Science Amphibicopter Concept (Warning: A.I. Spoilers)

[werdna]

Overall, I thought A.I. was pretty good. Yes, the ending was too Speilbergian and happy- not quite the way Kubrick might have done it (and by the way, they were extremely advanced mecchas, not aliens- machines created by other machines- one easily surmises that this process of machines creating machines went through many generations during the, well, 2000 - however many years until humans became extinct).

Anyways, my favorite futuristic concept from this movie is the Amphibicopter. I hate helicopters, tilt-rotor-aircraft, or anything else with huge, dangerous propellers. That's why the amphibicopter is so appealing to me. It's driving me crazy- I don't see anyone considering this concept.

The only element of this design which I wouldn't really care for and can easily live without is the ability for the craft to go underwater like a submarine. Sure, it would be nice, but it's not very feasible. If it lacked this feature then it would take the "amphibi-" out of amphibicopter, but who cares?

Aside from that, there's a problem with the design as a whole- the balancing. There's just too much weight in the front. The whole "tail" of the aircraft, including the rear engines, need to be bigger. Now, I'm not saying that would be enough but it would certainly make things easier.

The rest of the idea is just great! Some small revisions are needed, but I think they could be doable.

It's probably electrically powered. There are two engines right behind the cabin- it appears that they would take in air and funnel it through the bottom, where there are two "appendages" (I'll call them exhaust engines) which force the air out at a very high speed, pushing the craft upward. The placement of those intake engines would also help counter the weight in the front (because it sucks in air at an angle which lets them pull the middle of the craft downwards). Compared to the intake engines, the exhaust engines are slightly closer to the front of the aircraft, thus giving the front some more support. Obviously, those exhaust engines need to be as close to the front as possible in order to counter as much weight as possible.

Meanwhile, the functions of the rotating rear engines are pretty obvious. (If they were a bit lower, I'd be happier.)

The landing gear needs to be much larger to allow it to land when the exhaust engines are pointed downwards. Once it touches down, the engines can rotate to allow for the craft to be lowered.

Based on my observations from the film, there are a number of times when the engines are not rotated correctly. (One example: when it lands at the Cybertronics building, both front and rear engines are pointed horizontally, and therefore incorrectly) I think this is a case of misunderstanding on the part of the animators- you could also just call it "misdirection". :lol:



Any thoughts? It's like nobody's ever said or thought about this since the movie came out...

 

[werdna]

More pictures.

 

[werdna]

Even more pictures.

 

[Hlynkacg]

How do those tiny little ducts manage to syphon enough air to produce meaningful thrust?

 

[werdna]

How do those tiny little ducts manage to syphon enough air to produce meaningful thrust?

Do you mean on the bottom?

 

[T.Neo]

The thing is, in movies, you can get the effects to do stuff that isn't possible in reality. This can be a very good thing in a film, obviously (when you're purposefully trying to create something fantastical), and a bad thing in reality (because, well, following the design of the Millenium Falcon is about as likely to get you into space as a Falcon 9 pointed 180 degrees from the sky). It can also be a very bad thing in films- when you're trying to create something believable, but it just doesn't 'look' right and ruins the suspension of disbelief of the audience.

Since the amphibicopter is created via special effects, it's hardly a guide for engineering something in real life (though kudos to those who base their effects on real-life engineering).

Steering away from movie concepts for a bit though; what if a 'rotorcraft', instead of a true rotor(s) driven mechanically by engine(s), had a surface (like a set of slats or louvers) covered in a multitude of small electrically driven fans? Not on the nano or even microscale; they could be quite big. You could avoid safety problems with those large spinning rotors and you'd have plenty of redundancy, with the trade-off of having to produce and maintain all those individual propulsive elements...

 

[werdna]

The thing is, in movies, you can get the effects to do stuff that isn't possible in reality. This can be a very good thing in a film, obviously (when you're purposefully trying to create something fantastical), and a bad thing in reality (because, well, following the design of the Millenium Falcon is about as likely to get you into space as a Falcon 9 pointed 180 degrees from the sky). It can also be a very bad thing in films- when you're trying to create something believable, but it just doesn't 'look' right and ruins the suspension of disbelief of the audience.

Since the amphibicopter is created via special effects, it's hardly a guide for engineering something in real life (though kudos to those who base their effects on real-life engineering).

Thats' the thing: Stanley Kubrick was all about realism and not rediculous sci-fi. A.I. attempted to portray realistic and reasonable concepts. I wouldn't have a difficult time believing an AI could fit into a small cube (as in the opening scene) after a hundred or more years of technological developments. It's a movie that tries to be realistic- Speilburg certainly accomplished this as Kubrick would have wanted.

The amphibicopter is no millennium falcon, and I really think that after some modifications to the design, a VTOL like this would be possible. Like I said, a more balanced body would certainly help. These effects are based on real life engineering. The design isn't perfect, but it's on the right track.

 

[Hlynkacg]

Thats' the thing: Stanley Kubrick was all about realism and not rediculous sci-fi. A.I. attempted to portray realistic and reasonable concepts. I wouldn't have a difficult time believing an AI could fit into a small cube (as in the opening scene) after a hundred or more years of technological developments. It's a movie that tries to be realistic- Speilburg certainly accomplished this as Kubrick would have wanted.

