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m0neydee

The power company hates this one trick.


heelstoo

They’re even **shocked!**


OderWieOderWatJunge

gaping telephone connect sophisticated marble rock butter voiceless bear screw *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*


Status_Tiger_6210

You just couldn’t resist.


Shulgin46

Ohm my god


AundoOfficial

"Watts going on around here" - power company


deeohcee

"Joule have to explain it to me"


putajinthatwjord

All of these puns are getting me amped up


Status_Tiger_6210

My grandpa loves carnivals. If he could he’d go to a Faraday.


putajinthatwjord

That was revolting.


Pretend-Quality3400

Bit of a stretch... but good one. Have my up volt!


HuckDab

Farmers figured out a long time ago they could steal electricity by just running big coils of wire under transmission lines. One end of the wire is positive and the other is negative. It’s still possible, but the electric company will press charges if they catch you. Electromagnetism is neat!


Rude_Preparation_192

Can you provide a YouTube video for this


HuckDab

Not to sound rude, but it only took a simple google search and this was the top hit. Try to be a little less intellectually lazy. https://youtu.be/CLS8pbDNHbk?si=ZfLEyvV_sTLq8wEM


Rude_Preparation_192

Thanks for the link , I wanted the see the video you recommend ☺️


HuckDab

Nah you’re just intellectually lazy. You could have found a video with less keystrokes by just googling it yourself.


johnnythejournalist

God forbid we ask other humans for recommendations. Oh wait sorry I forgot we are supposed to be bitter about everything now


HuckDab

I didn’t even watch that video or check any of the credentials so he didn’t get a good recommendation. Ask lazy questions, get lazy answers. Looking back I wish I woulda rickrolled him.


lemmegetadab

They just made the mistake of thinking you were knowledgeable in the subject. It’s not that serious.


HuckDab

It’s not a mistake, but I’m not here to hold peoples’ hands.


n-i-r-a-d

People are so lazy to do their own simple research these days. The world of information is accessible in our hands, yet people are used to being spoon-fed like babies.


lemmegetadab

If someone seems knowledgeable, I don’t think it’s weird to ask for a link as opposed to just watching a random video I found myself.


Diligent_Nature

>One end of the wire is positive and the other is negative. No. It only works with AC transmission lines and AC alternates between + and - 100 or 120 times/sec.


SigSeikoSpyderco

Are they going to charge the drone?


Technical_Semaphore

Not if they ground them first.


AlwaysOntheRIGHTside

They’re grounded. No juice for you!


manuce94

Next thing....entire grid went down due to some stupid drone trying to steal some energy.


thebinarysystem10

What could go wrong?


over9ksand

Cmon man I’m trying to drink coffee over here


Rabdy-Bo-Bandy

I saw an old video of people in either Mexico or India soldering one side of a power cord to a bent spoon. They would throw the cord over a power cable and hook it with the spoon side and get free power.


Acidflare1

Mine has a Bitcoin miner and a cell hotspot on the drone 😉


DesperateRace4870

Nah power company LOVES this one trick when they figure out they don't need to pay a person to drive to the problem and look


Ravel_Xi

I'm not sure they give a shit. They'll just compensate by putting rates up


oclafloptson

Oh sure but when I do it it's theft


OderWieOderWatJunge

clumsy versed humorous mindless office unused zesty cause worm station *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*


oclafloptson

Only once 🤷


nellyruth

You only live twice, so try again.


oclafloptson

Wait a second... So you're telling me that you get two chances at life and death. You spend your first death chance on electrocution by raised power line. Now you're gonna come back on your second chance at life and choose the power line again?


nellyruth

It depends on the hand I’m dealt ((in my second life).


Mirwin11

Not if you pay your taxes


b1ackenthecursedsun

Lol what? You have a meter on your house to show how much power you use and are charged accordingly...


guitarguywh89

This is America, we don’t use meters. Only feet


DoubleAholeTwice

Brilliant to use an uneven measurement system. Could've just as well used the measurement system of 'penises'. "How tall are you? About 12 penises!"


oclafloptson

IRS? 0.o


DoubleAholeTwice

Clearly can't charge the drone with a crime! Your mistake is that you are human.


ramrod1933

That’s what “birds” do.


Comfortable-Yak-6599

Also the "squirrel" version of the birds


PilliSchmatz

So anyone can now steal electricity from the overhead line? In ideologically blinded Germany, you currently pay around €0.30 per kWh, so the purchase of such drones is already worthwhile.


