13 comments

  • Animats 3 minutes ago
    That's cute. They need to be able to deal with other flying umbrellas nearby, if this is to be a product, of course.

    This would probably sell in Shenzhen.

  • 12_throw_away 1 hour ago
    IMO it's worth watching the video rather than reading someone's writeup of it. My favorite part is this (written) list of everything that went wrong [1] ... and how much of it is due to the intersection of hardware, software, vendors, and linux

    [1] https://youtu.be/EYRrUiM_A6g?si=T60tAChuo-GNtfqW&t=921

  • Zigurd 1 hour ago
    I saw this on Facebook before I saw it here. While it bears a superficial resemblance to 1000s of clickbaity tech stunts this one really delighted me. Some of these should be edited into a remastered release of Blade Runner.
  • SubiculumCode 31 minutes ago
    Following the Ukraine war has basically made me flinch at the sight and sound of drones.
  • zkmon 1 hour ago
    I think this is in the category of excess application of technology
    • m463 1 hour ago
      I don't know - I got an automatic garbage can that not only opens and closes, it also ejects the garbage bag when it is full and vacuums in another one into place.

      today's luxury is tomorrow's necessity.

      things get normalized. pop-up ads, selfies, subscriptions, the cybertruck...

      • nine_k 23 minutes ago
        > today's luxury is tomorrow's necessity

        Indeed, see stuff like fridges, cars, phones, internet access...

        > pop-up ads, selfies, subscriptions, the cybertruck...

        None of these are a luxury, or ever was; in a way, they are the opposite.

      • rf15 1 hour ago
        you got me, I am deadly afraid of the world in which any of these become a necessity
    • rolph 28 minutes ago
      consider captain america, perhaps an autonomous flying riot shield that protects, and strikes out.
  • 4b11b4 1 hour ago
    And drenches them in sound
  • rg2004 15 minutes ago
    what about hydrogen or helium to extend battery life?
  • SoftTalker 1 hour ago
    The kid would appear to have a future job opportunity at Cyberdyne Systems.
  • mlmonkey 38 minutes ago
    Bonus: free hairdryer!
  • hdorchy 39 minutes ago
    noise, autonomy are real constraints. And the wind resistance is a safety critical issue. To make it wind resistant you need to increase the drone's power/weight ratio which works against battery life/autonomy and weight (more battery, more weight) This is a nice technical experiment but cannot work as a general public product in my opinion (I build drones since 2013 and know this topic in depth)
  • ricardobayes 1 hour ago
    That's really cool honestly. This took me back to around 2017 when everyone was into hardware startups.
    • derwiki 1 hour ago
      Interesting, not what I remember from 2017. To which hardware startups are you referring?
      • dlcarrier 31 minutes ago
        One example of the peak of that craziness was in 2016, after Snapchat released glasses with an embedded camera, which were more or less received as as a gimmick by their user base, Snapchat changed their name to Snap Inc and told their investors that they're now a hardware company.
      • ricardobayes 48 minutes ago
        Well that was the peak of the kickstarter era, tons of wearables and new projects. You know, like Pebble
  • comrade1234 2 hours ago
    Good for a haircut too.
    • saltcured 1 hour ago
      Yeah, I can only imagine the stability when breezy weather hits that big sail
  • tamimio 1 hour ago
    >what was supposedly a small project ended up big and complicated

    Welcome to the drone world! So many moving parts and one tiny mistake, you end up losing a $60k drone in the ocean (true story!)

    That being said, regulations prevent flying drones of any size above people, unless the drone is high to certain altitude, because of all the dangers that bring, a small issues and the props will harm them.

    Cool project tho!

    • projektfu 8 minutes ago
      Better than losing the expense vehicle prototype and the pilot as well.