A Van der Graaff generator, mounted beneath a quadcopter. A thin, shielded wire trails to the ground, balancing the circuit.

As well as directly zapping anybody that comes close enough, ionized air blown by the propellers spreads the effect further out, causing people to zap themselves and others.
-- FlyingToaster, Feb 13 2015

It's be a nightmare getting the electronics to work, I mean, you could shield them, but then how are you getting the RF control signals in? You could optocouple everything and use lasers, but you'd need line of sight and good transmitter pointability.
-- bs0u0155, Feb 13 2015


Dual frequency RF, one transmitted control signal inverted. At the receiving end, after the carriers have been removed, the inverted signal is flipped right-side up. Add them together, the signal amplitude doubles and the noise cancels out. Common in audio applications.
-- FlyingToaster, Feb 13 2015


Can't you have the generator on the ground, shielded, with a shielded wire carrying the charge up to the drone?
-- pocmloc, Feb 13 2015


Why not just make a flying Tesla coil? Tesla coils are inherently cooler than Van der Graaf generators... and they could be used to make a very loud version of Ride of the Valkyries. A huge flying lethal Tesla coil playing Ride of the Valkyries by heating air with ultra high-voltage discharges is inherently cooler than anything I can think of at the moment, it would be welcome at Explosion Fest.
-- bs0u0155, Feb 13 2015


So, not a Dutch detective-bee, then?
-- MaxwellBuchanan, Feb 13 2015


I've been waiting for a "Van der Cumbersnatch" title to flesh itself into a post if that counts.
-- FlyingToaster, Feb 13 2015


//Tesla coil// is a totally different thing. You would have to be between the electrodes to get zapped, and it would put you in the hospital or worse.

//generator on the ground// Rather less portable. What you could do is eliminate the grounding wire completely and rely only on the charged air to spread its goodwill with no direct zapping, but I'm not sure how well that would work.
-- FlyingToaster, Feb 14 2015



random, halfbakery