I Built a Drone With One Motor

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u/CantDoPlaid 6h ago

Sometimes I think I'm good at a thing. Then I see these people. I'm glad he's not some villain making it a secret terror project. Folks like this person move technology forward and bring everyone along. To have the talent and the generosity to share it is pretty great.

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u/NotReallyJohnDoe 5h ago

You don’t even need talent much anymore. Just start working with an AI.

4

u/hallmark1984 4h ago

Absolutely wrong

Even with an LLM boosting you must have an understanding of what you want to achieve.

11

u/schneems 5h ago

I think that idea is toxic, it cheapens the work the creator put in. It's true that AI flattens the curve a bit but it doesn't drive skill and effort required to zero.

Woodworking went through a “they used a CNC that’s cheating” phase and then they learned that it’s not a push button thing. It’s still a tool that needs a competent operator to steer it correctly.

You can’t just put “make me internet fameous” in a Ralph loop and expect to wake up with dozens of complete projects and millions of followers.

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u/theseriousman1 4h ago

No but they’re not saying use ai to make u internet famous. You absolutely can put “help me build a single engine quadcopter” into ai and someone with no knowledge but a lot of dedication could likely get it done. That’s just a result of AI. But they do learn it while doing it that’s the neat part that I think a lot of people don’t consider. I used ai to help me write scripts at work a year ago and use Claude currently but now I can also write scripts on notepad for the most part without any assistance and I think without ai I wouldn’t be a quarter as skilled.

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u/schneems 4h ago

Instead of “no but” try a “yes and”. Maybe we agree more than we disagree.

but a lot of dedication

100% and that’s my point. Dedication and tenacity are skills and shouldn’t be downplayed. The person is the one doing it. The AI is the tool, not the creator.

But they do learn it while doing it

Also 100%. This isn’t different than before. This is how I learned to code some ~20 years ago. I didn’t have any knowledge and was persistent until one day I did.

and I think without ai I wouldn’t be a quarter as skilled.

I could say the same thing about Google. If I didn’t have that, I don’t think I ever would have learned to program. Maybe that’s true. Maybe if you were born 20 years earlier, if you had the dedication and tenacity you would have used the tools available to you, found different tools, different resources. Maybe I would have too.

It’s cool you can code scripts now. Also, a lot of other people can’t. Even with Google. Even with LLMs. They skip the “learn something along the way” and rush through to the results and get bored or lose interest. The persistence required and what you learn along the way and how you apply the them to the problem IS the work. LLMs “flatten the curve” but don’t let it cheapen your creations and your learning that’s all still you.

1

u/romaraahallow 4h ago

You're one of the few using it as a tool instead of a crutch.

2

u/UrethralExplorer 4h ago

There are lawyers that have tried that and end up getting fucked by the BAR and pissed off judges.

6

u/Timoroader 5h ago

Just watched the video on Youtube. Very impressive!

2

u/QuantumCakeIsALie 5h ago

I clicked to watch the first few seconds out of curiosity. Watched the whole thing.

5

u/theSurgeonOfDeath_ 5h ago

Cool idea. We need more stuff like that. Maybe one day we gonna have some novel design

Ps. I would like to see it outdoors with wind.

2

u/charliesk9unit 4h ago

I found that most of the time, the best design is from nature. The people who think basic research is a waste of money are idiots.

0

u/BenjiSBRK 4h ago

Dude rediscovered the helicopter

6

u/Extreme-Rub-1379 4h ago

Monocopter

1

u/EyeFicksIt 3h ago

Choppalobster

4

u/AyeBraine 3h ago

It's rather, created a tiny alternative to a swashplate and a tail rotor that pushes the limits of tech to do all that with just a fixed motor and a single two-blade rotor with just three freely articulated pins total (zero servos, control arms etc), plus complex electronics.

It is innovative, and it's not like the large complex helicopters that we usually use.

