Runner's Drone

Well, you could start by not using your real name and location on an anonymous message board...

PLTW wrote:

Well, you could start by not using your real name and location on an anonymous message board...

Give the kid a break, although it is good advice.

I think you might have more luck with your survey over at the Runner's World forums or maybe even Slow Twitch. My guess is that most of the people here don't train with "stuff" for the most part.

I would love to see a video of your prototype once you are done.

Cool project, even if I personally think the drone is unnecessary.

Link doesn't work, by the way.

Helper and Informer, You Know wrote:

Link doesn't work, by the way.

Worked for me.

I don't carry a Camelbak or anything like that but sometimes I wish I had one. I also don't run with a phone, and sometimes I wish I had it. It would be very cool and Jetsons-esque to have a little robot flying with me... Can it also have a little portable toilet?

I took the survey.

Am I allowed to disagree with your problem statement? You have stated that "back problems and joint pain are a major issue with long distance runners" but have implied that the cause of the pain is "the weights of the camel packs and back packs". I wholeheartedly disagree with the cause. Truthfully MOST runners do not run with anything on their backs; slow runners or faster runners. At most, someone might have a phone on the arm, a small fanny pack with their keys, and possibly a water bottle on their hip or in their hand. I believe the cause of the pain is due to repetitively slamming your body weight into the ground over and over again which radiates through the legs into the spine/back area. A drone wont help with that at all unless it's attached to a person's body with strings like a marionette counterbalancing some of the runner's body weight.

In my opinion, you have (or want to design) a pretty neat technology that could be a solution to a problem... but you have selected something that isn't a problem. There's got to be another application to need a following/assistant drone that isn't runner/exercise related. Maybe something for the military, or construction sites, or in the medical field...

I took the survey too. Link works but it was down earlier.

Survey is short, takes 15 seconds, so help the kid out.

I think you may have bit off more than you can chew. This is not a real issue, but there would be plenty of applications to the technology you are suggesting. It would be an incredibly difficult task for a team of experienced engineers with a large capital investment, let alone a HS student.

arun1 wrote:

I think you may have bit off more than you can chew. This is not a real issue, but there would be plenty of applications to the technology you are suggesting. It would be an incredibly difficult task for a team of experienced engineers with a large capital investment, let alone a HS student.

Dude, it is for an engineering and design project in a high school. My daughter designed a car that painted your toenails while you drove, among other things. It is for fun.

For narcissist runners, the race and workout video/still photos you could get from your own personal running drone would be amazing.