I'd like to build a helicopter that will always fly around while taking photos of the world. During the day, its solar cells will load its batteries, during the night it will run from battery power.
The pictures will be sent to my computer and I'm going to sell them.
It will be the perfect voyeur-helicopter.
Is it possible to create such a perpetuum mobile???
No. The problem is that the available cross sectional area of the helicopter will be too small to gather enough power for any but short flights. You might well be able to make such a device with a few minutes flight duration, from several hour's charging, but not one that is going to stay in the air for very long.
Best Wishes
Didn't NASA try something like this? And didn't the full-scale model break up in bad weather?
An aeroplane (not a helicopter) has been built that is capable of storing enough solar energy to fly through the night. You do need advanced fuel cell technology and very high efficiency PV cells.
Solar Impulse plans to fly a manned solar aircraft around the world in around 2011.
"CptDondo" wrote
Yes, Pathfinder and Helios, both built by AeroVironment, Inc.
The Pathfinder was OK -
The Helios "experienced control difficulties while on a checkout flight on June 26, 2003, and the aircraft suffered some structural failures and was subsequently destroyed when it fell into the Pacific Ocean .....An investigation to determine the cause(s) of the control problems that led to the loss of the craft is still in progress as of this writing." It was using a special experimental fuel cell designed to allow to continue flying by night and was intended to fly at up to 100,000 feet.
Nothing similar shows on the Current Research list. AVInc
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