OT: Hi Tech

Hi Tech...

...Jim Thompson

-- | James E.Thompson | mens | | Analog Innovations | et | | Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus | | STV, Queen Creek, AZ 85142 Skype: skypeanalog | | | Voice:(480)460-2350 Fax: Available upon request | Brass Rat | | E-mail Icon at

Thinking outside the box... producing elegant solutions.

I like this approach.

As a kid I watched the hawks around Seneca Rocks, rising above my grandparents Thompson's home in Riverton, WV, swoop other birds out of the air... amazing "dexterity" >:-} ...Jim Thompson

If the hawks had used their left claw, would it have sinister?

OT Joke:

I just sold my homing pidgeon on eBay. For the 22nd time.

Actually, birds are a big problem for aircraft.

Some less publicised news about that guy who landed the plane on the water years ago and was heralded as a hero and a very competent pilot...

Those planes' engines were known for what they call "compressor stalls". When that happened the pilot would radio that they got a goose. While a goose would cause a compressor stall, that was not usually the cause. There is a flaw in the design.

In that case, he radioed that he had a flock of geese. Three of the engines had stalled. He landed that thing, pretty much without power, in the ocean. He is certainly one of the best pilots around, one false move and everyone would die.

Birds get tangled up in the impellors of jet engines, the blades of helicopters and thus drones of course, as well as the blades of windmills. I mean they have teams to go and pick up the dead bird bodies from under windmills.

But admittedly, training a bird to purposely attack a drone is quite a feat. Training birds is a PITA in the first place. Getting them to attack something they can't eat must take some doing.

Not a bad deal for hobby-sized drones, but the trick has built-in limitations.

A bigger drone with sharp metal rotors could just chop the birds' legs off. You cold make the discs overlap by staggering them in height, so there would be nowhere to grab on to.

The competing technique of dropping a net from another drone isn't as neat, but it's more scalable.

(Welcome back, Jim.)

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

/ocean; Hudson River. Cpt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenburger.

Falconers have been training birds for centuries. There's no reason other raptors couldn't be trained. Parots are quite trainable, as well.

The hard part is training parrots to type, so they can troll Usenet.

The networks don't seem to have trouble finding enough trained parrots to fill their newsrooms.

ARK ARK Polly wants a drone!!

They don't have to type. They just parrot their TelePrompTers.