-4

u/Ndvorsky 4h ago edited 1h ago

Helicopters have at least 4 motors just like “drones”. Any basic flying machine needs at least 3 or 4 motors.

It looks like this design uses tricks to make time an input to replace some of the needed motors.

Edit: since people don’t get it, I’m talking about the swashplate which this design doesn’t have. It has an additional 3 actuators (motors) and is needed to control a typical helicopter.

4

u/LambdaNuC 3h ago

A classic helicopter in it's simplest form only has one engine. That one engine is coupled by gears to the main rotor and the tail rotor.

There are certainly helicopters with multiple engines, but I'm not aware of any that have dedicated engines for the tail rotor and the main rotor.

1

u/Ndvorsky 1h ago

It needs three more to steer the blades. I said motor, not engine.

It’s true a human can do that on the lightest and smallest ones but a human is a motor of sorts too.

0

u/LambdaNuC 1h ago

I mean, if your counting muscles than even a bicycle has ≈ 600 motors. That seems like a bit of a silly definition.

3

u/exipheas 3h ago

What helicopter has 4 motors?

2

u/baldycoot 3h ago

Your mom

1

u/Extreme-Rub-1379 3h ago

You need one for up/down/left/right

Duh

1

u/Ndvorsky 1h ago

You’re joking but yeah, something has to make the helicopter move around. They have 3 more actuators to make it go up/down left/right forward/back.

1

u/Signal-School-2483 3h ago

You're going to have to expand on that, since rotary wing aircraft like the EC130 are single engined.

1

u/rhalf 2h ago

Fascinating. I wonder how small they can make it. A conventional helicopter is like a dragon fly. This one doesn't even resemble an insect anymore.

•

u/porky1122 16m ago

I suspect you could make some pretty money from this with interest from military suppliers.

•

u/LolaBaraba 13m ago

While this is cool, coaxial rotors are cooler and are actually in use.

0

u/[deleted] 5h ago

[deleted]

1

u/QuantumCakeIsALie 5h ago

The second sentence of the Wikipedia page directly contradicts you.

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u/CMDR_omnicognate 6h ago

So a helicopter?

5

u/rock_crockpot 5h ago

Heli’s have two props. Don’t forget about the rear one on the tail to counter spin.

1

u/CMDR_omnicognate 5h ago

in fairness, not all helicopters have a tail rotor, McDonnell Douglas make some that basically use low pressure generated by the main engine to push air out the side of the tail. it accomplishes the same general purpose of a tail rotor, just without having an extra prop. Though i am being a bit pedantic with that since they're not exactly common.

3

u/rock_crockpot 5h ago

Well, I can get down in the pedantic mud and play too! Even though you may not see it - What do you think the main engine is powering to push the air out of the side of the tail?

1

u/MGreymanN 4h ago

That still uses a separate fan/prop in the boom. The only class of helicopter that doesn't have two props/fans/etc is the early reaction drive designs that use the bleed air from the engine directly. The design was never popularized.

2

u/AyeBraine 3h ago

It's rather, imagine a car that has only one wheel and its motor is directly connected to the wheel (no transmission, no steering system, no differentials, nothing, just a dumb straight axle), there are almost no moving parts except a few articulated hinges, and it can stay upright, drive, stop, accelerate, turn, and do other things that cars do. Just because of the smart shape of the parts and advanced electronics.

5

u/soks86 5h ago

No, a helicopter has 2 motors as well as a more complex assembly attached to the rotor.

Literally the first 30 seconds of the video.

Reddit.

1

u/Sugarsmacks23 4h ago

Helicopters don't have 2 motors, some do, but that's not the requirement. They have 2 rotors, the tail rotor is driven by the same engine/s that drive the main rotor. Also, rotor less helicopters exist. He also from his own video basically remade a swashplate but in a slightly different manner. One that is very cool, but he's still made like, 75% of a helicopter, then called it a drone. Impressive as hell still

I Built a Drone With One Motor

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