Electric umbrella

[tvtech]

Craziest idea I have ever seen...

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1243275397/air-umbrella?ref=nav_search

Umbrella with a propeller....almost $90000 reached of a $10000 goal??

[Dongulus]

I think it's a cool idea, but as a product it's practically worthless.

To say nothing about weather (get it? ) their product could actually work well even in heavy rain, hail, or snow, paying $100 or more for a fancy umbrella is absurd. Paying $100 or more for an umbrella that could easily leave you stranded because you didn't charge it is insane.

15 minutes of use for umbrella-a and 30 minutes of use for umbrella-b and umbrella-c. 

Reliability is non-negotiable for an umbrella and this is just way too complicated to be reliable. Keeping anything charged is a nuisance, but charging an object that needs to be ready immediately without warning is just unusable. I would rather pay for one of those light up umbrellas from "Blade Runner".

[godFather89]

Also the noise that fan would make...

[Corporate666]

Can't be legit...

At work, I have a compressor with 120psi air inside.  It will produce enough airflow when sprayed out of an air nozzle to prevent water (coolant) penetrating the "beam" of air for a distance of about 6 inches.

And that compressor runs at 220V/10A and does not generate enough airflow to run the air nozzle continously.

You would need lots of CFM at a pretty substantial pressure to create an "air shield" over a person.  From a lithium battery?  no way.  Maybe from a 10hp gas engine.  Even then... maybe not. 

...and the noise.

[mcinque]

A 3d rendering, some white plastic pipes and a 3d animation video narrated by someone who seems about to burst out laughing, can raise 90k$? Oh god...  I've a lot to learn.

[miguelvp]

Cool, but useless on a windy rainy day.

[Refrigerator]

Seems like you would need to produce an awful amount of air flow to drive that water away which would mean a high RPM motor and lots of noise both from the motor and the itty bitty fan blade.
I'd say it's a fail, but might be interesting to see how it goes.

[zapta]

It will work great in summer.

[Marco]

At work, I have a compressor with 120psi air inside.  It will produce enough airflow when sprayed out of an air nozzle to prevent water (coolant) penetrating the "beam" of air for a distance of about 6 inches.

Presumably they use a laminar flow.

You'd think at some point in time someone will have tried to put an air curtain horizontally as a rain screen ... couldn't find anything though. Did find a patent for a horizontal air screen for busses though.

http://www.google.com/patents/CN101797877A?cl=en

[gregallenwarner]

I find the biggest problem with this device to be the new breed of a***ole who uses one of these and blows water right in the face of everybody he walks past.

[Marco]

I thought that these days they were supposed to be a demonstrable prototype.

I skimmed the video and missed it too ... but they do actually seem to show it working at 2:25.

[firewalker]

No test under real conditions. What about persons next to you? Will they appreciate the produced water spray? Or will use this device as a weapon against you?

Alexander.

[mux]

Craziest idea I have ever seen...

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1243275397/air-umbrella?ref=nav_search

Umbrella with a propeller....almost $90000 reached of a $10000 goal??

They should have made it solar powered. That battery life is too short.

I didn't find the video very convincing. It looked fake to me. No way that fan has the power to deflect rain like that.

As bullshit as it would be technically, putting solar cells on it (anywhere, it doesn't matter) would definitely have netted them at least 100k$ more. Marketing fail.

[miguelvp]

The problem with a solar powered umbrella is well.. nevermind, makes perfect sense

[rob77]

YASP ! Yet Another Scam Project

that's simply bullshit      it won't work... you simply can't generate such an airflow with such a small device... you could compare that turbine/impeller/whatever in size to a car's turbocharger.. which is producing a shitload of airflow to feed the engine cylinders (but still not enough to produce this umbrella effect) while consuming lot's of horsepower extracted from the exhaust gasses.
if those guys know how to achieve such a high energy and power density , then they should rather start doing business in the automotive industry.

and the laminar flow... well... where are the elements supposed to make the flow laminar ?

p.s. the only use-case would be to shove it up the author's ass and turn in to full power 

[AmmoJammo]

delivery date is 14 months away 

a ducted fan from a radio controlled plane would be able to move that much air....


Of course, you won't be able to talk over the noise though.... 

[(*steve*)]

The problem with a solar powered umbrella is well.. nevermind, makes perfect sense

No problem at all.

Make the solar panel a disc, supported in the middle, or even better a slight conical shape.

[rob77]

delivery date is 14 months away 

a ducted fan from a radio controlled plane would be able to move that much air....


Of course, you won't be able to talk over the noise though.... 

where is the proof of blowing fast moving water drops away ? sorry that ducted fan can't do the job that toy peaks around 100W of power... and actually you can blow away dirt and grass with you mouth alone that's definitely not a proof of deflecting fast moving water drops.
to make the umbreala effect (reliably blow away fast moving water in ALL DIRECTIONS) you would need much much more power (somewhere in the 10+ kilowatt range by rough guess).

[tvtech]

Hi Guys

When I saw this invention I started thinking what is wrong with a normal umbrella that gazillions of people have used happily and effectively for yonks...

No electrics, charging, complications...

Does not make any sense at all 

[CaptCrash]

When I saw this invention I started thinking what is wrong with a normal umbrella

It doesn't generate over $100,000 in pre sales when you say announce you are going to design one.

I am a little concerned that they have missed the opportunity to add a bluetooth connection to an app for my phone that lets me know its raining.  Maybe this can be a stretch goal for them.

[rob77]

Maybe this can be a stretch goal for them.

the very first stretch goal should be to place the controller between the battery and the motor, not to the bottom of the thing and routing power cables all way up 

[macgyver0815]

Watch out! This could be the beginning of the "Umbrella Corporation"...

and you know how this will end

[miguelvp]

The problem with a solar powered umbrella is well.. nevermind, makes perfect sense

No problem at all.

Make the solar panel a disc, supported in the middle, or even better a slight conical shape.

I was thinking the solar panel could have been some kind of a fold out design of maybe 16  segments to make a circular panel  about 1 meter in diameter.

And parabolic so you can catch the sun at all angles.

Of course you will have to use everyday to ensure it's charged.

[(*steve*)]

Of course you will have to use everyday to ensure it's charged.

If you design the solar panel correctly the device will operate continuously, even with zero charge!  And at night!

[miguelvp]

Of course you will have to use everyday to ensure it's charged.

If you design the solar panel correctly the device will operate continuously, even with zero charge!  And at night!

True and if we add mylar to the inside of the parabola it will double up as a solar cooker.