leeuwen wrote: ↑Sun Jan 05, 2020 3:14 pm
Drones? No way that is going to have any kind of mass market product available anytime soon.
There are still lots of problems, just to name a few:
1) First you need someone else to steer it or some way to steer it yourself. If you think AI will magically make it work independently you are kidding yourself.
Sure it might be able to run a set track but then you basically have a very expensive cable park. Also the AI would need to know how to work around waves/shore break and other people on the water. Not only is that a super hard problem it is also something where there is a very small market for. Nobody is going to trow billions at that to develop it.
What could maybe work is a control system for the person riding but I am not sure how feasible it is to make something that is sturdy enough, easy to use, water/salt proof and for a reasonable price.
2) The noise! Part of the charm of wind powered sports is being out in nature. Can you imagine the hell of a sound a couple of these drones would make? Pretty sure it will be banned at any spot where there is either people or nature reserves nearby.
3) Power density of the battery is not there yet. Getting a foiler up and running is relatively low power requirement. Doing some kind of session like a twintip with bigair won't be possible anytime soon.
Even for foiling it seems like an overly complex solution which adds nothing compared to the efoil.
I do give the efoil a good chance of success if prices go down below 5k especially if battery tech gets into a state that the board can get lighter (and less bulky).
i'm not advocating drone kiting..
but to play the devils advocate..
problem number #1- already solved.
drone "remotes" already exist..operated in 3D. you simply point/rotate/wave where it where you want to go..or have it mirror or "run" from you... not too difficult to program it to stay at certain angle of wind like boat autopilots already do (for surf use..for example)
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/ ... phoon.html
The Wizard Wand for Typhoon Quadcopter from Yuneec condenses all of the quadcopter's flight and gimbal controls into a small unit that works like a TV remote. It also gives you a Point-N-Fly function that lets you literally point to where you want the drone to position itself instead of using the standard flight controls to move it.
oh...it is already waterproof. the "wizard" was a big before its time...but again this tech has been here for a while. (is in your phone too)
wouldnt be too diffcult to modify something like that into a handle to hold
problem #2..
(depending on what you consider acceptable noise)
cant speak of effectivenes.. but you can cut down on lateral waves from rotos
problem #3
depends how you define "yet".
google "lithium polysulfidophosphate" batteries... they're lighter in weight...but can hold ~4x the energy as other Li batteries chems
the technoolgy IS here now
meaning an energy rich, all solid battery that isnt going to self combust when it gets abused.
...it is just early.
folks still fighting on who gets rich off it.
here is the research abstract for the fellers that are trying to file the patent(maybe they already got it?)
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1 ... 0/abstract
i see the battery breakthrus as more ushering in the upcoming era of 100% electric vehicles..(and solar/energy storage at home)
problably the only 2-3 people that would use a drone for foil on a board are already participating in this thread.