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Propellers on a Plane — Parallax Forums

Propellers on a Plane

Jim FouchJim Fouch Posts: 395
edited 2009-06-15 22:23 in Propeller 1
I'm flying from the east coast to the West Propeller Expo and was wondering if anyone has had issues taking raw electronics on a flight.

I know there was an incident a few years ago with a girl from MIT. She went to an air port to pick up a friend and she had a shirt that had some LEDs on it. She was soon greeted with several swat team members and had thousands of dollars in legal fees.

Here is a link to the story...http://geek.videosift.com/talk/MIT-geek-nearly-shot-by-airport-police-for-wearing-9V-LEDs

I'd like to bring some of my stuff, but really don't want to get probed by the swat team.

I'll be taking my Asus Eee Pc 901 as carry on. But was thinking of taking a demo·board·or PPDB·to mess with on the flight.

Anyone have any advice?

A few years ago I had a flight from Hong Kong back to LAX and I kept all my electronics in my checked in bags. I was never questioned about it.

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Jim Fouch

FOUCH SOFTWARE

Comments

  • SRLMSRLM Posts: 5,045
    edited 2009-06-15 18:07
    Link: Airplane and Electronics: How to deal with TSA?

    They didn't even flinch when I took the electronics as a carry on. They did open my bag, but it was because my multimeter looked like a bomb or something. I was worried because the probes have screw on hooks, and if you take them off they make very sharp points, but they didn't notice. They even missed my pocket knife...
  • Oldbitcollector (Jeff)Oldbitcollector (Jeff) Posts: 8,091
    edited 2009-06-15 18:11
    Jim,

    My last flight to Parallax I was loaded with several boards..

    I took printed documentation for everything I had with me. They weren't even interested...
    (Murphy says that I would have been really searched if I hadn't taken that precaution.)

    On the way home I had several new items, including a OLED which I was carrying on my person.
    Security was slightly amused as I unloaded, camera, MP3 player, laptop, OLED, and a couple other
    items into their bin for security.

    I would: Take printout documentation on everything if possible.
    Carry boards in anti-static bags, everything disconnected.
    Absolutely NO CONNECTED batteries. [noparse]:)[/noparse]

    OBC

    Edit: re-reading your message, I'm not sure I would work on the PPDB or demoboard
    during flight. It's not security I would worry about, but other passengers who have
    been trained to be afraid of everything they don't understand.

    (Don't get me started...)

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    Post Edited (Oldbitcollector) : 6/15/2009 6:16:30 PM GMT
  • heaterheater Posts: 3,370
    edited 2009-06-15 18:19
    Be sure you don't have anything with a row of red seven segment digits counting down ominously with black and red wires hanging out of it connected to big cylindrical capacitors[noparse]:)[/noparse]

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    For me, the past is not over yet.
  • Jim FouchJim Fouch Posts: 395
    edited 2009-06-15 18:19
    OBC,

    I called my buddy who I don't want to reveal (Let's just say he's one of the people keeping us safe on the flights after 9/11) He said it would not be a good idea to pull out anything with wires and start messing around with it for the exact reason you mentioned.

    I guess I'll just have to entertain myself by other means while in flight. lol

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    Jim Fouch

    FOUCH SOFTWARE
  • Jim FouchJim Fouch Posts: 395
    edited 2009-06-15 18:21
    Heater,

    I guess that counts out the hicapacity chest mounted extra battery pack for my next great project..... lol

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    Jim Fouch

    FOUCH SOFTWARE
  • RaymanRayman Posts: 14,833
    edited 2009-06-15 18:21
    I wonder how menacing my PSM module would look... I think I'd be OK if I had a nice plastic case for it...

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  • heaterheater Posts: 3,370
    edited 2009-06-15 18:26
    Ignorance and paranoia. A great combination. Don't you see the terrorists have already won.

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    For me, the past is not over yet.
  • Beau SchwabeBeau Schwabe Posts: 6,568
    edited 2009-06-15 18:40
    Jim Fouch,

    Usually I will have a few Demo boards in my suitcase, and occasionally in my Laptop carry on. I haven't had any problems to date. I have even had a "friendly reminder" slip in my bag that said that my check-in bag had been searched, and it was loaded with coils, demo boards, etc. and everything was intact. I mention coils because it could have just as easily been a transmitter "of some kind" ... That in and of itself could send up a few red flags.


    Anyway... knock on wood no problems so far. See you at the EXPO!!

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    Beau Schwabe

    IC Layout Engineer
    Parallax, Inc.
  • Paul_HPaul_H Posts: 85
    edited 2009-06-15 19:19
    I've never had any issue with electronics in a plane, I've rigged a USB-to-5V adapter* for my demo board with a few LEDs, and taped it to the lid of my monitor. A flight attendant did ask what I was working on (I assume because of the omionous blinky LEDs) along the lines of "Looks like fun - what is that?".

