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What is Masterblaster
Applications
Story and State of the art
Next step / Resources needed
The whole
program behind the Masterblaster
XMB-02 technological
demonstrator description
Who is acting
in this program
Types of partnership sought
Intellectual
property notice
Contact
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What
is Masterblaster
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Masterblaster synthetizes arts and technicalities from these
disciplines into a deliberately designed aerial vehicle,
addressing a new way to feel your body and perform in sky
- Masterblaster
is an over-unlimited aerobatic vehicle contraption
- By "wearing"
the Masterblaster, the pilot is dancing in the air
- Cost
per hour flown: typical of an ULM
- Masterblaster falls in
the larger optics and programs of Aerial
Creatures & Cognitive Integration: conceive, develop
and fly aerial vehicles featuring extreme synergy between pilot
and machine, provide scientific and artistic expressivity in
sky
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Applications
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- breakthrough in vehicles
for aerobatic flying and aerial sports (Phase #2,3)
- breakthrough in aerial
choreography, live arts (Phase #3)
- spin off in wearable
aerial vehicles (WAV) for the recreational/sport market (Phase
#4)
- breakthrough in structure,
safety, concept for aerial vehicles (Phase #4)
- technological demonstrators/research
vehicles and technologies for man-machine integration, cognitive
embodiment (Phase #2,3,4)
- prestige, front end image
for people/enterprises holding a vision sufficiently forward
to withstand the reach being held by the initiative (Phase #3)
- bioengineering and contemporary
art/design
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Story and State of the art
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Project started in year 2003 and has undergone severe "reality checks"
First version "XMB-01", years 2003-2006
- XMB-01 was completed as a design on 3D CAD in year 2004 thanks to workstation time offered by QDesign / Giuseppe d'Urzo
- Flight simulator model was developed under X-Plane
software
- Pilot interface controlled the model in X-Plane, thanks to workshop tools and space offered by Logoslab / Andrea Laschi
- Low-alpha professional CFD study was performed free of charge by Giorgio Travostino, ex CFD specialist for Aermacchi
With these findings, in 2005 Marco tried to
establish commercial partnerships in Europe, in order to run XMB-01
under a professional development program. Unfortunately, lack
of vision and rentability issues from academic institutions and commercial entreprises wrecked
this strategy. The overall volume of a full professional program
was evaluated in 400kEuro in year 2005, within european standards.
A detailed paper is available upon request concerning this evaluation
XMB-01 adventure continues in an aeroclub in
Argentina, contacted by Marco in the hope of finding a practical
collaboration on a more genuine experimental-amateur optics. After a
positive agreement, Marco travelled to the place, began establishing
relations with the local members of the aeroclub helped by the
president and a member of the R/C model section. Actually there had not
been a written agreement in any assembly (as had been previously
stated) to host Marco and his project on the club,
there were old time rivalries inside the club sections for which Marco,
his strange project and strange way of running it (coming to look for
help) served as a scapegoat. This led a section of the club to ask
Marco leave the place. Marco left after one and a half month of stay.
Marco found himself stranded in South America and had a hard time to
recover a situation from there, as his finances had hit the bottom.
Year 2006 was dedicated to establish a minimum of order, a relation
with Muriel (met at a paragliding spot in Chile in late 2005), and
beginning to make prototype R/C flying wings.
Muriel has ever since sustained the financial initiative paying for
almost the whole R/C gear and material since then, allowing Marco to
focus on the development.
Can read about these hard years (2005-2007) on the closed "Work in progress" section
XMB-01
story ends with 3 rough R/C models in January-February 2007 which
proved some of the overmanouverability issues but also an impossible
manufacture complexity if done by a single person without a structured
workshop, as -seen the former experience with "society" and finances attainables- this looked to
be the only way to realise the prototype.
Second version "XMB-02", years 2007-current
Project was completely rethough to the bare essential needs with some radical
innovations. Second version of the Masterblaster takes first R/C
flights in March 2007 over the Tunquen beach ridge in central Chile, in
face of the Pacific Ocean.
In an effort to rise some finances, prototype of R/C wings for aerial
survey and rough field operation are successfully tested and
institutions contacted to further developing. Uselessly. This takes
most of the second half of year 2007.
With Muriel, we begin to train in aerial choreographies in two-ship R/C flights.
In February 2008 an
improved version of XMB-02 begins to fly at several scales, up to 1:2,
featuring improved efficiency, roll rates and high alpha
controllability.
In March 2008 Chile is left with Muriel, a son on the short final approach to life, a lot of stress and a box of prototypes.
Ian is born on 26th April 2008 in Toulouse, France.
During summer 2008, we participate at two minor airshows in France with
our R/C choreographies, expenses fully paid, and receive invitation to
come next year.
Several XMB-02 improved versions are flown in the skies of Toulouse.
