Jump to content

Neil1993

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    139

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Posts posted by Neil1993

    Carboard RC Airplane Challenge

    in Science & Spaceflight

    Posted

    It would be much better to use wings made with cardboard "ribbing" with a covering of Scotch tape. (It would really cut down on wing mass while still allowing for some pretty sturdy construction.) If the main fuselage is made of cardboard, would this setup be allowed?

    I don't see why not. Those are both materials you are allowed

    Let's Burn Down the Earth's Forests!

    in Science & Spaceflight

    Posted · Edited by Neil1993

    I'm not a super villain, I promise. I'm asking for a friend.

    Well since you're asking for a friend it's ok! :cool:

    You would also need to consider the fact that, without trees, there will be nothing left to take in CO2 and transform it into Oxygen, which is, by far, the more dangerous factor. 9,900,000,000 metric tons of CO2 were released last year which is still more than your friend is planning to release by burning all the trees.

    Could Entanglement Transmit Data Out of a Blackhole?

    in Science & Spaceflight

    Posted · Edited by Neil1993

    Quantum entaglement can't transmit useful data at all.

    The principle states that entangled particles will have opposite (I think it was opposite) spins when one is observed and the function collapses, but you can't control what the spin of the particle will be when the state of superposition collapses which means that you can't control the message being sent.

    (fact check me; I'm probably messing something up)

    What Will Asteroid Mining Look Like?

    in Science & Spaceflight

    Posted

    It is Ms. RainDreamer, actually. But I prefer to be called Rain.

    Anyway, I wonder how exactly we would maintain pressure at drilling point, because I imagine it would be difficult to suck things back in when surrounded with vaccum.

    I apologize for my assumption :P

    I was thinking that the ore mixture could be turned into a slurry within the craft. If the drilling tip was something like sal_vager proposed, the ore would first be transported by an archimedes screw and then mixed with a liquid of some kind (probably not water) and turned into a slurry at the other end for internal transport. Still there has to be some way to maintain pressure within the system, otherwise most liquids would simply vaporize.

    Asteroid Mining

    in Science & Spaceflight

    Posted

    You can't teleoperate asteroid mining; the asteroids could be will frequently be tens of light-minutes away.

    It would most likely be tele-operated like the Mars rover is tele-operated. We would basically be sending commands to a very advanced and intelligent computer that could execute the commands and deal with any complications on its own.

    What Will Asteroid Mining Look Like?

    in Science & Spaceflight

    Posted

    Dominatus came out with a post earlier asking about the challenges of asteroid mining, and one of the responders, Laie, asked an excellent question:

    I'm still wondering what the mining is supposed to look like. Conveyor belts, crushers, pretty much all mining & processing equipment I can think of relies on gravity. What kind of machinery do you need when dust virtually never settles and the particles can be any size?

    So what will the mining look like? How will the drills work? Will they use lasers? how will the ore be refined? how will it be transported throughout the refinery?

    A lot of good thinking can happen here!

    Asteroid Mining

    in Science & Spaceflight

    Posted

    People are already trying to make this move (see Deep Space Industries), but there are quite a few difficulties you haven't considered. First, the amount of space based infrastructure required to create this economy is simply massive. You need large mining craft to travel to asteroids, mine the resources and then, either refine them or transport them to a whole other spacecraft for the refining operations. That's a helluva lot of stuff to put in space.

    Second, prospecting is quite a large problem. There may be some asteroids that are close to earth, but the majority are just hanging around in the asteroid belt and it may take a while to find an asteroid that's worth mining. Remember the difficulty that the philae lander had extracting information from just one comet? Attempting to prospect an asteroid to find its complete mineral composition will be orders of magnitude more difficult.

    Finally, something like this will have to remain mostly space based. The best way we have of returning things to earth is by shooting it down into the atmosphere at thousands of miles an hour. Doing this with a metric ton of platinum would present a massive risk to the investment.

    This isn't to say that I think asteroid mining is hopelessly futuristic. I just think it's a difficult challenge. I would like to see regular asteroid mining within my lifetime.

    Carboard RC Airplane Challenge

    in Science & Spaceflight

    Posted

    If the challenge is really about design and build, you need to set some details. Like X brushless motor, x controler, x prop with x servos, on x battery. As not all motors, batts, etc are not equal it can make a difference. If you're both running the same equipment that are outside of the design, that makes the results more design/skill based. I've got a couple motors that I could fly a 2' box.

    I'm still trying to figure out which motors to use. I have more experience in rocketry and commercial aircraft performance myself, so I'm still doing research on what RC parts would be best. If you have any suggestions for parts, I'd be glad to incorporate them

    Carboard RC Airplane Challenge

    in Science & Spaceflight

    Posted · Edited by Neil1993

    Hello,

    Myself and a colleague got in an argument the other day about who could build aircraft better. Of course, the only way to settle this was with a challenge.

    The general idea of the challenge is that we have to build an aircraft out of cardboard from the recycling which would be as cheap as possible but still perform to a given set of specs. To make the challenge more interesting, no CAD can be used. All that's allowed for the design phase is a pencil, paper and a calculator.

