Comments on: Helicopter strobing http://www.starchamber.com/2008/11/helicopter-strobing.html Ned Gulley's Blog. Resident buzzwords: wise crowds, accelerated design, swarm robotics, synthetic biology. Fri, 10 Feb 2012 16:08:47 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Ned http://www.starchamber.com/2008/11/helicopter-strobing.html/comment-page-1#comment-110301 Ned Sun, 09 Nov 2008 04:39:14 +0000 http://www.starchamber.com/?p=2279#comment-110301 That reminds me of watching the ailerons on an airplane. It take very little variation to make the plane roll appreciably. That helicopter rotor is spinning so fast that a tiny change in pitch makes a big different in lift. That reminds me of watching the ailerons on an airplane. It take very little variation to make the plane roll appreciably. That helicopter rotor is spinning so fast that a tiny change in pitch makes a big different in lift.

]]> By: Mike O http://www.starchamber.com/2008/11/helicopter-strobing.html/comment-page-1#comment-109793 Mike O Wed, 05 Nov 2008 21:37:26 +0000 http://www.starchamber.com/?p=2279#comment-109793 Regarding the heliocopter in the video, I had expected the changes in rotor pitch to be more pronounced through the various turns and hovers, but I had to watch the video a few times to really appreciate the subtle changes. Not at all like the animations from "How to do it." Regarding the heliocopter in the video, I had expected the changes in rotor pitch to be more pronounced through the various turns and hovers, but I had to watch the video a few times to really appreciate the subtle changes. Not at all like the animations from “How to do it.”

]]> By: Ned http://www.starchamber.com/2008/11/helicopter-strobing.html/comment-page-1#comment-109525 Ned Tue, 04 Nov 2008 04:16:56 +0000 http://www.starchamber.com/?p=2279#comment-109525 Halogen lights have some tricks of their own. For instance, you can show the girls how, if you hold a paper napkin up against the bulb, it bursts into bright flames in less than ten seconds. And that's just a prelude to the "turtle in a microwave" science lesson. Incidentally, ricochets were the least of Saulmier's troubles. The life expectancy of a fighter pilot in World War I was about five and a half minutes, so you were doing pretty well just to have the ricochet problem. Halogen lights have some tricks of their own. For instance, you can show the girls how, if you hold a paper napkin up against the bulb, it bursts into bright flames in less than ten seconds. And that’s just a prelude to the “turtle in a microwave” science lesson.

Incidentally, ricochets were the least of Saulmier’s troubles. The life expectancy of a fighter pilot in World War I was about five and a half minutes, so you were doing pretty well just to have the ricochet problem.

]]> By: rob http://www.starchamber.com/2008/11/helicopter-strobing.html/comment-page-1#comment-109511 rob Tue, 04 Nov 2008 02:03:58 +0000 http://www.starchamber.com/?p=2279#comment-109511 I remember getting an early explanation of this phenomenon from my dad when I would sit on the floor of our kitchen spinning one of those suction cup push tops for toddlers. The kitchen had an awful circular florescent bulb that strobed around 60hz. I loved sitting there watching it slow, stop, spin backwards. An experience my kids won't get with our fancy halogen lighting... Wikipedia calls this "temporal aliasing" which sounds like one of the abilities found on Heroes. Btw - Saulmier's solution really sounds like a problem. I wonder how many pilots died from their own ricochets? I remember getting an early explanation of this phenomenon from my dad when I would sit on the floor of our kitchen spinning one of those suction cup push tops for toddlers. The kitchen had an awful circular florescent bulb that strobed around 60hz. I loved sitting there watching it slow, stop, spin backwards. An experience my kids won’t get with our fancy halogen lighting…

Wikipedia calls this “temporal aliasing” which sounds like one of the abilities found on Heroes.

Btw – Saulmier’s solution really sounds like a problem. I wonder how many pilots died from their own ricochets?

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