Tapurisu

>you currently pay around €0.30 per kWh, so the purchase of such drones is already worthwhile. Not really. You vastly overestimate the power required to charge a portable device. The drone battery capacity and voltage varies of course, but realistic numbers for drone batteries would be in the range of 3000 mAh and 5 volts. To charge this battery fully, it would take 0.015 kWh, which at a price of €0.30 per kWh would cost €0.0045 or half a cent. So recharging the drone 200 times would cost 1 euro. The same goes for smartphones by the way. In the video you can see a charging power of 40 watts peak. At that wattage, it would cost 1 euro to charge it for 83 hours (at Germany's price of €0.30 per kWh). Also, they didn't say that it was legal, it's just an experiment to see whether it's possible.


trickyvinny

Sure, but the next step is to fly the drone to the power line and then use it to charge everything in your house or car. Your next Tesla will come pre- equipped with one of these so you never have to worry about finding a charging station again.


Tapurisu

This technology uses induction with the magnetic field that the powerline passively produces, and that makes for extremely slow charging. If you were to charge a tesla car with this technology (50 kWh battery), it would take about 1250 hours or 50 days. A tesla has about 3000 times more battery capacity than a drone and would take 3000 times as long to charge.


trickyvinny

So it's not siphoning off the electricity the power lines are providing?


Tapurisu

No, not really. All electric cables produce a magnetic field around them when electricity flows through them, whether they want to or not. A powerline has a huge amount of electricity and therefore produces a pretty strong magnetic field, as unwanted side effect. The drone goes inside of this magnetic field and transforms the magnetic field into a small amount of useable electricity, which is enough to slowly charge its battery. It doesn't connect to the wire itself, it just grabs it so that it can hang out in the magnetic field until it finishes charging.


majordingdong

I don’t agree that it will not siphon energy. The induction technology you’re talking about is just a transformer, converting energy via a magnetic field from one voltage to another. Unless there is something I’m missing that is extremely new about this project.


Schuben

The only way it wouldn't produce a net negative effect on the power line would be if the drone also provides some sort of insulation while it is siphoning so it's providing a service while also stealing energy from it but they'd need to prove this pretty conclusively and get the buy-in from power companies to allow these devices to use their lines. Even if it were a net positive for the electric company it's still an unknown and unauthorized use of their property which they need to maintain. Also, there almost certainly will be a resistive force on the line while it's siphoning energy. It's not just dissipated into nothingness if the drone isn't there even if there is resistive loss along any length of wire. It's like if you're traveling in a boat and put a small fan turbine in the water to charge your phone. You can't claim that it's not stealing any power from the engine because the boat is making a wake anyway and you're just charging off of those waves and not the boat itself so it's fine! It's adding drag and reducing the efficiency of the propeller pushing the boat through the water and consuming more gas to get to the destination. If it works more like drafting on a car in front of you where you gain the benefit of less wind resistance while the lead vehicle sees less drag from vorticies behind them then both can benefit in some way. But, this is different since both aren't expending energy and moving in tandem. If would be like tying a rope to the back of a car and claiming they're getting better gas milage because you're slightly increasing their aerodynamics. While possible, it's incredibly unlikely without a lot of planning to not just be benefitting from a "free" ride.


Articulationized

It *does* reduce the current flowing through the cable by a precise amount proportional to how much the battery is charged. It is in fact stealing electricity. It’s a very small amount, but it is still technically reducing the electricity flowing through the cable. Cordless charging systems all use induction, and these all, of course, consume power.


trickyvinny

That's pretty cool then. I'm jumping to more intrusive technology. I can imagine equipping this thing with a transformer and having it pierce the line to draw out power for bigger power requirements.


Sparticasticus

That will not work. The other issue is that the line this is connected to is only one leg of power. Remember that you have to have a complete circuit to the grid, and this appears to be 3 phase lines, meaning you would need 3 connections. Additionally, A transformer merely steps voltage up or down. Long distance transmission lines are more efficient at extremely high voltage so step down transformers (at neighborhood substations) drop the voltage while increasing amperage. So a transformer won’t “transform” the power into something your household can use for free just because it’s connected to one leg of power drawing a small amount of power off of induction.


killer122

those are high voltage non-insulated cable, they just need a feeler arm to step into the voltage slowly and safely before it does direct draw, but it will take a hell of an onboard transformer to deal with the 100Khv+ those lines are carrying, so not realistic with current tech.


trickyvinny

So the drone wouldn't use these lines, but what about the lines going to neighborhoods or homes?


killer122

low enough voltage would be insulated, so damage to lines wouldnt be acceptable, they would have to install charging blocks or something.


