h a l f b a k e r yA riddle wrapped in a mystery inside a rich, flaky crust
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Could be wrong, but I don't think there's a lot of promise in
getting quadruped
animals to fly under their own power, but as that's the task
at
hand, this is one way.
Cage with a treadmill in it and a spring attached to the
rotor
blade assembly, contra rotating to keep it simple.
Dog,
cat, gerbil, marmoset etc run for enough time needed
to
wind the spring, then they push the launch button with
their
nose and take off, landing a short time later after the
spring
unwinds.
Neat thing about this is, 1) it would actually work, and 2) in
the case of dogs, you could actually train them to fly on
their own as in: "Oh look, the dog is flying his helicopter in
the backyard." This sentence in no way being associated
with
the use of hallucinogenic drugs as it would have been in the
past.
Not sure if a battery powered version would be lighter than
a spring. That battery technology is getting pretty
impressive. The spring just seems a little cooler though.
I like the idea of things that could have been invented and
built hundreds of years ago with the technology of the
time. You could picture King Louis and his minions all golf
clapping as the court dog flew over the royal gardens in le
chien alimenté hélicoptère.
Yes, but would the dog, once trained, actually use it?
https://www.youtube...watch?v=HJk-FzdAYwQ
You be the judge. [doctorremulac3, Jan 06 2018]
Cat Ejection Pack
Cat_20Ejection_20Pack
Undeservedly popular ... [8th of 7, Jan 06 2018]
Driving dog.
https://www.youtube...watch?v=BWAK0J8Uhzk
Please turn the volume down, there appears to be nothing but static in the background. [doctorremulac3, Jan 06 2018]
Stupid driving dog video.
https://www.youtube...watch?v=krW_tE60T6M
[doctorremulac3, Jan 06 2018]
Dogs flying planes.
https://www.theguar...dogs-to-fly-a-plane
Little different than this idea. Actually a lot different, and not in a good way. [doctorremulac3, Nov 12 2021]
Dog attack videos
https://www.youtube...watch?v=LEhrEBv5rNY
Lots of energy in that bite / shake movement [doctorremulac3, Nov 14 2021]
Wow! Dogs love hamster wheels!
https://www.youtube...watch?v=O1gt9r_JQAU
[doctorremulac3, Nov 14 2021]
and treadmills
https://www.youtube...watch?v=7UgeuUMR4dg
[doctorremulac3, Nov 14 2021]
Constant torque Spring Motor
https://www.yshspri...rque-spring-motors/
[scad mientist, Nov 15 2021]
Different but related
Husky_20Powered_20Aircraft
[pertinax, Nov 15 2021]
[link]
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I've always been fascinated by the things man and dog
share. Pack hunting, driving, playing catch and most
specifically the difference between the cat and the dog
regarding these shared traits. |
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Put a dog in a car he sticks his head out the window and
enjoys the ride. Put a cat in the car he claws your eyes
out assuming this is some kind of cat grinder you've put
him in. |
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You can play catch with a dog who will understand the
cycle. He catches the ball and brings it back to be re-
thrown. A cat will paw instinctively at a mouselike
object, even a laser dot, but seems pretty un-aware,
even being fooled by the farcical mouse. The
dog knows it's a ball and this is just an exercise. |
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A dog fulfills his evolutionary duty to the family home,
the "pack" in his eyes, by defending it. This is how the
man/dog link came about. Early dog would hang out at
early man camps for scraps of food and while warning,
with their more sensitive sensory apparatus, of impending
attack by wild animals, other tribes etc. When both went
hunting together, it was a perfect match and still is. |
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So with all these decades of man ruling
the skies, isn't it time to share this domain with our
evolutionary
partner? |
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The time for man to fly came a long time ago. The time
has now come for dog to fly. |
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I will add, there may be a practical side to this idea. Cost
to make this thing, probably a few thousand dollars. A
video of this flight would be watched by some percentage
of a billion people, not sure how big a percentage but the
scale of viewing would most likely be in the hundreds of
millions. |
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I don't know how much money you might make from a
video with two hundred million views but certainly you
could make a few thousand dollars no? Besides, there's
more to life than money. (I keep telling myself that) The
first dog powered helicopter would certainly deserve a
footnote in aviation history would it not? |
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The energy-density-to-weight ratio of a spring is abysmal, it would never get off the ground. A big elastic band, maybe. Lithium batteries probably. |
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Also helicopters need much more power than planes. The longest human-powered plane journeys are quite significant, the longest human-powered helicopter flight is just a few seconds. |
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If it has to charge up on the ground, why not just plug it into a power socket? Or have a whole team of dogs charging it up for one pilot dog. Or tether the helicopter, with power coming up a cable from treadmills on the ground. |
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A team of huskies at ground level could even power a water pump, with a hose leading up to the water-jetpack of one lucky poodle. |
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Let's be liberal with our interpretation of "spring". |
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You could flex the entire body of the craft to store the
energy then transfer the potential energy to a pair of rotors. |
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But however it's done, it doesn't have to fly for long, just
hop a few yards. |
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I'm thinking eliminate the spring and exchange for a
flywheel with a multi-speed transmission. Have the
transmission and treadmill remain behind on the
ground for weight savings. |
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Or burn dried dog poo as fuel for a steam-powered
engine. |
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Yea, good work around, but the dog might have a hard
time resetting the mechanism which in that case would
mean putting the thing back on the flywheel. Clever
though. |
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I'm picturing this thing you buy, train the dog to use and
then just let the dog go flying whenever it wants to. Why?
