"World's First Hydraulic Drone Promises Six-Hour, Non-Stop Flights Over 500 Miles"

I would anticipate that the hydraulic helicopter will be used by Amazon to deliver to front yards and roof tops.

Clearly, with an estimated max range of 500 miles, it can trade distance for payload, and carry quite large parcels, or multiple on a single mission. Carrying cargo, it will not need to be particularly attractive, and comfort is a non issue.

Delivery from the downtown NY center to a mansion on Long Island in 20 minutes from your click on the item could be done. Significant fee? Of course. These customers drive large luxury cars instead of Vespa's because they can afford whatever they want. Being able to get what they want RIGHT NOW is important to them, and this will make possible such delivery.

Maintenance of the non computer devices will be things that any hydraulic mechanic can do, for quick return to service. Those chipper hydraulic motors could be replaced with a new one, pre prepared with propeller, in less than an hour, and since failure is normally decreasing efficiency, replacements could be scheduled after midnight, when deliveries would be minimal. Outside the computer and related valves, it is a very simple device.
 
I would anticipate that the hydraulic helicopter will be used by Amazon to deliver to front yards and roof tops.

Clearly, with an estimated max range of 500 miles, it can trade distance for payload, and carry quite large parcels, or multiple on a single mission. Carrying cargo, it will not need to be particularly attractive, and comfort is a non issue.

Delivery from the downtown NY center to a mansion on Long Island in 20 minutes from your click on the item could be done. Significant fee? Of course. These customers drive large luxury cars instead of Vespa's because they can afford whatever they want. Being able to get what they want RIGHT NOW is important to them, and this will make possible such delivery.

Maintenance of the non computer devices will be things that any hydraulic mechanic can do, for quick return to service. Those chipper hydraulic motors could be replaced with a new one, pre prepared with propeller, in less than an hour, and since failure is normally decreasing efficiency, replacements could be scheduled after midnight, when deliveries would be minimal. Outside the computer and related valves, it is a very simple device.


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Seems to me with all the tech out there if someone really wanted to make an autonomous drone they could tweak and auto land system and put it in an extant helicopter. Not as sexy, but I bet they could get it to work in far less time and/or less money invested.
 
Seems to me with all the tech out there if someone really wanted to make an autonomous drone they could tweak and auto land system and put it in an extant helicopter. Not as sexy, but I bet they could get it to work in far less time and/or less money invested.

Those exist in the form of military helicopter drones, as well as modified Hueys and Blackhawks.
 
if someone really wanted to make an autonomous drone they could tweak and auto land system and put it in an extant helicopter.
They already have and they have been flying. But when compared to other drone technology it is a bit overkill and doesn't have much commercial use due to existing aircraft ops costs and complexity.
Heres 2, one based on a Schweizer 330 and the other a Bell 407. They even removed all the wasted people space but still more aircraft than the job needs.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/38/RQ-8A_Fire_Scout.jpg
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipe...e_Scout_unmanned_aerial_vehicle_(cropped).jpg
 
Helicopters also add power when increasing the collective. Powering all the props from the same source would mean they’d all be the same rpm, despite the pitch of the various props being different. That would be “challenging” to make work well.
It would be trivial to have one pump and four different hydraulic motor speeds. It's done all the time.
 
It would be trivial to have one pump and four different hydraulic motor speeds. It's done all the time.

His reply didn't apply to the hydraulic copter. It was a reply to my suggestion that in quadrocopter with mechanically linked props, you would have to change the lift of the different rotors, not necessarily their RPM.
 
Somebody's just having fun with this.
It does kind of look like an exercise in, "When your favorite tool is a hammer, everything looks like a nail".
In the 80's, an engineer friend of mine asked how I'd power the door locks for a car. I said electric, maybe a solenoid or motor. He said nope, guess something else. Well, maybe vacuum? Ford did a lot of vacuum powered stuff in the 70's cars. Nope! Pneumatic? Nope! So I gave up. He said, what's the worst way to do it? I guessed - hydraulic? He said yep!!! Meet my new (BMW or Audi - I don't remember). Apparently they made the door locks hydraulic, and if you parked a cool car in the sun, it would sometimes heat up and the pressure change would pop all the locks open.
Mercedes offered (probably still does offer) their flagship S-class sedan in a bulletproof version. The car has top and bottom protection from mines, grenades, and the like along with bulletproof doors and glass. The window riser mechanisms are hydraulic due to the weight of the window glass.
 
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