Something I've wondered for octocopters - could using a ring instead of arms be beneficial for weight? 6.28r < 8r, but then again the arm radius is usually less than the full circle, and some components want to be centrally located, etc. I could imagine holding the central components in tension via light filaments (carbon fiber, nylon, etc) in tension, vs having to have rigid structure, but the small factor between 6.28 and 8 and maybe makes it not worth it.
large schedule 40 or 80 tubing sliced into rings would be pretty quick source material, starting with duct tape and zipties until you find a good arrangment then get into the glue and screws.
Some people prefer asking actual people since - especially here - there are experts that can answer that question.
LMGTFY was a snarky and rude answer, but typically led to an actual source. "Here's what AI said" is even ruder because you aren't saying "here's the obvious place to find the actual answer", you are saying "I'm not an expert either, so here's a completely unvetted, but plausible sounding answer"
Just saying to ask AI is the most useless and rudest response of all. It adds nothing. At least pasting the AI response in is an (misguided) attempt at being helpful.
So far those experts have not yet answered. I did. In my experience experts find it rude and tiring to be asked questions if it appears that the questioner hasn't done the basics for themselves. "How To Ask Questions The Smart Way" by Eric S. Raymond and Rick Moen seems relevant: https://archive.ph/duRkf
> Just saying to ask AI is the most useless and rudest response of all
Most definitely rude.
But unfortunately useful.
The AI answer I got appeared plausible to my very basic engineering taste.
It is unfortunately true that AI can give better answers than many HN users.
Obviously AI doesn't usually beat an expert answer.
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To go meta: is up to Tossrock to become the expert they want by learning the metaskills they need.
I actually thought Tossrock's question was really interesting.
There underlying problem is that we have no polite way to suggest someone try AI. RTFM was historically impolite too.
And posting an AI response (even if filtered and edited) is socially destructive.
FYI: The answer given was something like an outer ring would interfere with lift twice as much, plus that putting weight at rim causes more inertia affecting control. I suspect there's a better question about just using a very fine cable (which would give rigidity without much interference with downdraught). I also suspect that we evolve optimal configurations, and that the underlying reasons are often unclear, and I'm left with too many questions that only an expert could answer.
You didn’t answer the question originally and it therefore wasn’t useful at all. All you did was tell them to use AI with an attitude.
If you recognize that it is a rude way to answer, and you add nothing to the conversation, just don’t do it.
How to ask a good question is great knowledge, thanks for the link. How to give a good answer is even more important. Paraphrasing AI as a non expert is an anti-pattern for a good answer. Please stop.
If you can look at your original response and think “everyone would be better off without”, you should not post it.
