Phantom Twist: The Drone That Spins at 1,500 RPM to Become Almost Invisible
The Northwestern Phantom Twist drone spins 25 times per second, stabilized by its counter-rotating propeller. Almost invisible, but not silent.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
The Phantom Twist drone spins 25 times per second to disappear in flight
A user claims that Northwestern engineers have built a drone whose entire body spins 25 times per second —1,500 revolutions per minute, one full turn every 40 milliseconds— to disappear in mid-flight. It is called Phantom Twist. It carries no paint, no transparent plastic casing, and no conventional camouflage: most of the frame rotates while the propeller spins in the opposite direction to cancel the rotation and keep the aircraft stable. The eye trinc a bird, it tracks a normal quadcopter; it cannot focus on a shape that redraws itself 25 times per second. It sees movement, it sees blurriness, but never the outline.
The Problem of the Camera and Centrifugal Force
A participant argues that a drone spinning at that regime cannot stabilize a camera: objects would spin uncontrollably, and the electronic components and lenses would suffer from extreme centrifugal force. This is one of the arguments against the invention's actual utility. Added to this is the noise: some joke that it can be heard from afar, making it almost invisible but not inaudible, which detracts somewhat from the camouflage effect.
Invisible, but Noisy: What Use Is It Left
Some argue that they will eventually find a use for it, while others reply that the demonstration consisted of pointing to emptiness and saying the device was there. The irony is free.
The technical doubt, however: according to that message, tonalidad camouflage always tried to match the background, and this one completely renounces that. The question remains in the air: why would someone want an object that only exists when it is not being looked at.
With the Phantom Twist on the table, camouflage ceases to be a matter of tonalidad and becomes a matter of frequency. The eye not distinguishing the outline does not solve the rest of the problem: there is still the noise, and according to one participant, a camera would be destabilized.
A user claims that Northwestern engineers have built a drone whose entire body spins 25 times per second —1,500 revolutions per minute, one full turn every 40 milliseconds— to disappear in mid-flight. It is called Phantom Twist. It carries no paint, no transparent plastic casing, and no conventional camouflage: most of the frame rotates while the propeller spins in the opposite direction to cancel the rotation and keep the aircraft stable. The eye trinc a bird, it tracks a normal quadcopter; it cannot focus on a shape that redraws itself 25 times per second. It sees movement, it sees blurriness, but never the outline.
The Problem of the Camera and Centrifugal Force
A participant argues that a drone spinning at that regime cannot stabilize a camera: objects would spin uncontrollably, and the electronic components and lenses would suffer from extreme centrifugal force. This is one of the arguments against the invention's actual utility. Added to this is the noise: some joke that it can be heard from afar, making it almost invisible but not inaudible, which detracts somewhat from the camouflage effect.
Invisible, but Noisy: What Use Is It Left
Some argue that they will eventually find a use for it, while others reply that the demonstration consisted of pointing to emptiness and saying the device was there. The irony is free.
The technical doubt, however: according to that message, tonalidad camouflage always tried to match the background, and this one completely renounces that. The question remains in the air: why would someone want an object that only exists when it is not being looked at.
With the Phantom Twist on the table, camouflage ceases to be a matter of tonalidad and becomes a matter of frequency. The eye not distinguishing the outline does not solve the rest of the problem: there is still the noise, and according to one participant, a camera would be destabilized.
Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (17 replies).
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