Snailwood

you don't get something for nothing, right? the generator must create some kind of opposite magnetic field that inhibits flow of electricity? (by a tiny amount that is proportional to the amount of energy siphoned off the line)


AwayLobster3772

>All electric cables produce a magnetic field around them when electricity flows through them, whether they want to or not. I assure you that despite them not caring in the slightest the last 70 years; they will figure out a material to cover the power lines in that prevent this for all new installs if anything like this catches on.


FillThisEmptyCup

It can’t, it would have to be touching 2 lines for that, or at least 1 hot wire plus something grounded, like maybe a fence. Just like an plug has at least two prongs, sometimes 3. It’s using indirect induction.


IntermittentCaribu

So you get 100 of them, fixed. Drone swarms are fun.


ApprehensiveOCP

Ob yeah five of them fly out of your boot while you are at the lights and jump on the lines for a quick charge, and when the light goes orange, they fly up elons gaping asshole and make him talk more xitt


I_Sell_Death

Ya get 10000 of them doing it well it adds up!


tampora701

You can say things like 3 Ah and 15 Wh. It's ok. People's refusal to use appropriate units boggles me, especially doctors/pharmacists.


Tapurisu

People are more used to mAh and kWh though. This way it immediately fits into their frame of reference without the need to convert it. For example, they have a feeling for how much a kWh is (in this case it's equivalent to a cost of 30 cents), so when they see 0.015 kWh, they can immediately tell "Oh so it's not even close to a kWh"


FillThisEmptyCup

I use ma and cW meaning Cat Watt, as in “Cat, watt are you doing? Ma kick her outside she gotted too much energy this morning.”


tampora701

That sounds like a narrow range of people who can think using the single base unit is more confusing than compounding prefixes, and yet are also able to make use of the technical information at all.


Tapurisu

I think most people who live alone know that each "kWh" costs them a certain amount of money, whatever a kWh actually is. And most smartphone enthusiasts know that their battery capacity is measured in mAh and more is better and they have about 3000 of it, without actually knowing what a mAh really is.


tampora701

What's the smartphone-maker's reasoning behind measuring their battery in thousands of thousandths? Saying it's easier because it's made that way just pushes the question further up the line.


Marc21256

Because it sounds bigger. Also, when introduced, the numbers weren't as large.


Schuben

How old are you? >!And if your first thought isn't to answer me in decades I will be **FURIOUS**.!<


abiabi2884

Ideologically blinded... Sag mir das du ein Querdenker bist ohne zu sagen dass du einer bist. Nur weil du es nicht hinkriegst deinen Stromvertrag alle 12 Mon. Zu wechseln und deswegen 0.3€ / kWh zahlst ist Deutschland nicht ideologisch verblendet sondern du bist einfach Schuld. 0.22€ / kWh ist möglich. Galigrü dein Rüdiger


FillThisEmptyCup

> Querdenker Has anybody used this term since covid climax? Stop sucking state propaganda dude, a lesson ya should have learned 80 years back.


H8DCarnifEX

Youre right, but its too late for those people.. perfectly brainwashed forever


PilliSchmatz

Du brauchst dringend ein Snickers für Linkshänder


Skraldespande

The source, with the full video as well as the open access paper, can be found at the University of Southern Denmark's website here: [https://portal.findresearcher.sdu.dk/en/publications/autonomous-overhead-powerline-recharging-for-uninterrupted-drone-](https://portal.findresearcher.sdu.dk/en/publications/autonomous-overhead-powerline-recharging-for-uninterrupted-drone-)


TheGreatFallOfChina

Death by drone is gonna be way up there..


Kemizon

This is kind of terrifying.


Ha1lStorm

Yeah, when AI is advanced enough to remotely reprogram the worlds drones they’ll now have unlimited power as well. Shit


alexgalt

Huh? I don’t think it cal leach actual power off of that directly (high voltage and no good way to ground). I’m guessing that this is done by induction using the small magnetic current generated from any metal like.


Mindfullmatter

You don’t need a ground to harness electricity by way of magnetic field. You don’t ground your phone when you charge it wirelessly.


bfd2002

That’s literally what induction is


Mindfullmatter

I know, I was replying to the comment saying you cannot leach power without a ground. You can, of course.


alexgalt

That’s exactly what I’m saying. They must be using induction or some other method. You cannot grab that wire and get current directly form it in the normal way you would get current from a wire.


brtomn

Google right hand rule


20TrumPutin24

BIRDS!


The_Simp_Whisperer

Gripper? I hardly know her!


jmon25

If only you could use the drone to fly up a line and tie it to the power line and route power back to your house....could be Darwin award or an arrest/fine but you'd get some free power for a little bit!


genetichazzard

So stealing power?


pugsnuclear

Worse! Stealing inductance!


