Landing a Rocket Vertically, without Being a Billionaire aka Rocket Drone

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RCLoversan

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Hi everyone,

I've built and tested a prototype of the Rocket Drone (I'm currently patenting), equipped with a "hybrid" motor/engine.

https://makezine.com/2018/03/21/drone-rocket-hybrid-lands-vertically/

Beyond the fun there is in launching and landing the rocket as the SpaceX Falcon 9 does, I've built this "hybrid" mainly because I've noticed the drones on the market have a deployment/ascending speed pretty slow (the DJI products are between 4 to 6 meters per second). The Rocket Drone is nearly 3 times faster (12 meters per second), using compressed air and water and it can be even faster using a solid fuel motor (Estes Rockets). The unique feature of the shafts controlled remotely, allows the Rocket Drone to be deployed in a matter of seconds.
I've already created the 3D drawing of it, but (regrettably), I can't afford to buy a 3D printer, therefore all the parts of the Rocket Drone have been built from scratch.

Having a proper budget, this drone should be fully autonomous, using a Pixhawk controller that starts the engines as soon as a barometric sensor detects the apogee. Using a GPS the drone should stop in mid-air for a few seconds, to stabilize itself and using the precision landing IR-Locks and IR Beacons, plus my magnetic platform, should land autonomously.

I believe that a Rocket Drone built in that way could be used by the law enforcement and by militaries (patrol and reconnaissance).

I'm looking for a Company who is willing to invest on this project, in order to develop it to its full potential.

Best regards,
Gianluigi
www.youtube.com/rcloversan
 
Hi Gianluigi!

You will likely get many "experts" replying telling you why this will or will not work - don't listen to them, keep plugging away, as it's an interesting, and fun idea.

I'm not sure if you will be able to patent it though - there have been several variations of this, including a full Darpa prototype about ten years ago.

There was even one on kickstarter a few years ago: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/384384916/quadrkt-the-future-of-drone-racing

Anyway, enjoy yourself.

Alex



Hi everyone,

I've built and tested a prototype of the Rocket Drone (I'm currently patenting), equipped with a "hybrid" motor/engine.

https://makezine.com/2018/03/21/drone-rocket-hybrid-lands-vertically/

Beyond the fun there is in launching and landing the rocket as the SpaceX Falcon 9 does, I've built this "hybrid" mainly because I've noticed the drones on the market have a deployment/ascending speed pretty slow (the DJI products are between 4 to 6 meters per second). The Rocket Drone is nearly 3 times faster (12 meters per second), using compressed air and water and it can be even faster using a solid fuel motor (Estes Rockets). The unique feature of the shafts controlled remotely, allows the Rocket Drone to be deployed in a matter of seconds.
I've already created the 3D drawing of it, but (regrettably), I can't afford to buy a 3D printer, therefore all the parts of the Rocket Drone have been built from scratch.

Having a proper budget, this drone should be fully autonomous, using a Pixhawk controller that starts the engines as soon as a barometric sensor detects the apogee. Using a GPS the drone should stop in mid-air for a few seconds, to stabilize itself and using the precision landing IR-Locks and IR Beacons, plus my magnetic platform, should land autonomously.

I believe that a Rocket Drone built in that way could be used by the law enforcement and by militaries (patrol and reconnaissance).

I'm looking for a Company who is willing to invest on this project, in order to develop it to its full potential.

Best regards,
Gianluigi
www.youtube.com/rcloversan
 
Hi Gianluigi!

You will likely get many "experts" replying telling you why this will or will not work - don't listen to them, keep plugging away, as it's an interesting, and fun idea.

I'm not sure if you will be able to patent it though - there have been several variations of this, including a full Darpa prototype about ten years ago.

There was even one on kickstarter a few years ago: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/384384916/quadrkt-the-future-of-drone-racing

Anyway, enjoy yourself.

Alex

Hi Alex,
many thanks for your nice words of encouragement.
In the past I've obtained 3 patents, therefore I already went to the painful process of writing appropriate claims.
If you refer to the Rotary Rocket, the operating principle is the slightly different. I mean, there are 2 hypothetical descriptions regarding the way this aircraft would have worked:
Wikipedia states that Rotary Rocket would have started the ascending phase using a rotor blade, in order to reach the maximum altitude (let's say 12,000 meters). Once the blades were not "catching" air anymore, because atmosphere becomes thinner (pressure drop to 1/5 of the one at ground level), it would have ignited the rocket motor, to reach orbit (in my humble opinion, a quite impractical way to go to space).
The second working principle is explained by Astronautix, who says the Rotary Rocket would have been launched using a rocket motor and retrieved using 4 foldable blades, attached to a rotor (a helicopter motor that having more funds would have been substituted by a special one developed by NASA).
Regrettably, both explanations are purely theoretical as the Rotary Rocket has flown 4 times, reaching a maximum altitude of 3,000 meters thanks to the rotor blade
(with the money spent on this project, the Rocket Drone would have done much better :)
Although it was a very interesting approach, it never worked properly not mentioning that patents expire after 20 years.

The QuadrKT is not a rocket (a cylindrical projectile that can be propelled to a great height or distance by the combustion of its contents). It doesn't have a "hybrid" propulsive system composed by rocket/electric motors.
It's a quadcopter with the shape of a missile.

Best,
G.
 
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