Because there's no way a human could be sitting in
his office and see his dog go flying by the window and not
smile. |
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Unless the dog came smashing through the closed
window, which I
guess is a distinct possibility. |
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"Once dogcopter's up, who cares where it comes back?
That's not my department." says 3rd Remulac." |
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We are dissatisfied by the lack of specific safety measures to protect the canine(s) involved. |
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Now, do not misunderstand; we have no objection to dog-powered, dog-controlled flight. In fact, we applaud the innovation. But the risk mitigation must be at least as effective as that provided for human pilots, otherwise we may have to implement Certain Sanctions ... |
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Now, if you want to use cats for the initial experiments, we'll provide as many as you need, and additionally supply the (very effective) means to motivate them ... |
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Cats are pretty worthless as pilots. My research is
extensive
in that I thought about it for a second. |
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Cats have been known to stand on top of Rhumbas as they
autonomously move about a room, but that's the extent
of their piloting
skill. This compared to dogs, who can actually manipulate
controls and steer a vehicle. |
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(See link I've posted on previous occasions because it's
pretty much my favorite video.) |
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// Cats are pretty worthless as pilots. // |
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Sp. "Cats are worthless" .... |
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Maybe cats could be treated as a negative value
form of currency? An IOU? |
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The attached link is absolutely NOT what I meant. |
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I like the idea. A treadmill seems like a very heavy
apparatus for harnessing energy from the dog. What if
there is a "dog toy" hanging just high enough that the dog
can leap up and bite it. The dog will hang from this, pulling
a cord that winds the spring. When they let go, it goes
back to its original position. That would be much more
compact. You could even have a second "dog toy" that
serves as both the launch mechanism and how the dog
hangs from the device while it flies, though the dog
wouldn't get a really good view that way during the flight. |
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Can most dogs hang fairly comfortably by their teeth, or is
it only some of the little one that can do that? Using some
sort of harness seems nicer for the dog, but then they
would probably need help getting set up. If the dog can
just jump and bite, they can play with this completely
independently. [edit] Google: dog rope swing. |
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You're right, it's a weight game. A treadmill that
would be firm enough for the dog running on it
would be pretty heavy, even if it was made out of
styrofoam parts. It would need bearings, a
rubber sheet and a frame. |
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I like the idea of seeing what other motions dogs
engage in that you could tap energy from with less
mechanical mass. |
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I think you've nailed it with the bite and I'd add the
vigorous shaking they do in an attack. At my son's
police academy they had police dog demo day
where the dogs would attack a well padded
trainer. Let me find a video of how much energy
they put into that shaking. |
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Now you'd need to have them in a harness so the
shaking motion wouldn't just swing them around,
but look at the video and judge if you could tap
enough energy out of that to wind your takeoff
spring. |
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On the other hand, looking at how dogs take to
treadmills and hamster wheels if you can get the
weight down enough... |
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Okay, problem: how to you tap the cumulative
input of the dog running without it getting harder
as they wound the spring? I think this might have
to be electric. Any mechanical mechanism would
get harder to charge as the potential energy was
built up no? |
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But then how much treadmill time are we talking
to get any significant flight? Half hour for a ten
second flight? Dunno. |
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And batteries aren't exactly light. Water tank with
electrical hydrogen / oxygen separation to be used
as rocket fuel? At some point I suppose you could
have a hydrogen balloon. |
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//problem: how to you tap the cumulative input of the dog running without it getting harder as they wound the spring?// |
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I presume a fusee could be used to wind the spring |
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Oh wow, so as it's harder to wind the spring the
input
leverage changes? |
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I never knew what a fusee was before. Now THAT'S
why I've been coming to this site for 16
years or so. |
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I told my daughter when she was a toddler that
one of the best things about life is, every morning
when you wake up, you can be assured that when
you go to sleep that night you'll have learned
something during that day and increased your
knowledge about the world you live in and that's a
wonderful thing. |
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Well today I have learned about flying dogs! |
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Instead of a fusee, what about using a constant torque spring
motor [link]? |
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Wow, do these actually work? |
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