Later on we move house (again!) on an undisclosed mountain spot and
find the last reality check for the XMB-02 prototypes: no horizontal
stretch of land or prepared terrain from which to take off and land. A
number of otherwise almost perfect models are simply crashed on the
takeoff run attemps until a recipe is found
XMB-02 is finally fixed in Feb 2009, 1:2.5 scale and features among others:
- roll rate > 1000°/sec
- full controllability up to alpha 70°, AFT cg settings
- ability to make 360° skids in flight
- no vector thrust or artificial stability
- complexity of a few parts assembled together
- all solutions in 1:2.5 scale have been explicitly done in order to be scalable to the 1:1 manned model
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| Next step / Resources needed |
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- Make the 1:1 manned. As said, all solutions in 1:2.5 scale are scalable to the 1:1 manned.
- ~30.000
Euro for commercial components and material (This includes engine, recovery chute, composite
materials, conventional materials and components. There are no flight
instruments to install)
- A Calm Place Where To Built It. No
special equipment is needed, beside basic tooling and amateur composite
techniques (vacuum bagging)
- Flight test it
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| The
whole program behind the Masterblaster |
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- Phase #2
realisation of the XMB-02 manned full scale (current)
- Phase #3
a few post-prototype units, MB Nouvelle Generation (MB-NG) will
be involved in setting up the Masterblaster Choreography Unit
(MCU), populated by highly motivated people, making their life
out of live art shows in sky, in an analogue line of the "aerial
theater" concept issued by Haute
Voltige or the mixing between circus and theater performed
by Cirque
du Soleil
- Phase #4
Spin-off patents, safety concepts and Human Machine Interface
developed in the Masterblaster can be invested in mass production
of performance-downrated WAV (Wearable Aerial Vehicles), a new
conceptual class of flight devices for common people market,
though legally falling under the ULM legislation. WAV mass production
is carried out by a newfounded company or in partnership with
an existing aircraft manufacturer company
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XMB-02 technological demonstrator description
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- Please refer to contact
information at the bottom of this page
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Who helps in this program
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The initiative is carried on full time as a personal
venture by myself, holding experiences as a robotic designer, a pilot, a musician,
a degree in Physics and in Cognitive Science, patents concerning
haptic sensorial transpositions for aircraft pilots, master-slave
correlation for aerial vehicles, and more. Download my CV here
Muriel
Gerbault. Partner in life and R/C aerial choreographies. Helps with her
way of seeing things rather different than mine. Financed all R&D
activity in R/C models since late 2005 up to date
In the past
time, Marco has been helped by collaborators who dedicated their
time/competences resources on a free basis:
- Haute
Voltige, sport technique art & culture in the air, are
the first people showing a promotional interest in the masterblaster
initiative, within their "Aerial Theater" concept. There has been a nominal financement in the past. You
are welcome to visit their pages. (2004-2008)
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Giorgio Travostino, CFD engineer,
providing all the CFD computations for the low alpha flight envelope (2004-2005)
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Andrea Laschi & Wife, providing their lab facilities for
the simulator pilot interface (www.logoslab.it) (2005)
- Liliana
Brandolese, Erna Schnaidt, coaching (2004-2005)
- Flavia Carozza,
CEO Safeline Pilots Training
Specialists, providing contacts and promotional ideas (2003-2005)
- GB Molinaro, aerobatic pilot, exchanging valuable information
every now and then (2003-2004)
- Austin Meyer, X-Plane flight simulator
& Laminar Research owner/developer,
adding capabilities to the X-Plane simulator release
8.10, needed to drive the masterblaster model (2004)
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Nil Geisweiller, music framing (2003)
- Marianna Menzione, artistic framing and coaching (2002-2005)
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Giuseppe
d'Urzo, Enrica Testi, Andrea Volpi, providing CAD workstations and
notebooks (2003-2004), Andrea Volpi, trial of a FEM computation over a
wing (2004)
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Types
of partnerships sought
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Partnerships
are sought for with plain people (under no sort of formal and
professional discrimination), enterprises and venture capitalists
who:
- hold a know-how or realising
means which are contextualizable and effective in the initiative
- believe in potentialities
and applications for the initiative:
- breakthrough in vehicles
for aerobatic flying and aerial sports (Phase #2,3)
- breakthrough in aerial
choreography, live arts (Phase #3)
- breakthrough in
structure, safety, concept for aerial vehicles (Phase #4)
- technological demonstrators/research
vehicles and technologies for man-machine integration, cognitive
embodiment (Phase #2,3,4)
- prestige, front end
image for people/enterprises holding a vision sufficiently
forward to withstand the reach being held by the initiative
(Phase #3)
Terms and characteristics
of the partnership are aimed at making things work and in having
a good feeling among us. You're welcome to write, bring in what
you feel you can do, and we will talk over the terms of the partnership
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Intellectual
property notice
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Information
included in this page is functional to a presentation under no
confidential agreements between the parts, and is issued on a
first approach optics.
Ideas, marketing strategies and other information presented here
is offered on a partnership optics. If you are not planning to
enter in a partnership agreement, it is not fair using this information
for your own or third parts profit. The name Masterblaster in
conjunction with an aerial vehicle, the new flying object category
called WAV and other explicit marks or ideas presented here are
included in the fair agreement notice presented above.
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Contact
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