TECH TALK
2.
IndieGoGo.com – This site initially focused on fi lm and artistic endeavors, but now has grown to challenge Kickstarter. It also has a number of aviation-related projects.
3.
RocketHub.com – It handles science and creative projects, and has a small number of aviation-focused ideas asking for funding.
4.
Fundly.com – This site has a reduced-cost approach for funders (as compared to some of the other sites), and has a fair amount of aviation projects asking for funding.
5.
Experiment.com – It funds scientifi c research in general and is more focused on detailed research projects.
6.
Fundable.com – This is a general-purpose site and has a small number of aviation projects seeking funding.
For a more complete list, check the Wikipedia web page at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_ crowd_funding_services.
NOTABLE AVIATION PROJECTS Kickstarter has 69 projects listed that include the term aviation. Seven of these are still active in seeking funds, and 27 were successfully funded. (Kickstarter operates on an all- or-none model, where if the fi nancing goal is not met, no funds are distributed to the project and no one is charged). There are a few more unique projects that show up under the terms ‘aircraft’ and ‘aerospace’, but there is some overlap with these search terms for the ensuing projects. Here are fi ve notable live or recent projects: 1. Teaching high school kids how to build an airplane – “Aviation is a powerful way to teach kids about science and technology in an area that they love to engage in! Help build our plane!”
2. Balloon launch of the Vulture 2 rocket-powered spaceplane – “The world’s fi rst 3-D-printed, rocket- powered aircraft will lift off from Spaceport America, New Mexico.”
3. Pioneer Flight Museum – “The Pioneer Flight Museum restores pre-1940 aircraft. We are erecting a WW1 era Army hangar for our new visitor center.”
4. Synergy aircraft project – They are building an airplane in a garage and it will be intended for use by ordinary people (i.e., non-professional pilots).
5. AirDog: world’s fi rst auto-follow drone for GoPro camera – This is a small, agile, foldable quadcopter that uses a GoPro camera. IndieGoGo has 136 projects listed that include the term
‘aviation’, and of these 16 are still active in seeking funds. This site allows funding to reach projects until a deadline expires, so it diff ers from Kickstarter in the approach. Notable projects include: 1. Windimager – laser technology for renewable energy, aviation and fi refi ghters – “Over the last three years we have been working with NASA to develop a long- range Laser sensor, Windimager, that can not only ‘see’ the wind but can measure wind speed and direction out to 16 km (10 miles).”
11.12 2014
20
2. Save our small airports and get kids involved in aviation – “Pilots start their training at small airports and learn in small aircraft. We need to save our small airports, but they are closing at an alarming rate. We also need to inspire children to be excited by airplanes and fl ying.”
3. Canopy for aircraft maintenance – “A portable and modular enclosure for helicopters. That provides a cavernous amount of enclosed square footage that you can utilize as needed.”
4. Aircraft bird anti-strike (ABAS) – “Scans the area in front of the aircraft using an infrared camera to detect any objects and provides warnings on possible collisions.”
5. STERNA very light aircraft for everyone – “Inspired by the history and the future, we wanted to develop the airplane for everyone. STERNA VLA is the fi rst complete end-to-end fl ying solution.” The other crowdfunding sites have fewer projects, but some of these are a bit more ambitious, such as: 1. On
Fundable.com, there is the “Strategic Security Air — an Aerial Data Operations Company” which seeks to provide a solution that fi ts in between satellite services and low-level drones to deliver intelligent actionable data to governments for border protection, agricultural and land-use owners, facilities operator and others. Another is a startup airline named Baltia Air Lines and it hopes to serve the U.S. and Eastern Europe.
2.
Fundly.com contains many appeals to fund non- profi t aviation requests (museums, schools, and students who seek funding for their tuition), among other requests.
3.
Experiment.com has no aviation-specifi c projects (at the time of writing this article), but has plentiful experiments that apply to various types of research that concerns materials, solar energy, propulsion, display technology, biofuels and other topics that are potentially directly applicable to aerospace use.
4.
RocketHub.com has various aviation projects, with notable ones being the ”Vaero Dynamics — patented electric VTOL aircraft” and “Near-space balloon with iPhone and HD camera”.
There are also hundreds of projects that handle all types of technology, software apps and related ideas which could be used in aviation or travel. These include such projects such as various Arduino-based controllers and components, various types of sensor technology, high-resolution LED lighting kits, biofuels and solar power. Many of these could easily be applied to aircraft or aviation facilities.
KICK START THE FUTURE In a few short years, a niche mechanism that was initially intended for starving artists to fi nd benefactors has gone mainstream and now supports the needs of individual inventors, startup companies, non-profi t uses and existing
DOMmagazine
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68