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Phantom Sentinel, The Nearly Invisible Flying Drone |
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Written by William Cox
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Sunday, 08 October 2006 |
 VeraTech Aero, a Minnesota USA based company, has invented an aircraft that is nearly invisible to the naked eye. The secret to this technology is the concept of persistance of vision, or the lack thereof. The aircraft is uniquely created so that as it spins, its center of mass is in open space. This means that once the vehicle takes off, it spins in such a way that none of the body stays in the same spot, and it turns into just a blur of vision. This makes the aircraft especially hard to spot from the ground.
To do this, the vehicle is shaped like a 'Y' with the center of mass positioned between the two forks of the 'Y'. On either end there is a propellar, with the 'Y's tail functioning as a wing. The wing provides lift and the two propellers control the aircraft. Due to the fast spinning motion, the vehicle is also very stable and is able to hover and maneuver in many different weather types.
Using vision processing, an onboard camera on the aircraft, is able to transmit panoramic pictures of the landscape. These can then be sent to a headset that the driver can wear. The Phantom is also able to be launched from a throw, weights only 4lbs, and can be packed in a 12" x 4" x 6" space.
You can find more information and video of the Phantom Sentinel on VeraTech Aero's website.
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