    I started to explain and not long after she got that wistful, longing look in her eyes .. and asked what I wanted to drink.
    Paul



    * not recommended as it provides too little current for real work, but works for a basic proto board.
  • mctriviamctrivia Posts: 3,772
    edited 2009-06-15 19:20
    Last summer I accidently took a few flairs and bair bangers(small projectile with low yeald explosive. Sounds like shotgun when it goes off) on a flight. Luckily they never noticed.

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    Need to upload large images or movies for use in the forum. you can do so at uploader.propmodule.com for free.
  • Ole Man EarlOle Man Earl Posts: 262
    edited 2009-06-15 19:23
    I am flying to the Rocklin Expo from Abq,NM. I have a lot of stuff to bring. Might I be better off shipping the stuff than to put it in luggage? Prop boards, 6dof, RC Tx, composit video monitor, meters, etc.
    Flying is such a hassle now.
  • Ken GraceyKen Gracey Posts: 7,400
    edited 2009-06-15 19:43
    Hey there,

    Parallax has had only one problem shipping electronics on our flights. In the past I used milky-clear plastic boxes for shipping some parts to trade shows. In this pre 9-11 incident I was summoned to the tarmac to identify a blinking red LED prior to boarding a flight. We forgot to pull a battery power supply from one of the trade show demos and the LED was visible through the plastic box.

    However, other than that single incident which we could have easily avoided, we've never had a problem [noparse][[/noparse]or caused one, depending on the viewpoint]. We book at least 20-30 trips a year and we always carry electronics. Usually we check them, but I also bring certain products on the airplane if I'm working on documentation, learning, or just wish to experiment. I've hand-carried Toddlers, Boe-Bots and all kinds of demos on flights without incident. They're really looking for fluids, corrosives and weapons.

    But I'd hate to see somebody get their demos or products stuck because you followed my advice. If you want to ship it, send it to my office:

    Your name c/o Ken Gracey
    Parallax
    599 Menlo Drive
    Rocklin, CA 95765

    Our receiver David will put it on my desk where you can retrieve it upon arrival.

    Sincerely,

    Ken Gracey
  • CounterRotatingPropsCounterRotatingProps Posts: 1,132
    edited 2009-06-15 19:44
    I always carry my laptop - they either make me turn it on, or don't even pay attention. *)

    On a flight back from London to Atlanta, I had a ton of weird looking e-gear in my suitcase --- they didn't even look at it as far as I can tell --- but I did get in A LOT of trouble for the apple in my hand coming off the plane (and, it wasn't an Apple Mac - I think it was some other more eatable variety.)

    > flairs and bair bangers

    Whoa Mctrivia - a flair accidently firing *could* bring down a plane. Amazing they didn't notice - *) What security, eh?

    Jim, I'd say just put all that stuff in your check in - and go for hardware emulation [noparse]:)[/noparse] on your laptop during flight. I'm sure we'd all not be happy to hear you got waylaid on some extended security search while TSA tries to understand a Propeller PD Board [noparse]:)[/noparse]

    - Howard
    aka, CounterRotatingProps (as in airplane propeller props that is)

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    Got Electrons?

    Post Edited (CounterRotatingProps) : 6/15/2009 7:50:42 PM GMT
  • Ole Man EarlOle Man Earl Posts: 262
    edited 2009-06-15 19:58
    I am now seriously considering driving now. 1200 miles..BUT, I can bring my 7 foot flying wing and other stuff on the plus side AND my wife volunteered to do the driving ! How can ya beat that !
    We have the time being retired...
  • TubularTubular Posts: 4,706
    edited 2009-06-15 20:04
    Just make sure you use ribbon cable to connect stuff and you'll be fine. Frenzied bomb makers never use ribbon, at least not in the movies
  • mctriviamctrivia Posts: 3,772
    edited 2009-06-15 20:06
    Ya I found them when I got to the destination. They were still in my cary on bag from my last camping trip. Needless to say I took the loss and gave them away before coming home.

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    propmod_us and propmod_1x1 are now in stock. Only $30. PCB available for $5

    Need to upload large images or movies for use in the forum. you can do so at uploader.propmodule.com for free.
  • HannoHanno Posts: 1,130
    edited 2009-06-15 20:29
    Never had a problem bringing all my stuff... Including the dancebot and my laptop whose power supply connection had broken. I had fixed it by directly soldering the power cord to the circuit board and using lots of hot glue to cover the opening. Agent searching me (I get a personal search every time I fly- must be my name) even smiled at my work.
    Hanno
    ps- I'll demo PropScope tonight at the Christchurch Robotics Group meeting. Come by if you're local: http://kiwibots.org

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  • PhilldapillPhilldapill Posts: 1,283
    edited 2009-06-15 22:23
    When I made my move from Indiana, back home to Texas, I literally had an entire suitcase FULL of wires, electronic parts, an O-scope, gadgets and anything and everything that could easily have been percieved as a bomb or a device that would cause harm in flight. This was back in early 2007, so the terrorism paranoia was already well established.

    Who knows, maybe the screener was asleep at the xray machine, but I didn't even get a note in my bag saying it was searched. Just my $0.02.
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