http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLKQf6syOnU
Looks and acts like a jelly fish floating in the sky. Skip to the 2:15 mark to see what I meant by jelly fish but I do recommend reading over the details listed at the start and viewing all of the video as the up loader explains various things about the footage.
Also reading the description of the video lists his camera setup and how he modified parts to suit.
Flux
Interesting, but hard to make an opinion, as it looks like there's some distortion of the image from the telescope.
i was just reading about flying jellyfish..lol..small world hummmmmmmmmm :o
http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-flying-robot-jellyfish-insects-bioinspired-engineering-20131125,0,1118474.story#axzz2m8fVrZVp
Video: A flying robotic jellyfish? Prototype proves it's possible
better vid at link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tadbCnpSAh0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tadbCnpSAh0
By Amina Khan
November 25, 2013, 5:20 p.m.
It doesn't pay to underestimate a jellyfish. They may not look like the most athletic swimmers, but they're remarkably efficient -- and their body plan could have advantages that translate to the air, too. A team from New York University has designed a flying jellyfish-like robot that uses four flapping wings to stay aloft.
This unconventional robot, described at the APS Division of Fluid Dynamics Meeting in Pittsburgh, could lead the way for flying mini-robots used in search-and-rescue and military operations and even as environmental sensors.
Engineers are trying to build all sorts of robots based on the wing motions of such animals as birds, bats, hummingbirds and butterflies. Those working on the smallest robots tend to use more insect-like designs, given that the bugs have already mastered flight mechanisms on a tiny scale.
But the vast majority of flying insects rely on the same mechanism, with the same weaknesses: wings that sweep back and forth in a sort of S-shape. (Only a few critters, including dragonflies, move their wings in the relatively simple up-down motion that many people expect.)
Such designs are "a great place to start in terms of building a flying machine," said lead author Leif Ristroph, an applied mathematician at New York University. "But there are some technical problems with it."
Bugs with flapping wings have to spend a lot of time dealing with a violent environment, sensing every gust of wind and then adjusting accordingly. It takes a lot of work, and it's inherently unstable. The researchers wanted to build something that can be built small, but simply, and still remain stable in the air without too much thinking.
"I wanted to think of something very different," Ristroph said. "So I actually tried about five or 10 different schemes, all of which failed except this one."
The research, he joked, was "more perspiration" than inspiration.
The jellyfish, in some ways, appears ideal for this task: It's a very simple creature, lacking a brain or bones (and the complex joints that come with them). And the design works on large and small scales: The Lion's Mane jellyfish can exceed 7 feet in diameter and the Irukandji jellyfish can be just a few millimeters wide.
The scientists' flapping-wing robot spans 8 centimeters and weighs just 2 grams. With four petal-like wings that flap up and down, it may move more like a moth than a jellyfish, given that jellies squeeze water out of smooth, unbroken bells.
And while this robotic flying jelly still has to be attached to a power source and can't yet be steered, this prototype shows that such a design can indeed work, perhaps for more sophisticated flying machines and on much smaller scales.
The design could be useful for the military, Ristroph said, though he was more excited about civilian applications. Theoretically, he said, a bunch of mini flying jellies could be tossed into the air from a building and float around as environmental sensors, taking data and adjusting their position when necessary.
"It's an excellent example of bio-inspired engineering," said Caltech professor John Dabiri, who studies the jellyfish's swimming secrets and attended the talk at the American Physical Society's Division of Fluid Dynamics Meeting in Pittsburgh.
"The final product doesn't copy the jellyfish body design, but it does achieve a similarly stable motion," Dabiri added. "Although it doesn't look like the jellyfish that inspired it, I'm sure they would be proud."
I don't know what the big deal is.. here's one on the same page of youies from a year ago....maybe it got away.. :P
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gf0DDpKGUk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gf0DDpKGUk
That last vid looks like the "jelly" gets lift from helium or similar. The first one is clearly lifted by mechanical means completely.
It appears there is a bright light that's pulsing on and off or is it the sun reflecting off the surface of the object?
Deuem? ;)
Deuem has been sitting this one out on the fence because all I get is a blank screen where ever the video is. Can you please add a video link and if you can a screen shot of what you are talking about. Being banned from videos has it's problems. Can't even do the ss thing if I don't know the URL. I have followed the thread since you posted it........Deuem
There are many Peggy members who can't view videos. Please don't forget us.. :'(
Deuem
Ah ok I'll have to remember that next time I post something up.
Link to video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLKQf6syOnU
Can't do the screen grab at the moment unless someone can grab some frames?
If I can get the video I can do it with little problem
Off to try and get it now. BBL Deuem
At the moment nadda, will have to try later when traffic is lower. Please recheck the link to see if a letter is missing at the end. TY
ETA, I see the link works to UT. bbl