enough on the previous attempt. Now that I think about it, maybe that’s where my lifelong fear of flying comes from.

[via TechEBlog]

These Bird-Like Robotic Legs Can Perch And Grasp Things With Its Feet

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Inspired by the legs and feet of a peregrine falcon, engineers at Stanford University’s Cutkosky Lab have developed a set of SNAG (“stereotyped nature-inspired aerial grasper”) robotic legs that can perch on different sized branches and grasp objects in a manner similar to the bird of prey. They then attached those legs to a quadrocopter to help herald the robot apocalypse. Per Dr. Ian Malcom in Jurassic Park: “Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether they could, that they didn’t stop to think if they should.” Truer words have never been spoken.

How do the legs work? According to a paper published on SNAG, “Each leg has its own motor for moving back and forth and another to handle grasping. Inspired by the way tendons route around the ankle in birds, a similar mechanism in the robot’s leg absorbs landing impact energy and passively converts it into grasping force. Once wrapped around a branch, SNAG’s ankles lock and an accelerometer on the right foot reports that the robot has landed and triggers a balancing algorithm to stabilize it.” Impressive! Even more impressive considering the entire process occurs in the blink of an eye, with the talons snapping closed around a branch in just 20 milliseconds. I’d hate to be that branch!

The researchers imagine their robotic bird legs being used in future search and rescue missions, as well as wildlife monitoring, although I suspect they’ll actually be used for something much more nefarious. So, if you were wondering how long it would be until a giant robotic eagle swoops down out of the sky to pick you up and use you to power the Matrix, the answer is probably sooner than you previously thought.

Toy Football/Plane Hybrid Can Be Thrown Over 100 Yards

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This is the Mad Fly Sports Raptor Football, a toy football/plane hybrid that can be thrown over 100 yards. So maybe for once when my brother tells me to go long, he’ll actually mean it. The toy does require a unique throw (read: not a football spiral) for the creation of maximum lift and distance though, so there is a learning curve involved.

The $50 toy, available on Amazon (affiliate link), is advertised as the world’s farthest-flying football, with ‘football’ clearly being defined very loosely here, because that is much less a ball and way more a plane. But did that stop me from starting an online petition demanding the NFL make it their new official ball? It did not.

Obviously, the ball still requires a decent arm to be able to throw it over 100 yards. With my sad arm, you’d probably have a hard time distinguishing if a throw was actually a throw or just an accidental drop. Hey, it’s not my fault Santa never brought me a Bowflex. Granted I’ve never asked for one either, but still.

[via Dude I Want That]

The Colorado startup dreaming up a return to supersonic flight

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In less than 50 days, a company will unveil what it hopes will be the plane to kickstart a new generation of supersonic flight. On October 7th, Boom Supersonic is planning to show off the XB-1, its single-seat test craft, with flights planned for nex...

Post Covid-19 air travel: Redesigned flight seating that makes traveling safe and luxurious

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Seats on a business class ticket are dramatically safer than those in economy class. That isn’t because they were designed to be safer, it’s because they were designed around the idea of spacious luxury. James Lee’s butterfly seats explore that very idea to make flight seats safer. By isolating seats, creating partitions, and providing facilities that align with the concept of premium value addition, the Butterfly seats instantly offer a much more safe travel experience by creating dedicated spaces for passengers with lesser chances of spreading germs through interaction.

The seats come in pairs of two and are slightly offset, rather than being side by side. This immediately means you don’t have someone directly beside you, which decreases the chances of socialization. Seats even have adjustable partitions between them to separate passengers, and even have dedicated armrests so you’re never accidentally resting your arm on someone else’s place. Seats come with all the fittings needed to allow you to store your belongings and even work while flying. A dedicated laptop desk ensures you can work while flying, and there are even slots to store magazines and your own pair of in-flight headphones. For parents traveling with little children, the seats fold down to turn into a makeshift bed for youngsters, and if you’re traveling solo with nobody beside you, both the seats can be folded down and covered with a zigzag mattress so you can sleep comfortably – a feature that’s useful for people who are unwell on the journey or for red-eye flights.

