Broadcasters and The Parrot AR.Drone - Hawaii-Five-0

If a man can write a better book, preach a better sermon, or make a better mouse-trap than his neighbour, though he builds his house in the woods, the world will make a beaten path to his door.

Emerson, Lecture in 1871, which Lindsworth Deer attended

Famous words echoed by my beloved SDA girlfriend, Audia Granston, gone too soon. If only that were absolutely true. I am yet to see anyone beating a path to my door for my ideas thus given away thus far, too numerous to list that I must write them into a blog as soon as news surfaces that matches what I remember emailing while at UTECH (1997-2000), speaking in 2003 while employed at C&W, emailing in 2007, 2008 and re-repeating to a bunch of brain-dead ShurPower Engineers in 2009.

Good idea Yahoo for its ability to store email forever. Still, blogging helps to improve my writing skills, and in the process I have learned how to set up a blog and became a Developer for Apple in the process, taking more of an interest in consumer electronics as per the shows on CNET News, particularly as it relates to design.

Such as this latest news about a Quadricopter/Augmented Reality (AR) Drone from Parrot, a completely different take, as it has its own built in Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11n) enabled with Wi-Fi Direct as reported in the article “Taking flight: Parrot AR.Drone quadricopter”, published September 17, 2010 12:34 PM PDT by Joseph Kaminski, CNET News - Crave. Which is now controllable via the Apple iPhone as stated in the article “AR.Drone helicopter controllable by iPhone”, published JANUARY 7, 2010 2:18 PM PST By Rafe Needleman, CNET News - RAFE'S RADAR!

“Gadgette” and technophile Carlette DeLeon aka The Pet Tales Chick aka “Dilly” of Smile Jamaica on Television Jamaica would love this along with her fab new Apple iPad, being as she is a big fan of Hawaii Five-0, as per the episode “Smile Jamaica”, aired Thursday September 23^rd 2010 by Television Jamaica recorded on my computer that I use as a DVR (Digital Video Recorder). John Public light up his chocolate pipe and get ready to recount the history of aviation, Hawaii Five-0 style!

Ironically, the French Military is currently also pushing the development in this area of remote controlled MAV (Miniature Aerial Vehicles) as stated in the article “French micro plane fast forwards to hover”, published October 17, 2009 12:06 PM PDT by Mark Rutherford, CNET News - Military Tech.

Bit of a footnote here: my ORIGINAL concept or idea that I repeated to a bunch of brain-dead Shurpower Generator Engineers in 2009 did not involve a helicopter at all, merely an RC (Remote Controlled) package using Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11n) that was modular and could be hardwired to any pre-existing remote controlled vehicle e.g. RC Cars, airplanes, etc and thus allow the pilot to control the device via their computer over the Internet using what was back then the cutting edge of Wireless Broadband at the time in 2000 in Jamaica: Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11g).

The additional devices on the Quadricopter/Augmented Reality (AR) Drone from Parrot are merely to assist with more stable flight, as a good old RC plane can also be remote controlled from the ground with a NTSC mini-camera attached, as numerous YouTube posts showing mashups of cameras installed on RC airplanes and cars have done. Great for driving and looking under girl’s skirts, I might add, as per the CBS reboot of The Big Bang Theory coming out EXCLUSIVELY on Hulu!!

Ironically I had revived this idea while at UWI while doing my Degree in Electronic and Telecoms, again in my Third albeit not final year as a RC airplane that can be piloted using 3G, Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11n) or WiMax (IEEE 802.16d), effectively a Remote Controlled Drone, but without satellite uplink control, as the US Military has today.

I even re-explained my concept while being interviewed at FLOW Jamaica Ltd for a position as an Engineer (which I did not get!!) and later to Dr. Paul Aiken, Head of the Electronics Unit at UWI in 2008, who is now in the process of setting up a Engineering School at UWI specifically for Telecommunications Engineering, Biomedical Engineering and Alternative Energy Engineering.

This original concept, which I had repeated back to a bunch of brain-dead Shurpower Generator Engineers in 2009 was actually based on a paper I had written while finishing up my Diploma in Electronics and Telecoms while in my Third or Final Year at UTECH in the Spring of 1999 on a ROV (Remote Operate Vehicle) electronics package called Lunokhod, named after the first ROV that hitched a ride with the Luna 17 Lander used by the USSR (Union of the Socialist Soviet Republic).

The Russian  Space Agency sent Lunokhod to survey the Moon in November 1970 during the hey day of the space race as stated in the article “The Moon: An Adventure Begins”, published 1982 by Encyclopedia Britannica, by Marshall Cavendish, Partworks Ltd, 58 Old Compton Street, London WIV JPA, England.

Those days are long gone and Senator Barack Obama, President of the United States of America in 2010, as part of balancing the budget, has laid out plans to reducing spending on not only Space Exploration at NASA (National Aeronautical Space Administration) by privatization of the delivery of payloads e.g. Commercial and Military Satellites into space by utilizing the same Military Contractors to build reusable spacecraft to accomplish the job of the ageing, outdated and inefficient STS Shuttle Program and focusing on robotic explorations of the Solar System, establishing a permanent Moon Base and putting a Man on Mars by 2020 as expounded in the article “Is NASA's New Space Plan Really that Radical?”, published Tuesday March 2 2010 by Clara Moskowitz, Senior Writer SPACE.com, Yahoo! News.

This use of Robotic explorers is a good move, again making John Public suspect that Senator Barack Obama, President of the United States of America is also a Robotics or Aviation Engineering graduate of MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology). ROV’s or UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle), as the US Military calls them, have long been around, coming into their own during the Gulf War during the George Bush Presidency.

