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$96 3D-printed rocket that recalculates its mid-air trajectory using a $5 sensor

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Re: $96 3D-printed rocket that recalculates its mid-air trajectory using a $5 sensor

#111

Post by DivingForGold »

tzury wrote: post #88

There are 2 short segments in the video showing the actual performance and thus far it is a complete [1] failure [2]. The guy has a talent, and he put together a nice prototype based on OpenRocket [3], but with all due respect, this is not a rocket, and you are not going to win any war with this toy, even if all your enemy has are rocks thrown at you from pretty much similar distance. The remix of computer games / Uk…

Get connected with DARPA ASAP, just to let the overlords know you are on "the right side of the fence" - - before Homeland pays you a "very uncomfortable" visit

Re: $96 3D-printed rocket that recalculates its mid-air trajectory using a $5 sensor

#112

Post by tzury »

ninjagoo wrote: post #106
tzury wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"let alone with AI" what's falling into the AI category here perhaps is the key question, since microseconds counts, and LLM are very slow! Even the fastest "real-time" LLM frameworks currently report sub-second latencies around 120ms. This is fine for high-level mission planning (e.g., "fly to the red house") but too slow to prevent a drone from hitting a tree at 50mph (80 KM/h)[1] Whilst the Shahed-136 kamikaze dro…

> "let alone with AI" what's falling into the AI category here perhaps is the key question, since microseconds counts, and LLM are very slow! LLMs (Large Language Models) are far from the only type of AI around. It's a pretty broad field, and there are real-time AI systems, for example, self-driving cars, which have the response times you're thinking of. [1] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_Intelligence:_…

hence: "what's falling into the AI category here perhaps is the key question"

YOLO is a good example for something that can work.

https://docs.ultralytics.com/models/yolov8/

Re: $96 3D-printed rocket that recalculates its mid-air trajectory using a $5 sensor

#113

Post by BenjiWiebe »

V99 wrote: post #102
shrubble wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Consumer GPS chips are specifically nerfed for using them in rockets; they give erroneous readings on purpose if altitude is above a certain height and/or if speeds exceed a certain speed. That’s likely why the mid-course correction software uses other methods.

What you are likely thinking of is the "selective availability" system, which intentionally provided slightly inaccurate data to civilian clients, while military receivers could decrypt the most accurate info. But this has not been used for many years now. Other than that, GPS is a one-way system, it does not know you exist, how fast your receiver is moving or "give" different information to one client vs another. Ev…

No, he's thinking of the "CoCom limits". It's built into the receiver.

Re: $96 3D-printed rocket that recalculates its mid-air trajectory using a $5 sensor

#114

Post by firesteelrain »

rancar2 wrote: post #98
tzury wrote: post #88

There are 2 short segments in the video showing the actual performance and thus far it is a complete [1] failure [2]. The guy has a talent, and he put together a nice prototype based on OpenRocket [3], but with all due respect, this is not a rocket, and you are not going to win any war with this toy, even if all your enemy has are rocks thrown at you from pretty much similar distance. The remix of computer games / Uk…

Taking a quick look at the BOM, it lacks the correct sensor selection.

Even if the correct sensor could be chosen (whatever it is), unlikely is attainable by consumers and the technology would definitely be export controlled in the US.

Re: $96 3D-printed rocket that recalculates its mid-air trajectory using a $5 sensor

#115

Post by dgroshev »

vidarh wrote: post #87
hrmtst93837 wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

They should be sweating, because if the other side can fire 100 rockets for $10k that are close enough to not immediately and obviously be off target, and you don't know whether a more expensive one with actual explosives is hiding within that barrage, you now have 100 targets to try to intercept, and suddenly your costs have gone up dramatically while the other sides costs has barely moved.

100 rockets for $10k is not happening. The price floor is not dictated by the electronics (which did get cheaper), it's dictated by the rest of the system: propulsion, warheads, arming and safety, QA, traceability, climate and shelf life stability.

Take a look at Raytheon's manufacturing line: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCCkVAHSzrc That's what it takes to have missiles that are nearly guaranteed to perform to specification every time. You can stockpile the packaged missiles in a non-climate-controlled shed for years, replenish them at sea while being showered with salt water, subject them to shock of a nearby blast while in a VLS, and they will still launch, go up to Mach 13, and catch an incoming ballistic missile nearly every time.

Sure, Iran's ballistic missiles are simpler than SM-3, but they are still subject to most of the constraints. They still need perfectly cast large size solid rocket motors that don't crack after being stored for a year, they need warheads that only go off when they are supposed to, they still need to trace every part for QA, etc. There's a vast gap, largely invisible to amateurs, between garage prototypes and stockpiled AURs.