It’s simple tactics like this that will help make flying safer and less fearful at the same time. With solutions like the Janus Seat, you end up creating a functioning solution, but run the risk of still dealing with an entrenched sense of fear in the passengers (besides, sitting in that middle seat becomes even less desirable). The Butterfly, however, retains the status quo, with seats that aren’t dramatically different and visors/partitions that don’t look like partitions. By masking the idea of safety using luxury as a design solution, the Butterfly makes traveling safe again while also allowing the experience to be a relaxing, valuable, and comfortable one!

The Butterfly Aircraft Seat is a winner of the A’ Design Award for the year 2020.

Designer: James Lee

The solution to making flying safer and less scary post-COVID is to integrate safety with luxury

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Seats on a business class ticket are dramatically safer than those in economy class. That isn’t because they were designed to be safer, it’s because they were designed around the idea of spacious luxury. James Lee’s butterfly seats explore that very idea to make flight seats safer. By isolating seats, creating partitions, and providing facilities that align with the concept of premium value addition, the Butterfly seats instantly offer a much more safe travel experience by creating dedicated spaces for passengers with lesser chances of spreading germs through interaction.

The seats come in pairs of two and are slightly offset, rather than being side by side. This immediately means you don’t have someone directly beside you, which decreases the chances of socialization. Seats even have adjustable partitions between them to separate passengers, and even have dedicated armrests so you’re never accidentally resting your arm on someone else’s place. Seats come with all the fittings needed to allow you to store your belongings and even work while flying. A dedicated laptop desk ensures you can work while flying, and there are even slots to store magazines and your own pair of in-flight headphones. For parents traveling with little children, the seats fold down to turn into a makeshift bed for youngsters, and if you’re traveling solo with nobody beside you, both the seats can be folded down and covered with a zigzag mattress so you can sleep comfortably – a feature that’s useful for people who are unwell on the journey or for red-eye flights.

It’s simple tactics like this that will help make flying safer and less fearful at the same time. With solutions like the Janus Seat, you end up creating a functioning solution, but run the risk of still dealing with an entrenched sense of fear in the passengers (besides, sitting in that middle seat becomes even less desirable). The Butterfly, however, retains the status quo, with seats that aren’t dramatically different and visors/partitions that don’t look like partitions. By masking the idea of safety using luxury as a design solution, the Butterfly makes traveling safe again while also allowing the experience to be a relaxing, valuable, and comfortable one!

The Butterfly Aircraft Seat is a winner of the A’ Design Award for the year 2020.

Designer: James Lee

Autonomous flying taxi Cora set for passenger trials in New Zealand

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Companies have been saying for years that flying taxis are on the agenda. Now it looks like they're finally set to take flight. Wisk -- a joint venture between Boeing and Kitty Hawk -- has signed a memorandum of understanding with the New Zealand gov...

Garmin’s new nav system can emergency land small planes

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Flying in a small plane is thrilling (and at least slightly terrifying) when things go as planned. It's another story when the pilot of the small plane is, for whatever reason, suddenly unable to fly or land it. Most passengers would have no idea wha...

NEC’s Flying Car Is a Giant Drone for Humans

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If you grew up any time in the latter half of the 20th century or later, you’ve been promised that flying cars (and personal jetpacks) would someday take to the skies on a regular basis. While there certainly have been a number of concepts and prototypes over the years, living like the Jetsons has yet to materialize.

Japanese technology company NEC hopes that someday this could change, and has been testing a flying car that looks like a gigantic drone.

The prototype flying car measures in at 3.9 m (12.8 ft) L x 3.7 m (12.1 ft) W x 1.3 m (4.26 ft) H, which makes it one of the biggest quadrotors I’ve ever seen. In addition to testing out the hardware for the car drone, NEC is working on autonomous flight technology for the aircraft.

The prototype currently hovers only about 10 feet above the ground, and is being tested on a tether for safety purposes. The video below shows off a test of the vehicle, which is at once impressive and terrifying:

As its four giant rotors spin up, I can only think about all of the awful things that could happen if you got any body parts anywhere near one, especially since they sit at about neck or upper chest height for an average height person. Then, they need to figure out the small challenge of battery life for its electric motors.

Still, the idea of autonomous flying cars that just carry you magically over the traffic below is highly appealing.

NEC has announced plans to produce this flying vehicle, but is using the prototype as a test platform for future technologies.

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