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Heliogen, backed by Gates, says it has achieved a solar breakthrough

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Re: Heliogen, backed by Gates, says it has achieved a solar breakthrough

#21
Cement requires 1450 degrees Celsius, this solar raid manages 1000+!? how are you going to boil heavy lime and clay up on that 10 meter high tower?

Everything Bill Gates has ever done (or financed) has been stolen, a fraud or both.

Edit: Whoa, heavy bias towards Mr Gates, a surprise dear HN community. I'm using my karma to learn! ;)

Re: Heliogen, backed by Gates, says it has achieved a solar breakthrough

#22

Again, we've been able to do this with four photodiodes for something like 30 years. Of course it worked the first time they turned it on - they were using 4 photodiodes. The "AI" and "computer vision" is just to get funding and hype. I'm going to start taking solved problems and applying BS "AI" to them to get funding, sheesh.

So (to quote Woz): “a lot of Artificial and not a much Intelligence”?

Re: Heliogen, backed by Gates, says it has achieved a solar breakthrough

#23
post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

wouldn't just giving all of the mirrors survey quality GPS do the same. you'd be able to then just have them work out the angles as it relates to them and the target. It doesn't really seems like and AI problem.

I think that would depend on how precisely they need to be calibrated, right? IIRC even military GPS is still only accurate to within a few feet.

RTK GPS is 1cm RMS. And I still can't get over how awesome it is. It's magic.

Re: Heliogen, backed by Gates, says it has achieved a solar breakthrough

#24
post #15

One of my discarded project ideas was exactly this, but on a smaller scale. A steerable mirror on a mount with a camera for targeting. The idea was to place one on the ground outside a north facing window. The device would then busy itself reflecting the sun up into the room making a nice sunny patch on the ceiling to light the room. They could also be used to deliver extra light to windows with plants in them to gro…

Ok, considering someone had such good idea which is rather obvious in hindsight, but no one had it yet, what would you do to get at least some good money from that, when you don't have enough money to invest in it yourself?

Write an outrage-porn blog post about it and collect ad revenue. But seriously people come up with ideas simultaneously all the time but usually only one of them is getting credit

Re: Heliogen, backed by Gates, says it has achieved a solar breakthrough

#25
post #15

One of my discarded project ideas was exactly this, but on a smaller scale. A steerable mirror on a mount with a camera for targeting. The idea was to place one on the ground outside a north facing window. The device would then busy itself reflecting the sun up into the room making a nice sunny patch on the ceiling to light the room. They could also be used to deliver extra light to windows with plants in them to gro…

Ok, considering someone had such good idea which is rather obvious in hindsight, but no one had it yet, what would you do to get at least some good money from that, when you don't have enough money to invest in it yourself?

How to reward inventors who do not have the means or desire to commercialize their work is precisely the problem addressed by the licensing of patents. In practice, especially in computer related fields, the system isn’t working out so well. That’s a problem for governments to solve for humanity, or not and live in a world where independent inventors can not command compensation.

Re: Heliogen, backed by Gates, says it has achieved a solar breakthrough

#26
post #21

Cement requires 1450 degrees Celsius, this solar raid manages 1000+!? how are you going to boil heavy lime and clay up on that 10 meter high tower? Everything Bill Gates has ever done (or financed) has been stolen, a fraud or both. Edit: Whoa, heavy bias towards Mr Gates, a surprise dear HN community. I'm using my karma to learn! ;)

https://www.globalcement.com/news/item/10167-heliogen-looks-...

In this case he is just the investor.

Re: Heliogen, backed by Gates, says it has achieved a solar breakthrough

#27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Heliogen uses computer vision software, automatic edge detection and other sophisticated technology to train a field of mirrors to reflect solar beams to one single spot." In principle I think you are right, but that would mean for each plant you build you need the exact position of each mirror, the oven chamber and the motion of the sun through the day and year. I think the "AI" approach scales better, as it is rat…

>or each plant you build you need the exact position of each mirror, the oven chamber and the motion of the sun through the day and year Yeah, depending on the level of precision required, there are _tons_ of variables that could have an impact here. Year to year the angle of the sun changes slightly on any given solar date, as various components of the Earth's orbit "wobble" (axial tilt, eccentricity, precession, et…

The motion of the Earth in space is very well determined and studied; the thermal expansion and deformation of the structure is most likely the dominant source of uncertainty for the pointing.

Re: Heliogen, backed by Gates, says it has achieved a solar breakthrough

#28

Excerpt: A secretive startup backed by Bill Gates has achieved a solar breakthrough aimed at saving the planet. Heliogen, a clean energy company that emerged from stealth mode on Tuesday, said it has discovered a way to use artificial intelligence and a field of mirrors to reflect so much sunlight that it generates extreme heat above 1,000 degrees Celsius. ===== The article describes a bit about the role the AI is pl…

Why is AI even needed? It’s not like the sun dances around.

Could probably find enough information here [0] what is needed.

[0] Practical Astronomy with your Calculator https://www.amazon.com/dp/0521356997/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_-v...

Re: Heliogen, backed by Gates, says it has achieved a solar breakthrough

#29
post #15

One of my discarded project ideas was exactly this, but on a smaller scale. A steerable mirror on a mount with a camera for targeting. The idea was to place one on the ground outside a north facing window. The device would then busy itself reflecting the sun up into the room making a nice sunny patch on the ceiling to light the room. They could also be used to deliver extra light to windows with plants in them to gro…

Add similar software to a swarm of drones each carrying mylar film stretched on a lightweight rigid frame with a vertical tilt actuator, and you have a seriously dangerous weapon system on sunny days.

Re: Heliogen, backed by Gates, says it has achieved a solar breakthrough

#30

Excerpt: A secretive startup backed by Bill Gates has achieved a solar breakthrough aimed at saving the planet. Heliogen, a clean energy company that emerged from stealth mode on Tuesday, said it has discovered a way to use artificial intelligence and a field of mirrors to reflect so much sunlight that it generates extreme heat above 1,000 degrees Celsius. ===== The article describes a bit about the role the AI is pl…

I fundamentally cannot perceive where AI plays a role. Isn't it just a solvable geometry problem?

Bill Gates never finished geometry
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