I'm considering giving it all away
Posted by saucerdesigner 7 years, 10 months ago to Technology
Going open source would be one way to get this thing flying before I croak, or not. Finances are one of the big issues. Age (68) is another.
A Patent Application in today's environment is out of the question (hat-tip to dbhalling). I'd like to make some money off of it, which has always been a big motivator, but maybe I can make as much or more just traveling and lecturing...maybe selling kits like Burt Rutan.
What are your thoughts, Pro and Con about going open source with my obsession of the last 38 years?
A Patent Application in today's environment is out of the question (hat-tip to dbhalling). I'd like to make some money off of it, which has always been a big motivator, but maybe I can make as much or more just traveling and lecturing...maybe selling kits like Burt Rutan.
What are your thoughts, Pro and Con about going open source with my obsession of the last 38 years?
SOURCE URL: https://1drv.ms/i/s!AvbRThajlgqAhhwGozjt04U38yDl
Kickstarter is definitely an option. Thanks!!
As I have said before, I am not convinced at all that the patent system we have is fair, given that it grants a government monopoly to the first inventor to pay off the patent system and patent lawyers.
Its anti-competitive. A good inventor can work around pretty much any patent anyway, so the $50k one spends on the government probably wont be worth a lot in the marketplace. The patent does give large companies a leg up in that they can use the patent to wreak legal havoc on small companies who attempt to compete with the patent in ANY way at all.
Have a good time inventing and go open source in this socialist environment- no one can take away the pleasure and satisfaction of the inventing process no matter if they pass directive 10-289.
dbhalling's book opened my eyes to the sad state of the US patent system and what could be done to fix it.
What's been most gratifying so far is getting the propulsion components designed using a brute-force number-cruncher I wrote in Python and taking that data and drawing it up using some awesome CAD software called Rhinoceros 3D by Robert McNeel & Associates, which by the way is why I started studying Python. Rhino uses Python as it's scripting language...very powerful...and easy.
It's not to be installed into standard electrical boxes.
It is a scale model of an experimental Vertical Takeoff and Landing (VTOL) aircraft proof-of-concept prototype. The carbon fiber plate used in the main propulsion components is $1K per copy in single units. I'll not be considering more than one unless it can be shown to successfully climb out of ground effect; in other words it is not a hovercraft. It is, if it will climb out of ground effect, e.g. continue to climb from a height greater than it's wingspan (diameter, in this case) an aircraft. Big "if".
- If you could build the fixture plus propulsion proto for $2k, that seems like a worthwhile cheap test. Even if the answer is it doesn't work you may learn something useful.
- See if any hobbyists at a local hackerspace want to help and thereby reduce cost.
- If the initial test works, might you be able to partner with someone with a PhD to act as the PI on an SBIR grant? Don't get caught up jumping through gov't hoops, but I've seen people get good funding through grants.
- Even if you retire before the project is complete, if you get it started you could sell your shares to the people working on it. They wouldn't even have to give you cash but royalties. You don't have to worry about that, though, until you get it working.
All of this is so very hard to execute. I have not done it; I'm far from an expert. I've watched so many people struggle. The startup I know is Carter Copter. They have something that take take off like a helicopter and fly like a plane. They've struggled for years.
So, I'd suggest approaching people in aerospace working around the SoCal high desert aerospace complexes. There are a lot of guys down there who deal in these things. I know. I used to work with them...
What remains to be done is design the airframe that holds it all together, so I'd say it's over 50% completed. I'm not going to worry about control until I've built the prototype, tether it in a test fixture and see if I can build it light enough for it to climb out of ground effect.
It would be much easier to fly than a helicopter also.Plus it's not as ugly as a helicopter. And who wouldn't want a flying saucer in their back yard? Making it as efficient as a helicopter will be the challenge.