Alphabet Gives Some Loon Patents To SoftBank, Open Sources Flight Data and Makes Patent Non-assertion Pledge (techcrunch.com) 18
TechCrunch reports: Alphabet's Loon was a stratospheric moonshot that saw the company fly high-altitude balloons to provide cellular network coverage to target areas. The project broke a lot of new ground, including developing technology that enabled balloons to navigate autonomously and stay in one area for long stretches of time, but ultimately came to an end. Now, Alphabet is divvying up the Loon assets, many of which are being either made available to others in the industry for free -- or handed over to key partners and strategic investors. SoftBank is one company that walks away with some intellectual property; the Japanese telecommunication giant gets around 200 of Loon's patents related to stratospheric communications, service, operations and aircraft, which it says it will put to use developing its own High Altitude Platform Stations (HAPS) business.
SoftBank was an erstwhile partner of Loon's, having founded the 'HAPS Alliance' to further the industry. SoftBank's own HAPS business focused on autonomous gliders, but it adapted its communications payloads to work on Loon's balloons, too. SoftBank is also an investor in Loon, having put $125 million in the Alphabet company in 2019. The other company to get a windfall of sorts out of Loon's closure is Raven, another partner and a company that focuses on the manufacture of the high altitude balloons that the Alphabet moonshot operated. It picks up patents related specifically to balloon manufacturing.
SoftBank was an erstwhile partner of Loon's, having founded the 'HAPS Alliance' to further the industry. SoftBank's own HAPS business focused on autonomous gliders, but it adapted its communications payloads to work on Loon's balloons, too. SoftBank is also an investor in Loon, having put $125 million in the Alphabet company in 2019. The other company to get a windfall of sorts out of Loon's closure is Raven, another partner and a company that focuses on the manufacture of the high altitude balloons that the Alphabet moonshot operated. It picks up patents related specifically to balloon manufacturing.
Not a Glider (Score:3)
SoftBank's own HAPS business focused on autonomous gliders
Uh, no. SoftBank's HAPS [youtube.com] is a solar-powered (with batteries for 24/7 operation) electric aircraft that operates in the stratosphere.
Motor glider (hence the title of your link) (Score:4, Insightful)
That sentence would be more clear if it said motor gliders. That's the commonly used term for craft of the type.
On one hand, to show that it's not a glider, you linked to a video entitled "sunglider ...". Of a craft named SunGLIDER. Because it's a glider.
On the other hand, people who aren't around aviation might thing think gliders don't have motors.
Motor gliders are aircraft designed to be able to soar as sailplanes (normally using pre-existing sailplane designs), which also have a motor that can be used as needed to sustained flight.
In other words:
Airplane - uses the motor to cruiser typically at around 1/2 throttle.
Glider - Can soar without the motor running
Unpowered glider - Had better fly without running the motor, because it doesn't have a motor
Re: (Score:2)
Unpowered glider - Had better fly without running the motor, because it doesn't have a motor
Ok, that made me chuckle. Also, thanks for the post. Providing someone with information, correcting their potential misconception, without being a dick about it. We need more of that around here.
Re: (Score:2)
This is SlashDot, we don't do that here. raymorris's account is being suspended as we speak. :o)
Re: (Score:2)
That sentence would be more clear if it said motor gliders. That's the commonly used term for craft of the type.
I guess I could be wrong, but I don't think "motor gliders" typically operate above 60,000 ft altitude for extend periods of time. As to "the commonly used term for craft of this type" - you can count aircraft of this type (high altitude, long endurance, solar powered) on your fingers and have digits to spare.
On one hand, to show that it's not a glider, you linked to a video entitled "sunglider ...". Of a craft named SunGLIDER. Because it's a glider.
I hate to break it to you, but that guy named Colonel Sanders? Not a colonel. And the Kansas City Chiefs football team is not composed entirely of Native American tribal leaders.
Despite the name, Sung
Ever seen a U2? (Score:2)
Check out a couple pics of the U2, a plane designed for the maximum possible altitude, and tell me what it looks like to you.
You might be surprised when you realize it's got the straight, extremely high AR wings and narrow fuse of a sailplane. The more you look at it, the more you realize that maximum altitude plane is a sailplane, with a motor added. There's a reason for that. The sailplane design happens to be exactly what works best in the thin air of high altitude.
Even UNPOWERED sailplanes have flown at
Re: (Score:2)
So, we've gone from "it's a glider - a motor glider" to "it looks like a sailplane".
Check out a couple pics of the U2, a plane designed for the maximum possible altitude, and tell me what it looks like to you.
It looks like an aircraft designed to fly long distances at high altitude and relatively low airspeeds. Now, you go check out some photographs of the SR-71, a plane that replaced the U-2 and operated at a much higher altitude, and tell me how much like a sailplane it looks to you. You can also look at pictures of a B-58, which operated at altitudes similar to the U-2.
The sailplane design happens to be exactly what works best in the thin air of high altitude.
Kelly Johnson would probably disagree. But really, it's en
Google gave up too soon (Score:1)
This tech has applications for deployment of fast Internet in specific niches: military and research areas, in newly settled places where fiber is being installed but not yet ready, and border security.
Re: (Score:1)
Ah border security...and make Mexico pay for it. ;-)
Google isn't into specific niches (Score:3)
Yeah it has application in specific niches.
Google's niche is building and running services that support a billion users. Walmart does mass market products, products they can sell to millions of customers. Google takes that up to 11, providing products for not millions of users, but billions.
There's a small niche here to be served by a small company. Google isn't a small company. Google does things BIG. So they've handed off useful bits to people who might be able to serve this small niche.
Re: (Score:3)
I am inclined to believe that the technology is unlikely to ever perform better than next generation constellations like Starlink. The diminishing opportunities and return for lower altitude solutions with higher bandwidth and tighter coverage areas is a tough sell.
Post-disaster reconstruction might be one of the few areas it really makes sense, but there are still other options.
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Competition from Starlink was most likely what Google had in mind, but as of now we don't know how well Starlink will perform, or whether coverage will be truly worldwide.
Space Junk (Score:2)
A big advantage of high-altitude craft that needs to sustain its own flight is that when it fails, it simply falls back to Earth (ideally not on anyone's head) rather than orbiting the planet as space garbage for eons.
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Starlink won't be able to serve high density sites like cities, Loon could (and did). Loon's emphasis was also on cellular coverage, which is frequently non-functional after a disaster and which StarLink doesn't do.
The name... (Score:3)
"Alphabet Gives Some Loon Pat(i)ents To SoftBank"
That's how I initially read it. Seriously, who thinks "loon" is a great name for a product, and who thinks it's a good idea to approve that name?
Re: (Score:2)
They should have given the name 'Loon' to a submarine project, because they're ponderous fliers who can't soar to save their lives but they can swim underwater for incredible distances. I suppose they didn't want to call it 'Project Albatross' because of the baggage hanging around that word's neck, but boobies can fly pretty well. I'd be really interested if Google launched a 'Project Booby'.
Words are hard (Score:3)
Loon? (Score:2)
I for one, welcome our Google Balloon overlords.