The amphibicopter is no millennium falcon, and I really think that after some modifications to the design, a VTOL like this would be possible. Like I said, a more balanced body would certainly help. These effects are based on real life engineering. The design isn't perfect, but it's on the right track.

Except it is.

Those modifications would have to include the massive whirling blades that you are so opposed to. The closest you're going to get is something akin to the Moller Skycar, but you still need to pump enough air through those ducts to over come the mass of your vehicle.

ETA: The smaller the duct, the higher velocity and pressure required to achieve the same amount of thrust. Supersonic bursts of high pressure air are just as much (if not more) of a safety hazzard than the afore-mentioned whirling blades.

T.Neo's slat Idea is real a possibility but the mass/complexity issues for something big enough to be manned are a little beyond the ability of current tech. Maybe in 20 years...

 

[werdna]

Except it is.

Those modifications would have to include the massive whirling blades that you are so opposed to. The closest you're going to get is something akin to the Moller Skycar, but you still need to pump enough air through those ducts to over come the mass of your vehicle.

ETA: The smaller the duct, the higher velocity and pressure required to achieve the same amount of thrust. Supersonic bursts of high pressure air are just as much (if not more) of a safety hazzard than the afore-mentioned whirling blades.

T.Neo's slat Idea is real a possibility but the mass/complexity issues for something big enough to be manned are a little beyond the ability of current tech. Maybe in 20 years...

You could use larger ducts on the bottom...

You'd also want to use extremely lightweight materials in every place possible, which probably means a lot of carbon fiber... which would get expensive. Also, the wings would need to be larger, and would need to rotate.

If you could radically decrease the weight of the body it would help the lifting. Also, you could extend the tail to reach further towards the back of the VTOL to help the balancing.

Also, T.Neo, I'm exactly sure what your proposing. Could you be a little more specific about the engines?

 

[Hielor]

I think if you're wanting believable vehicles with whirling blades, check out the helicopters from The 6th Day.

 

[Hlynkacg]

I really like the thopters from Avatar

 

[Quick_Nick]

I really like the thopters from Avatar

This?
http://www.aliexpress.com/product-fm/383445025-Avatar-Scorpion-fighter-attack-aircraft-alloy-model-aircraft-sound-and-light-aircraft-Avatar-Back-wholesalers.html

 

[T.Neo]

Also, T.Neo, I'm exactly sure what your proposing. Could you be a little more specific about the engines?

Essentially, small, individually powered electric fans placed in large arrays replace the large rotor(s) of a conventional rotorcraft. The fans would derive their power from some sort of battery- obviously you would need a battery with quite a high energy density for this to be practical.

Here is a very simplistic and very poorly done rendition of what I would imagine such a vehicle could look like;

 

[Rareth]

maybe something along these lines?

http://www.fanwing.com/

 

[Napalm42]

What about something like the VTOL in Deus Ex: Human Revolution (Which they called a helicopter to my great nerdrage.) No blades, just fiery geysers of thrust.

 

[werdna]

Essentially, small, individually powered electric fans placed in large arrays replace the large rotor(s) of a conventional rotorcraft. The fans would derive their power from some sort of battery- obviously you would need a battery with quite a high energy density for this to be practical.

Here is a very simplistic and very poorly done rendition of what I would imagine such a vehicle could look like;

Interesting, but the other challenge is the engines that power those fans- I'm not you could produce enough lift.


To add to the list of concepts popping up here, the VTOL design from Crysis is pretty well done (providing you can solve fuel problems and get powerful enough engines).

 

[T.Neo]

Interesting, but the other challenge is the engines that power those fans- I'm not you could produce enough lift.

Each fan is its own engine, with with power supplied electrically, rather than mechanically, from a power source(s) in the fuseladge (I assumed some sort of 'sufficiently advanced' fuel cell or battery with the necessary energy density for practical operations).

The ability to make miniature fans and a power system that have the necessary efficiency and power-to-weight ratio would be a preassumption for such a machine's existence...

 

[werdna]

Each fan is its own engine, with with power supplied electrically, rather than mechanically, from a power source(s) in the fuseladge (I assumed some sort of 'sufficiently advanced' fuel cell or battery with the necessary energy density for practical operations).

The ability to make miniature fans and a power system that have the necessary efficiency and power-to-weight ratio would be a preassumption for such a machine's existence...

Exactly.



The fanwing looks wonderful from an aircraft perspective, but when he mentioned neighborhood surveillance as a possible application, I immediately thought of an Orwellian totalitarian distopia with no privacy and little fanwings constantly monitoring the streets (flashback to 2012- we see a young, innocent fledgling company working on a promising aircraft design. Little did they know what their efforts would be used for...) I'd prefer the freight idea since it gets more efficient as it gets larger. It would be good for bringing heavy loads to areas without large runways. Lets hope it's used for good purposes...

 

[Rareth]

considering several police departments in the US are considering UAVs for urban survellience, things might be getting more Orwellian than you thought..