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Drones that recharge directly on transmission lines

ycombinator.com

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Re: Drones that recharge directly on transmission lines

#131

Post by DrewADesign »

_boffin_ wrote: post #127
DrewADesign wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Everything I’ve found about the drones in that conflict indicates they use automated navigation for pursuit once a target is locked, but human pilots before then.

you described two different steps: human pilots get to desired area and target locked. For the human part, if the drone isn't using fiber optic and is getting jammed (many types of jamming), the human pilot might not be able to communicate with the drone. If that's the case, how will the drone get to the desired area? that's where the two things i posted come into play.

I understand the technology and the purpose, in context. I’m curious about how they’re actually using this stuff because I haven’t seen anywhere say that they actually are.

Re: Drones that recharge directly on transmission lines

#132

Post by KaiserPro »

nielsbot wrote: post #126
KaiserPro wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

as soon as it sends RF it'll be located and destroyed. There has been lots of work to make fibre connected drones, so that they can't be located as easily (also the pilot)

Why not lasers through the air?

Line of sight only, alignment is very hard, and if youre near the where its pointing you light up like a christmas tree

Re: Drones that recharge directly on transmission lines

#134

Post by rurban »

DrewADesign wrote: post #70
bmitch3020 wrote: post #62

I'm surprised this isn't already happening in Ukraine. They could fly small surveillance drones deep in enemy territory, perch on a power line, and send back lots of data. Not just video, but also sound and triangulating signals. This would also be useful in fog by monitoring major roads where high altitude drones and satellites would be obstructed.

I'm not like a drone-i-ologist or nothin, but from what I gather, both sides have gotten really good at detecting and jamming drone communication in the Ukraine/Russia conflict, which would probably make that a tough use case. I've read that the newer attack drones are controlled by a reaaallly long, reaaalllyy thin fiber optic line!

At the end of WW2 the very same happened. As if they didn't learn from history. Well, that are Chinese drones, which weren't part of the signals war then.

Re: Drones that recharge directly on transmission lines

#136

Post by DrewADesign »

snowmobile wrote: post #129
650REDHAIR wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cable breaks

Well, there's a difference between breaking and being broken. I wouldn't say 33% of all B-17s "didn't work" because they were shot down.

Also, those drones are essentially guided projectiles, and not even particularly expensive ones at that. What percentage of projectiles do you imagine successfully connect with their targets in combat?

Re: Drones that recharge directly on transmission lines

#137

Post by DrewADesign »

mycall wrote: post #87
DrewADesign wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not like a drone-i-ologist or nothin, but from what I gather, both sides have gotten really good at detecting and jamming drone communication in the Ukraine/Russia conflict, which would probably make that a tough use case. I've read that the newer attack drones are controlled by a reaaallly long, reaaalllyy thin fiber optic line!

Those fiber optic lines only work 50-60% of the time. Often the drones are carried 20km on foot into position which sucks as you know half the equipment on your back won't work.

Where did you see that?

Re: Drones that recharge directly on transmission lines

#139

Post by agvoltair »

neuralfog wrote: post #130
themafia wrote: post #19

> Removing battery swaps is the last step to deploy UAVs autonomously at scale. I can't say, as a citizen, that I'm particularly excited about this. > Autonomous drones can deliver over 20x the inspection coverage for the same cost. And we have 20x the manpower to review this footage? I wonder if you're just generating a bunch of data that cannot be practically used. "More coverage" isn't always the best answer. "Bet…

We have done automated utility inspections for the past few years. Computer vision is not a problem any more. When we were starting we had to annotate thousands of images. Today some use cases require less than a 100. More interesting problems are pre-field planning, sagging, or BLOS compliance

Hey - Avi here, cofounder of Voltair.

We should chat- I'd love to hear more about your computer vision model. My email is avi@voltairlabs.com if you want to shoot me an email.

Re: Drones that recharge directly on transmission lines

#140

Post by beedeebeedee »

browsingonly wrote: post #100
idiotsecant wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How many intact and tactically relevant cross border transmission lines between Ukraine and Russia can there be?

Use the transmission lines to link up with an RF node to hand off. Friendly territory might just be some place without good Russian internal security coverage (perhaps deeper in Russia rather than towards the front lines if the node uses satcom). A friend of mine worked on a covert comms system for the Rangers to use in the Battle For Berlin that thankfully never occurred. The idea was to clamp onto plumbing, fences,…

Reminds me of the barb wire telephones

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41412221

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