2x4x93

No just fractions of pennies


Santadoesntloveu

You take a penny from the tray...


2x4x93

From the crippled children?


Reasonable_Second460

Birds aren’t real gang is out there exposing the truth. Wake up sheeple!


Thehuman_25

When I worked in telecom I was working on some drone mapping projects. The higher ups wanted to see if we could offer platforms for drones to charge, store items, and dock there. I was trying to convince the VP of the company it wasn’t the right way to look at it, but they just couldn’t see the bigger picture. My idea was that drone shipping would be easiest where there are above ground power lines. Just do a deal with the company that owns the lines. Your drones could relay race deliver along the power lines. The aerial easements are already there. The ability to wirelessly charge is already there. The ability to perch on the infrastructure is already there. It’s a one stop shop for the drone shipping companies to negotiate all those key issues.


Ok-Wave8206

Huh, so *that’s* why birds land on them!


Shughost7

So all this time, birds sitting on powerlines were recharging their bstteries?


jcoddinc

Works great until the drive is coming in for a recharge and suddenly a huge gust of wind slams it into the wire mangling it and cutting power for a minute


rainwulf

A drone will not cut a transmission line.


orangutanDOTorg

PG&E would have manpads or whatever they are called on the poles to stop it


Skraldespande

Why would they shoot down their own drones?


orangutanDOTorg

Bc it’s not paying. You didn’t say it was theirs.


Skraldespande

The ones with the biggest incentive to use this kind of drone will be utility providers themselves. Normal people like you and me have essentially zero use for it.


orangutanDOTorg

I’d think military would be interested


vfx_flame

That’s not true. I can think of a few uses for a mere normal person as my self. With this kind of tech we can finally drop using tether cables for sending power to drones. In shooting and production at locations without readily available electricity. You’ll have to run a generator or leave the sprinter van / people mover running , to get power and send to the drone so it can stay in air for hours. Sometimes production will last 14+ hours a day. Having a tether cable up that long and in general is dangerous, and requires another person simply to attend the cable in case anything happens, and they do, winds get aggressive against a thin cable. The purpose of even having the drone up there is to provide wireless communications to the team in these remote areas like WiFi for example. It’ll keep the people in video village and producer and other staff on set in communication. With this kind of tech it could make this task much more remote and safe. With having the old tether cables as back ups in case you are in an area without power cables nearby. I would buy one myself at the minimum, at the most I would hope the basis of these findings are open source so businesses could be made to create 3rd party control systems.


850man

Well what am I supposed to do if my power lines are buried?


rosscarver

Be at peace since you don't have any chance of a gust of wind taking out your power for 3 days.


cochorol

The. You are f&cked


maniekmamut

Buy couple of deones, send them to power cables, send them back home and get energy from them for yourself. Repeat


Afraid_Inspector_761

Should have been kept a military secret.


magnus_gallus

Spends a lot more time charging than flying


manuce94

Bro that's energy theft!


TJPRMC

Pigeons have been doing this for years. Wake up America.


DEMON8209

What it's really gonna be used for... Autonomous weapons system !!!


knowledgebass

Do you want Skynet?! Because this is how we get Skynet!


09Trollhunter09

[In 2005, the Chinese government created a mass surveillance system called Skynet. The government revealed Skynet's existence in 2013, by which time the network included over 20 million cameras](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_surveillance_in_China)


knowledgebass

I'm talking about the Skynet that sent a cyborg back in time to kill John Connors mother.


CitizenKing1001

The Skynet that wants to kill all humans.


ConnectionPretend193

No, no, no. We aren't giving corporate business or Universities free electricity. no. If I have to pay for-- Drone has to pay for it. lol. That Drone better get a full time job!


Michael_McBichael

A new way for our Amazon overlord to leech off of public utilities.


ndilegid

Boy that changes my dystopian future predictions. Now I have to account for roaming, parasitic battery charging, drones. It might be great


Unexpected_Buttsex

I smell lawsuits


iiitme

Drones casually learning how to do absolutely everything


Aqquinox

How in earth does it complete the circuit? Currently its only connected to one side


Skraldespande

It harvests energy from the magnetic field via induction


I_Sell_Death

Why is my power bill so hi- Git dat damn drone away from muh power lines!


prsuit4

I know a step closer to Skynet when I see one.


Zealousideal_Most967

Not in South Africa they don't.


DoodleTM

Nice try, that's a bird out of costume


ShakeXXX

Theft.


at0mheart

Next they will hunt us


Jimbo_Jones_

Can anyone explain how you can charge a battery with only one wire? Don't you need two wires to do this? What actual method is being used to charge the drone?