    Of course, this challenge should probably end up as a youtube video, so that the loser can be appropriately shamed.

    I'm wondering if anyone has already seen a competition like this or if anyone has any ideas for the rules?

    thanks!

    __________________________________________________________________________

    The Rules As they Stand Right Now:

    General Rules:

    -Respect the other competitor's secrecy of design

    -You may have one friend help you (?)

    -Must be as cheap as possible

    Hardware limitations:

    -brushless motor with speed controller (?)

    -1 Battery (?)

    -5 servos (2 ailerons, 2 elevators, 1 rudder)

    The challenge includes 4 phases:

    1. Design Phase

    2. Build Phase

    3. Flight Testing and Modification

    4. Judging

    1. Design Phase:

    -No CAD tools will be used

    -The phase should last no more than 1 weekend

    -Technical documentation that comes with the store-bought components is allowed

    -the following books/PDFs are allowed:

    ____-Aerodynamics for Engineering Students (or something similar)

    ____-Aircraft Performance and Design

    2. Build Phase:

    -The main structure may either be composed of corrugated cardboard or heavy cardstock (like what cereal boxes are made of)

    -The cardboard must not be purchased (recycling FTW!)

    -Electrical tape, masking tape, scotch tape and 2 METERS ONLY of Duck tape are allowed

    -5 metal rods (or alternatively, 5 hinges) are allowed for the control surfaces

    -CA Glue or Superglue is allowed

    -30 minute Epoxy (but no less than 30 minute) is allowed as long as it is not used to make resin cast parts

    -Refer to the standard list of hardware above for the electrical and mechanical components

    -This phase should last 1 weekend but it may be extended if all competitors are in agreement

    3. Flight Testing and modification

    -The competitors must test in two separate fields

    -This phase may last 1 weekend MAX

    -The competitors may change whatever they like, as long as it adheres to all previous rules (rebuilding completely on the field is an option)

    -All local by-laws concerning the use of RC planes must be followed

    4. Judging

    -This will last one day

    -Beer will be provided

    -The aircraft must meet the following specs:

    ____-It must reach an altitude of 1000 ft (20 points, assigned proportionally)

    ____-It must stay aloft for at least 20 minutes (20 points, assigned proportionally)

    ____-speed (5 points for being at 30 kph, 1 extra point for every extra 5 kph up to 55 kph)

    ____-It must have full roll, yaw and bank capability (5 points for each)

    -The following subjective points will be assessed and assigned by the impartial judge:

    ____-Aerobatic capability (10 points)

    ____-Quality and creativity of design and construction (20 points)

    ____-Ridiculousness of landing (5 points)

    __________________________________________________________________________

    The Gary Flandro challenge

    in Science & Spaceflight

    Posted

    I have been trying to build a Matlab simulation which models the motion of the planets (on rails) and has the capability to predict the motion of a spacecraft using the n-body problem. However, I would need to create a completely new input file for the KSP planetary system and I think that the fact that KSP models the orbital physics using spheres-of-influence would make my model useless (or at least inaccurate) for predicting in-game maneuvers.

    EDF Afterburner

    in Science & Spaceflight

    Posted

    butane kinda works because the fuel comes pressurized so you dont have to deal with much more than opening the valve. though the metal can doesn't help you in the weight department. you might be able to use liquid fuel with a atomizer nozzle. low pressure behind the nozzle might be enough to draw out the liquid on its own with the venturi effect. provide a bit of turbulent air to improve fuel mixing. you could eliminate the valve control at the expense of bleeding fuel at takeoff. you might also have a servo pinch the line closed (which would give you a small degree of throttle control on the burner).

    preheating the fuel no matter what it is will definately aid in combustion. what i would do is have a 2 stage heater, stage one would just be a low value resistor (quarter watt carbon outta do fine) wrapped with metal tubing and apply heat shrink, then do a second stage using heat recovered from the nozzel, power the resistor as part of the startup procedure, then let the engine waste heat take over from there.

    im also wondering if a tandem edf config would work, have a large edf up front and a smaller one in back, this should increase the pressure in the combustion chamber a little bit more, which combined with preheated fuel, will help your ignition. the whole thing needs to be in a sealed tube so that all the thrust goes out the tailpipe. all you need is some beer cans.

    I'll get there eventually. First I need to do all the initial simulations. I might be able to do that tonight (if I can finish all my homework in time). Whatever the case, I'm not about to use beer cans for the combustion chamber. I'll try to get some aluminum or stainless steel.

    EDF Afterburner

    in Science & Spaceflight

    Posted

    Using the previous calculation, I estimated an exhaust velocity of approximately 174 m/s coming from the EDF (assuming the plane has an airspeed of 25 m/s). I can use this to create the final simulation.

    One last thing before I continue; I was considering using Butane, like the guy in the video. Would something else work better? Like maybe propane or methanol?

×
×
  • Create New...