Umbrellas are an example of a successful and very well established invention. By some estimates, they have been around in their basic form for over 4,000 years.
That basic form, an assembly of sticks and cloth that can be deployed to provide either shade from the sun or shelter from falling precipitation, has been generally stable over all that time. It consists of a central shaft around which a collapsible frame of ribs with attached fabric is supported. Most modern innovations of umbrella technology represent tinkering improvements to this basic form, mostly with the introduction of new materials like steel and waterproof fabrics. Perhaps the biggest innovation in that form factor came in the 1920s with Hans Haupt's invention of the pocket folding umbrella. Haupt paired a collapsible central shaft with folding ribs in a design that was much more compact and easier to carry.
That doesn't mean the umbrella cannot be improved. Anyone who has used an umbrella knows its main pain point: you have to dedicate the use of at least one of your hands to hold it.
But what if you didn't have to hold an umbrella to use it? What if you could eliminate its central shaft and the need to hold the umbrella altogether?
The answers to those questions are explored by JohnX at his I Build Stuff Youtube channel in the following ten-minute video. He's taken the umbrella to the next level using modern drone technology and shows the trial and error process of how he developed his prototype:
This is genuine outside the box thinking. While he doesn't quite eliminate the central shaft, he does succeed in minimizing it to fit within the umbrella's canopy. Along with a modified quadricopter drone.
Time will determine if JohnX' prototype flying drone umbrella will become a common, everyday ordinary object. It certainly has potential and we can see where it may have use when combined with hundreds of other flying umbrella drones at outdoor sports events or music performances. Taken to the next level, a fleet of umbrella drones could replace the expensive retractable roofs on modern sports stadiums or keep the next Woodstock music festival from becoming an unholy muddy mess.
HT: Core77.
Labels: ideas, technology
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