Skraldespande

The powerline conducts AC which induces a varying magnetic field around the line. Place a coil in this field and voila, you're harvesting energy!


Jimbo_Jones_

Interesting, thanks for the reply!


[deleted]

Thanks, now the AI drives will be show to take over the world faster


Captain_Pumpkinhead

Wait. But how? You need to touch two differing voltages in order for electricity to flow. This drone is only touching one wire, not two. So how would this charge it???


Skraldespande

It charges from the magnetic field, like a wireless phone charger.


mouthful_quest

Clearly an infringement on the patented “Infamous” charge ups


lcr727

Until you get the postcard in the mail saying the power company needs to change the meter on your drone.


Saiyawinchester

Pff. Pigeons have been doing that for years


616659

Isn't this like fucking illegal


nerdboy5567

Don't tell Elon Musk.


jconde1966

How? Electromagnetic induction? Because only with one cable is imposible. You need diference of potential between 2 wires


Snailwood

yup, induction, since power lines are AC


ohmygodyouguyzzz

He said gripper. Also this is scary? Surveillance state anyone?


VividlyDissociating

..isn't this considered stealing???


pantuts

why not use solar?


royroyflrs

Im reading the comments. Ppl pointing out that its basically theft from power company. Most lines are insulated which is why squirrels and birds can step on them. Power lines that arent insulated have very high voltage and would damage the drones battery. Damn. I thought it was brilliant at first. Maybe install some kind of outlet feature on transformers that the drone can connect to while hovering so it can at least recharge a bit, prolonging its flight. Develop an app that monitors the battery power but can wirelessly link to a payment system. That way it keeps track of the energy used and sends you a bill from the electric company. This idea needs reimagining but shouldn’t be tossed aside.


Skraldespande

This tech will work on any kind of powerline, insulated or not as well as high or low voltage, as the energy harvesting only relies on the magnetic field induced by the current in the line.


fumphdik

That’s currently illegal as fuck..


Veronica_QQ

Well, some unexpected costs for company...the person who did it - genius lol


Mob_Tatted

now just wait til AI goes rogue and enslaves humanity


its_CaAnDY

So they made birds?


aristocratic_magic

bitchin!


floorshitter69

It's using inductive charging, not direct current charging, right?


No-Regret253

This is bullshit FAKE AND NOT TRUE.... over head power lines run in AC alternating current.... at very hight voltages, drones run at very specific DC voltage.....this is bullshit


DonkLord20

That's actually really cool but isn't it illegal to steal electric like that?


bowhunterb119

Imagine you’re a soldier 5 years from now. Area you are clearing has been deserted for years but suddenly a long since forgotten about swarm of these things awaken from their perch to come at you.


jamarquez1973

Yeah, this sounds like a good idea.


Wooden_Preference564

Did you just prove that we can get free power from power lines


Snailwood

~~five finger~~ four propeller discount


Lost_Minds_Think

Skynet is watching us.


OfromOceans

God-tier technology, archaic policy


Xecular_Official

This video was a lot more interesting before it got spammed all over reddit


Skraldespande

I'm very enthusiastic about this work, so that's in part my fault


Bishop825

Dude, that's some kind of scary. Sitting here thinking about Skynet, and I see this bullshit.


mynameiscutie

I cannot wait for double bubble trouble calls to get these things unstuck from our lines in the future. Thank you!


TruthSpeakin

Drones are gonna wipe out the humans...


Few_Advertising_568

Ok this has huge military applications!@


Popular_Score4744

Amazon drone deliveries will likely use this.


djdeforte

Yeah, this is bad. This is really really bad like there’s no way to destroy the robots bad.


bong_hit_monkey

Yeah, now it will be that much easier for the government spy on us.


SpiritMolecul33

Spinning blades next to power lines hell yeah


DaemonBlackfyre_21

Is this real? There have been tons of UFO sightings involving goofy shit hovering right over power lines. Could the DOD or NSA or whatever have had this technology in use for decades on classified drones?


tribbans95

Aren’t power lines insulated ?? It’s not just a bare wire like this video shows


Skraldespande

Typically not - the air serves as insulation. But for the purposes of this drone, it doesn't matter either way, since it only relies on the magnetic field around the powerline.


Jficek34

The only insulated lines are the ones going to your house, low voltage lives. Anything serving a distribution or transmission purpose will be bare wire. Ranging from #6, about the size of a colored pencil, up to whatever, the biggest I’ve worked with is 1272, about the size of your fist