The US Military has even caught the Alternative Energy bug along with the Obama Administration, having been early adopters of the fuel cell powered UAV as stated in the article “Fuel efficient spy plane for sale”, published August 6, 2009 7:51 AM PDT by Candace Lombardi, CNET News - Planetary Gear.

In 2010, a similar development was seen as a herald for the era of aviation without the need for conventional fuels with the flight of the Hydrogen Fuel Cell powered Phantom as stated in the article “Phantom Eye 'spy plane' unveiled”, published Thursday July 15 2010, BBC News. But this is not an eternal flying spy plane that could challenge spy satellites.

But don’t hold your breath, as the Zephyr has arrived.

Historically, though it is the Zephyr which now holds the record for the longest unmanned solar powered flight for a UAV. The Zephyr, designed by Qinetiq Company out in the Arizona Desert right beside the Farnborough International Airshow in July 2010 AD as stated in the article “'Eternal plane' returns to earth”, published 23 July 2010 last updated at 14:48 GMT, BBC News

The Zephyr has logged three hundred and thirty six hours and twenty four minutes (336 hrs, 24 min) of unmanned, un-refueled flight, beating out the thirty hour and twenty four minutes (30hr 24min) unmanned, un-refueled flight set by Northrop Grumman's RQ-4A Global Hawk in 2001 and even the manned, un-refueled flight in the Voyager a bicycle/solar powered flight by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager in 1986 of two hundred and sixteen hours (216 hrs).

Andre Borschberg became the first person to pilot a manned un-refueled solar plane through the night as stated in the article “Solar 24-hour test flight starts”, published Wednesday July 7^th 2010, BBC News which ended successfully as stated in the article “Solar plane's night test success”, published Thursday July 8^th 2010, BBC News.

A foreboding of things to come.

It speaks of a world of flight using solar power and if anything, this early test with a successful night flight may bode well for the development of commercial aircraft that are completely solar powered in the future with early signs appearing in the form of a (solar powered or fuel cell?) sea plane being tested off the coast of Cyprus as stated in the article “Unmanned seaplane shape-shifts to fly steadily”, published August 30, 2010 3:15 PM PDT by Elizabeth Armstrong Moore, CNET News - Cutting Edge.

Unmanned un-refueled rescue vehicles and unmanned un-refueled passenger aircraft? Why do I suspect that Big Oil would not let that happen?

No doubt the solar panels used in the Zephyr as stated in the article “'Eternal plane' returns to earth”, published 23 July 2010 last updated at 14:48 GMT, BBC News, Science and Environment are designed to use ambient light from the Visible Spectrum as well as Radiation in the UV (Ultra-Voilet), IR (Infra-Red) and other non-visible spectrum, unless the aircraft plans to fly in the upper stratosphere all the time above the clouds where the Sun is always shining.

Thus I am quite pleased that my idea has caught on with commercial gaming applications as stated in the article “Taking flight: Parrot AR.Drone quadricopter”, published September 17, 2010 12:34 PM PDT by Joseph Kaminski, CNET News - Crave. Thus, the obvious becomes clear as to how this Quadricopter/Augmented Reality (AR) Drone from Parrot can be improved, as twelve (12) minutes of flight time and ninety (90) minutes to recharge batteries is a tad expensive and inefficient for US$299, with battery packs costing US$29.99.

At this point I shall begin to sound like a broken record: augment the battery packs with a strap on Anhydrous Ethanol Engine that starts up silently and charges the batteries when low, similar to the 2010 Chevy Volt and its Range Extender Technology or spray on solar panels, similar to the nanotechnology employed by Solexant as stated in the articles:

1. “Spray-on films turns glass into Solar panels”, published August 19, 2010 1:09 PM PDT by Juniper Foo, CNET News – Crave
2. “Solexant funded to print thin-film Solar cells”, published June 4, 2010 8:50 AM PDT by Martin LaMonica, CNET News - Green Tech

All complemented with even flexible solar panels as stated in the article “SoloPower trumpets certification for flexible solar modules”, published September 7, 2010 8:30 AM PDT by Martin LaMonica, CNET News.

Throw in optional control and video streaming over 3G (HSDPA+)/WiMax (IEEE 802.16d)/LTE (Long Term Evolution) on multiple frequencies especially in light of Telecom Provider AT&T and Verizon going LTE (Long Term Evolution) push as stated in the article “AT&T, Verizon execs talk LTE expansion”, published September 16, 2010 11:05 PM PDT by Kent German, CNET News - Dialed In.

Not to mention Telecom Provider Sprint and Clearwire expansionist ideals as stated in the article “Clearwire brings limited 4G to New York and Los Angeles”, published September 13, 2010 2:15 PM PDT by Kent German, CNET News - Dialed In.

This toy will be the must-have contraption for not only spoilt rich people who own an Apple iPhone, Apple iPod Touch or Apple iPad [gamers], but also Journalists such as the “gadgette” and technophile Carlette DeLeon aka The Pet Tales Chick aka “Dilly” of Smile Jamaica on Television Jamaica, now sporting her fab new Apple iPad as per the episode “Smile Jamaica”, aired Thursday September 23^rd 2010 by Television Jamaica, who can suggest it to her boss, Kay Osbourne, Manager at Television Jamaica.

This as a means of doing not only Traffic Reports but also aerial shots from above for certain scenes, making Smile Jamaica more pleasing to watch on a Thursdays, actually Hawaii Five-0 Style. Television Jamaica is finally stepping into the future with video streaming from their website Television Jamaica so this would be a step in the right direction.

I definitely know the Police in Jamaica would love this gadget as well, as it would be helpful in night reconnaissance, saving a bundle on motor vehicle and gas usage. But that’s is actually inspiration for another article on this innovation, the Quadricopter/Augmented Reality (AR) Drone from Parrot, ROV technology now in the reach, at least for now, of regular well-off early adopters, with potential markets in other areas.