Re: $96 3D-printed rocket that recalculates its mid-air trajectory using a $5 sensor

#116

Post by ninjagoo »

tamimio wrote: post #92
tzury wrote: post #88

There are 2 short segments in the video showing the actual performance and thus far it is a complete [1] failure [2]. The guy has a talent, and he put together a nice prototype based on OpenRocket [3], but with all due respect, this is not a rocket, and you are not going to win any war with this toy, even if all your enemy has are rocks thrown at you from pretty much similar distance. The remix of computer games / Uk…

And that’s ok if it’s failing to do the job as intended, learning is acquired, and it looks fun to build, I am in the field and I find it great homemade concept. Realistically, I doubt there’s ANY system out there will be able to counter small weaponized drones that are flown manually let alone with AI, you might have some workarounds, but never a real counter.

> Realistically, I doubt there’s ANY system out there will be able to counter small weaponized drones that are flown manually let alone with AI, you might have some workarounds, but never a real counter.

Weaponized drones (say D_A) can be countered by other weaponized drones (say D_B), equally cheap or cheaper than D_A because the D_A is usually targeting something larger (so more payload) and typically has a longer range. D_B only needs to wreck D_A at a shorter defensive range. That's what Ukraine is doing.

You can also use drone swarms with coordinated action so that each drone in the swarm is only targeting one other drone, and automatic re-targeting if one node misses. [1]

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swarm_robotics

Re: $96 3D-printed rocket that recalculates its mid-air trajectory using a $5 sensor

#117

Post by nekusar »

And what this misses is with his other repo https://github.com/novatic14/Distributed-Camera-Node-Trackin...

This provides a distributed camera network to provide realtime updatable telemetry for target acquisition.

Only thing missing is he should have used LoRa as the backend comms. Meshtastic devices provide encryption and full comms with mesh for cheap.

Thankfully ive already downloaded everything. I suggest you all do the same, cause this repo is getting purged and the student Alisher Khojayev at Los Angeles Valley College is likely going to get black bagged.

Re: $96 3D-printed rocket that recalculates its mid-air trajectory using a $5 sensor

#118

Post by tjoff »

condensedcrab wrote: post #103
lukan wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Realistically, I doubt there’s ANY system out there will be able to counter small weaponized drones that are flown manually " Why would lasers not work? Those cheap drones are made from plastic, if you have a laser powerful enough and a target guidance system (like a camera and a PI) - then you would just need enough of them.

At long distances the small cross section of the drone requires tight focusing (expensive optics) or a high power, preferably pulsed laser (expensive laser) or both. Not impossible but many times more expensive than the drone

Expensive is fine since it is reusable.

Re: $96 3D-printed rocket that recalculates its mid-air trajectory using a $5 sensor

#119

Post by nik282000 »

getcrunk wrote: post #28

I watched a YouTube video the other day about how the usa tracks missle launches globally. I would assume they have to pass a minimum threshold of power/heat/energy to be detectable. Let’s all pray this toy project, if readily upgradable, is also trackable and well … the way we keep law and order is by actual policing and prosecuting. So hopefully this doesn’t get out of hand. Very impressive, but very troubling.

Right now, today, the US government and it's three letter agencies are being run by a club of human trafficking peodophiles and rapists. Not individual, isolated, crimes. An organized group of very twisted people, having 'immigrants' rounded up and killed, pushing women back into the 1920s, and trying to make anyone who strays from heteronormative a criminal.

Having some independent developers in the defence market is not necessarily a bad thing.

Re: $96 3D-printed rocket that recalculates its mid-air trajectory using a $5 sensor

#120

Post by tamimio »

lukan wrote: post #100
tamimio wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And that’s ok if it’s failing to do the job as intended, learning is acquired, and it looks fun to build, I am in the field and I find it great homemade concept. Realistically, I doubt there’s ANY system out there will be able to counter small weaponized drones that are flown manually let alone with AI, you might have some workarounds, but never a real counter.

"Realistically, I doubt there’s ANY system out there will be able to counter small weaponized drones that are flown manually " Why would lasers not work? Those cheap drones are made from plastic, if you have a laser powerful enough and a target guidance system (like a camera and a PI) - then you would just need enough of them.

Lasers won’t effectively work, it’s a two part equation, detection and targeting. To neutralize a target using a ground-based laser, you need an enormous power, and still it won’t penetrate a high distance/altitude in the sky, environment factors also to be considered. The detection part is even harder, these small 8in drones are almost impossible to detect unless you can hear it, aka it’s over, because they can fly at 250km/h, too small to be visually detected, acoustic sensors will fail to detect them, and radar will miss it as a false negative since it’s the size of a bird. I have seen some systems trying to combine all that to detect them plus AI for flying pattern detection, but they are far from being reliable in practical applications.
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