EdEarl Posted September 12, 2014 Posted September 12, 2014 solarthermalmagazine.com Google Snatches Up Solar Powered Drone Company Titan Aerospace. Aircraft designer Titan Aerospace unveiled recently its Solara 50 and 60 unmanned aircrafts, the world’s first atmospheric satellites powered by the sun with a mission range of over 4 million kilometres. According to reports, Solara 50 and 60 can be launched at night using power from internal battery banks. Solara 50 can travel at 104 kilometres an hour (about 64 MPH). Low Earth Orbits start at 160 km. These aircraft fly at about 20 km. Pictures of the earth can have160/20 = 8 times the resolution of satellite pictures. That can make Google maps better. IDK if that is a reason for their buying the company, but it seems likely.
fiveworlds Posted September 13, 2014 Posted September 13, 2014 (edited) Or wi-fi internet access. I remember reading this months ago. This is more recent http://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk/computing/hardware/googles-first-quantum-computer-will-build-on-dwaves-approach Edited September 13, 2014 by fiveworlds
EdEarl Posted September 13, 2014 Author Posted September 13, 2014 @fiveworlds Did you post in the wrong thread? Your comment seems off topic.
Klaynos Posted September 13, 2014 Posted September 13, 2014 I've not looked at the link but our looks on topic to me. The idea is you user the drones as high up powerful WiFi hotspots for people on the ground.
fiveworlds Posted September 13, 2014 Posted September 13, 2014 I've not looked at the link but our looks on topic to me. The idea is you user the drones as high up powerful WiFi hotspots for people on the ground Precisely. Plus there is a link about Google's quantum computers.
EdEarl Posted September 13, 2014 Author Posted September 13, 2014 WIFI has a range of only about 100m outdoors, whereas this drone flies at 20km altitude. Thus, it is too high for a WIFI transceiver.
fiveworlds Posted September 13, 2014 Posted September 13, 2014 (edited) The longest unamplifed wi-fi link is 304km http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long-range_Wi-Fi 20 km is well within range. Edited September 13, 2014 by fiveworlds
EdEarl Posted September 14, 2014 Author Posted September 14, 2014 The antenna's used were high gain directional antennas, which are best suited for stationary application between two points. It really isn't a good fit for an aircraft, but it could be done.
Klaynos Posted September 14, 2014 Posted September 14, 2014 Rhw range is an interesting point that I've wondered about I assumed that it was not one of the current wifi standards and justbad reporting, but I've not had the time to read further into it.
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