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Launch HN: Radical (YC W23) – Autonomous high-altitude solar aircraft

news.ycombinator.com

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Re: Launch HN: Radical (YC W23) – Autonomous high-altitude solar aircraft

#31

Post by actinium226 »

creyes12345 wrote: post #18

I was peripherally involved with a similar project a few years ago. They got bought out by Facebook. This was before Aquila. There’s a good reason why most airplanes look and behave alike: because it works. Technology choices like flying wings (not used here) or twisting wings (used here) are a “code smell” to my computer programmer nose. To me, nothing is sexier than good reliable technology that works. Smart invest…

To be fair, the Wright Flyer used twisting wings. Ailerons took over, but it's not like twisting wings are some low TRL thing.

Re: Launch HN: Radical (YC W23) – Autonomous high-altitude solar aircraft

#33

Post by bloopernova »

extraduder_ire wrote: post #24
kleton wrote: post #12

Why go with heavier than air?

I'd guess because it's less prone to get interfered with by wind, more easily controllable, and can stay up longer if battery power lasts overnight. I too would like to see more autonomous hydrogen balloons flying. Even on tethers to get height cheaper than a tower.

I'm not well-read on the technology involved. Is it possible (feasible?) to use a high altitude balloon to get a plane to altitude?

You could either detach from the balloon, or use spare solar power to deflate the balloon in case you need it again. Maybe the balloon could help maintain altitude at night.

Re: Launch HN: Radical (YC W23) – Autonomous high-altitude solar aircraft

#34

Post by hef19898 »

philipkglass wrote: post #11

Very interesting! This sounds a lot like the more recent iterations of the Airbus Zephyr: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airbus_Zephyr I don't know how much you can share, but I'm curious about the solar and battery system. Are you using silicon cells, multi-junction cells, or something else? What sort of battery chemistry do you use? It seems like deep battery cycling is a must to keep weight under control, but batte…

You beat me to it! Competition is good, but so far none of the various start-ups trying to build aircraft have anything to show (boom, all eVtol companies...).

Edit: Funny, they didn't mention Airbus anywhere. But they do have the perfect founder background, Amazon Air and delivery drones. Sells good with VCs, but so far they have to get real aircraft in the air.

Re: Launch HN: Radical (YC W23) – Autonomous high-altitude solar aircraft

#36

Post by dskloet »

bglazer wrote: post #19

Do you have any ethical concerns about the use of your technology for surveillance of civilian populations? That’s the obvious use case for this technology, right? Cheaper and more easily retargetable than satellites. Longer duration, quieter, and more resilient than manned aircraft, but not fast or maneuverable enough to survive in contested airspace. So that leaves large area, long term surveillance in uncontested…

Radiolab did an episode about this in 2015: https://radiolab.org/podcast/eye-sky

They actually did do a surveillance experiment in Dayton Ohio in 2014: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/new-surve...

Re: Launch HN: Radical (YC W23) – Autonomous high-altitude solar aircraft

#37

Post by burkaman »

bglazer wrote: post #19

Do you have any ethical concerns about the use of your technology for surveillance of civilian populations? That’s the obvious use case for this technology, right? Cheaper and more easily retargetable than satellites. Longer duration, quieter, and more resilient than manned aircraft, but not fast or maneuverable enough to survive in contested airspace. So that leaves large area, long term surveillance in uncontested…

I agree that's the most obvious use case, so I think the fact that the founders consciously avoided mentioning it means they must have ethical concerns, or at least understand others' concerns. I think this is a reasonable question to ask, and I'd be interested to hear whether they plan to sell it to surveillors and just feel guilty about admitting that, or if there's some reason they think this won't work for that application.

Re: Launch HN: Radical (YC W23) – Autonomous high-altitude solar aircraft

#38

Post by nickpp »

bglazer wrote: post #19

Do you have any ethical concerns about the use of your technology for surveillance of civilian populations? That’s the obvious use case for this technology, right? Cheaper and more easily retargetable than satellites. Longer duration, quieter, and more resilient than manned aircraft, but not fast or maneuverable enough to survive in contested airspace. So that leaves large area, long term surveillance in uncontested…

Shouldn’t ethical concerns stop the usage of a technology, not its creation? Otherwise we risk never gaining the upside of said technology.
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