> proprietary innovative autonomous MALE UAV airship
I love when companies try to use "proprietary" as a selling point. The point they're trying to convey is "our competitors don't have this", but the point they do convey to savvy customers is "Hoh boy is there some ugly code in here, and we aren't going to let you see it when something goes wrong."
Soooo...they reinvented a blimp, strapped on some gimballed cameras and are using a proprietary equivalent to ArduPilot?
One of my hobbies is FPV RC planes/quadrotors. People are doing this with planes and quads for a fraction of the cost. Not 100 hour deployments sure, but that's because blimps are boring to fly.
Actually its a dirigible according to the render (rigid structure) and it has exploited the same "design innovation" that the Australian company [1] did which is that by making is a saucer shape you avoid some of the stationkeeping issues as the vehicle presents a uniform air resistance profile in every direction.
I wonder though who the target market is for this thing which is clearly out looking for funding. Given the scale on the render by a hanger it seems to be quite large, and while being predominantly clear would have it be hard to spot at altitude its overall size and the slow maneuverability of gas filled aircraft suggests it would be an easy target.
It doesn't seem to have the payload to carry a communication substation (another proposed application of long loiter aircraft) thus the market seems like it might be drug lords wanting surveillance around their home base (always a bad idea since its also a flag "here is my home base") or perhaps border patrol.
The good news is that being specialized you only have a few possible customers and you can quickly ascertain if they will buy from you or not thus you won't waste a lot of time.
* Hypersphere is not a blimp, balloon, airplane or rocket. it is a rigid airship. difference matters.
* yes, remote sensing can be done with RC toys. But those toys do not ensure quality and continuity of the RS service, let alone cost-effectiveness.
* why is Hypersphere different? Look at the first two pages of the brochure from the webpage, or at the end of the animation for the keypoints (again from the web: http://www.hipersfera.hr). In short - the most cost-effective Remote Sensing system in the world, offering 24/7 continuous REAL TIME covering of large ground areas.
* applications: ppl at ycomb cannot see apps for a real time high res online remote sensing database? i usually expect this from people without the "vision capability". think about smartphone market 20 years ago. nuff said.
* Skylifter is another type of vehicle, designed for transport, and Hypersphere is designed for loitering. Might look similar, but the similarity stops there.
* "proprietary" issue. no code has been patented. we have the PCT patent granted on the overall airship design, proving that we're "novel, innovative, and relevant for the industry". that is the point of "proprietary".
* privacy: cell phone penetration is around 100% or more in most of the developed world. hence, there are technical means for govmnts and corporations to know exactly where you are, what are you doing, what are you saying, etc, at any given time, regardless if ur phone is turned on or off. hence, the point is in efficient regulation of the technology.
* linked article title says the project is worth 7.5Bn$. what I actually said is that the RS market is valued at 7.5Bn$ today, and that Hypersphere, with a right strategic partner, has the potential to become the market-multiplier, coz it enables a complete change of the Remote Sensing Business model, because of 2-order-magnitude image price drop.
* there is a flight tested scaled prototype, which confirmed innovative flight concept.
The following article (in croatian) states that the project is worth 7.5 billion euros. The inventors are saying that they want to keep the project in Croatia, but that there's no interest from the government or anyone else here, so they're forced to look elsewhere for investors. They claim that one particular european country has already shown interest and considers the project important to protecting its national interests. The project was also exhibited in London and on Google's campus.
I love when companies try to use "proprietary" as a selling point. The point they're trying to convey is "our competitors don't have this", but the point they do convey to savvy customers is "Hoh boy is there some ugly code in here, and we aren't going to let you see it when something goes wrong."