Rendered image of the "Silent Ventus" cargo drone Undefined Technologies eventually hopes to bring to marketUndefined Technologies
Posted on 09/22/2022 11:29:02 AM PDT by Red Badger
Florida's "silent" flying dish-rack, powered by ionic propulsion, is on track for commercial rollout in 2024, according to Undefined Technologies, which has released new outdoor flight test video. We remain curious, but unconvinced it'll be viable.
The "Silent Ventus" drone doesn't use propellers to fly. Instead, its entire broad structure creates two stacked grids of electrodes, designed to create high-voltage electric fields that can ionize the oxygen and nitrogen molecules in the air, freeing electrons to give them a positive charge, and then propelling these downward to create an "ionic wind" that can produce thrust.
It's not new; ionic propulsion has been used in space, and as we pointed out when we first saw the Silent Ventus drone project, for a few very small-scale terrestrial projects as well, one of which was used to levitate Orville the mouse in 2003. Undefined says its "Air Tantrum" technology yields "higher levels of thrust, up to 150% compared to current ion thruster technologies."
The company has now flown several prototypes The company has now flown several prototypesUndefined Technologies The company first showed off its tech in 2020, claiming a 25-second flight, but showing only a few wobbly seconds in a "test lab" video that looked suspiciously like it was filmed in a small box, despite the loud protestations of prominent height markers up each wall. The company subsequently said that this test drone made about 90 dB of noise – a lot closer to "hairdryer" than "silent."
Earlier this year, it claimed a two-and-a-half-minute indoor flight, at a reduced noise level of 85 decibels, and released a 39-second video as proof.
(Excerpt) Read more at newatlas.com ...
Rendered image of the "Silent Ventus" cargo drone Undefined Technologies eventually hopes to bring to marketUndefined Technologies
I saw that in Popular Mechanics way back in HS.
I am sure standing anywhere near a stream of ions with enough velocity and momentum to defy gravity will in no way cause harm to living tissue be it animal, insect, or human.
I like the super loud music in the video which makes the whole “silent flight” aspect kind of a non-issue.
They could sell them for hot summers...just let one of these things follow you about, flying over your head. A constant breeze to keep you cool.
That’s two patio umbrellas and a differential from a Peterbilt......................
If so then those two are a little short for Stormtroopers
It’s real!
I knew it!
Looks big, thinking no military appliclation.
Undefined Technologies needs to define what they do.
Coming next . . . the transporter beam!
Sorry, but unless it’s delivering feathers this “ain’t gonna fly”.
ION generates tremendous speed, but not enough lift per weight.
They should have named their company “Unidentified” instead of “Undefined”. Then they could market their drones as “Unidentified Flying Objects”.
Bringing that to market and it only goes for 4.5 minutes…. It’s one thing for high-speed ions to propel a mass through space over long periods of time to get to tremendous speeds, another to keep a decent amount of mass hovering against Earth’s gravity. Takes a lot of ions (and electrical energy) to do it. Where’s the electric power stored or generated? That’s even more onboard mass to carry.
Wake me when they get to the TIE Fighter stage.
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They claim to be building a “cargo delivery drone.” So it must have some payload capacity. What it might be, they don’t say.
But can it make toast in less than 3 minutes?
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