brave berlin blog. process, wip and research, in chronological order.

project page here, text by lucas rehnman here

05.2026

german federal ministry of finance, monthly report may 2026: key figures for the 2027 federal budget. defence: 82.2 bn € in 2026, 104.5 bn € in 2027, 179.8 bn € planned for 2030. source here

table 2 of the report (german original), no english version of the table exists

table 2 in english. spending exempt from the debt brake, bn €, 2026 / 2027 / 2028 / 2029 / 2030:

total: 100.1 / 125.0 / 167.0 / 176.0 / 196.4
defence: 82.2 / 104.5 / 149.5 / 158.8 / 179.8
civil protection and civil defence: 2.1 / 2.8 / 2.7 / 2.8 / 2.8
intelligence services: 2.2 / 2.7 / 2.8 / 2.8 / 2.7
protection of it systems: 2.8 / 3.4 / 3.4 / 3.1 / 2.6
aid to states attacked in violation of international law: 11.5 / 11.6 / 8.5 / 8.5 / 8.5
minus 1 % of the previous year's nominal gdp: 43.3 / 44.7 / 46.0 / 47.7 / 49.1
borrowing not counted under the debt brake (art. 115 (2) sentence 4 basic law): 57.6 / 80.3 / 121.0 / 128.3 / 147.3

2026 is the adopted budget, 2027 the key figures, 2028 to 2030 the financial plan

05.08.

grenade blueprints. provisional ira grenades, mark 7 to mark 14

mark 7

mark 8

mark 10

mark 11

mark 12

mark 13

mark 14

blueprint-tracer, started the same day to trace the plates for the pen plotter. a python desktop app that turns scanned blueprints into centerline vectors: adaptive threshold, deskew, centerline trace, stroke ordering to minimise pen-up travel, vector editing by hand, ocr that redraws the lettering in a single-stroke hershey font, export to svg + json. code on github

blueprint-tracer, scan and trace side by side, mark 11

scan

trace with ocr lettering, 07.08.

cleaned up, 22.08.

07.08.

first grenade plots

11.08.

brave1 market, the marketplace the shop is modelled on, next to brave berlin

brave1 market, uav catalogue

brave berlin, catalog

patent research. 39 patents collected in one day: firearms, munitions, drones, a mortar guidance kit, a weather modification rocket, a fireworks production line, a toy rifle, a bionic butterfly. the drawings picked for blueprint-tracer:

at 529036 a1, handgun with shot counter

us 12669315 b1, exploding foil initiator

us 20260206953 a1, load carrying assembly

us 20260210681 a1, coated projectile

wo 2026152165 a1, enhanced payload delivery

cn 224435201 u, mortar shell guidance

cn 224603231 u, drone firefighting module

ep 4782782 a1, launch tube for programmable munitions

de 102025104330 a1, penetrator transmitting data and energy

us 12535289 b2, firearm handguard attachment

us 20260194321 a1, firearm receiver

us 20260227163 a1, anti-drone cartridge and bullet

all of them:

at 529036 a1, handgun with shot counter
cn 122305866 a, precisely controllable weather modification rocket
cn 224435201 u, guidance assembly for mortar shells
cn 224603221 u, bionic butterfly mechanical structure
cn 224603231 u, connection device for a drone firefighting emergency module
cn 224608301 u, inner tube discharge assembly and fireworks production line
de 102025000190 a1, sub-body of an irritant cartridge and method of making it
de 102025103707 a1, full metal jacket deformation bullet for practice and training ammunition
de 102025104330 a1, penetrator, projectile, cartridge and method for transmitting data and/or energy
de 102025141150 a1, sensor structure of a toy rifle stock
ep 0247272 a2, gun and magazine system
ep 4782782 a1, launch tube system for programmable munitions
jp 2026122877 a, vehicle
kr 20000001201 u, self-defense gun
us 12535289 b2, firearm handguard attachment
us 12663229 b1, advanced battlefield command and control system
us 12669315 b1, modular exploding foil initiator assembly
us 12669317 b1, counterweight projectile
us 12680771 b1, caliber and feed-side convertible firearm
us 12680796 b1, preformed composite fragmentation warhead
us 12687359 b1, systems and techniques for managing a fleet of user-authenticated guns
us 2019033035 a1, single point tactical sling and hands free carrying device
us 20260185810 a1, charge separating apparatus
us 20260194321 a1, firearm receiver
us 20260200052 a1, multifunctional firearm maintenance tool
us 20260202153 a1, bolt and extractor for direct gas operated firearms
us 20260206953 a1, load carrying assembly with interior pouch attachment
us 20260210649 a1, modular rimfire handgun
us 20260210661 a1, mobile long-range artillery system
us 20260210662 a1, shot indicating resetting trigger
us 20260210681 a1, projectiles with coatings and methods for applying coatings to projectiles
us 20260227141 a1, bolt action rimfire long gun
us 20260227163 a1, anti-drone cartridge and bullet
wo 2024224127 a1, removable backstrap and lanyard assembly for a firearm
wo 2026106653 a2, projectile constructions and payloads therefor
wo 2026152165 a1, enhanced payload delivery
wo 2026154247 a1, propellant support unit
wo 2026154288 a1, firearm barrel mounting system
wo 2026162406 a1, smart grenade munition with programmable radar/lidar sensing for autonomous standoff engagement, and aerial vehicle system

cn 224603221 u, the bionic butterfly, traced with blueprint-tracer

patent drawing

trace, 11.08.

15.08.

first solar butterfly, still on a stand: two powerfilm cells as forewings, n20 gearmotor, crank and rocker, lipo + cn3065 charger

solar butterfly v0

stand, dowel ø6 + base ø90

sheet 1/4, 15.08.

16.08.

bee: no battery. a solar engine charges a capacitor bank and dumps it into the motor in bursts. the stand is gone

solar bee, exploded

solar butterfly, exploded

solar bee, sheet 1

solar butterfly, sheet 2, drive + pivots

17.08.

animations. dragonfly: a flashing led is the whole trigger, the film wings shimmer instead of flapping. dragonfly mk ii, the one that flies: x-wing ornithopter, recharges perched on its solar reed

butterfly, one crank cycle

bee

dragonfly, shimmer

dragonfly, flexure

dragonfly mk ii, clap and peel

dragonfly mk ii, 1:42 gearbox

solar dragonfly, sheet 1

18.08.

ant: supercap engine, marches about a metre per charge and carries a 40 g grain. solar revolver, fictitious weapons no. 2: cannot fire, but runs single-action lockwork on sunlight

ant, walk

ant, carrying

revolver, cock, index, clack

revolver, lockwork

19.08.

22.08.

flyers for the soft launch. framing. plotting the butterfly

flyer

logo

filled versions. building_bombs, a composition in cursor: it reads the json from blueprint-tracer, finds the closed regions, hatches them in three pen colours and arranges the plates on a sheet, then writes one hpgl per pen for the hp 7550a (a3) or the hp draftmaster sx (a1)

the patent butterfly, cleaned up in blueprint-tracer

filled in building_bombs

24.08.

sheets of butterflies: 24 on a3 for the hp 7550a, 62 on a1 for the draftmaster

sheet of 24, a3

sheet of 62, a1

the 62, plotted

25.08.

solar engine and pummer circuits for the parts section of the shop

solar engine, type 1 (miller / 1381 family)

pummer, nocturnal solar engine

28.08.

soft launch at sp2, schillerpromenade 2. exhibition photos and the online marketplace on the project page

sp2, 29.08.

26.09.

solar butterfly, the real one. first iteration with a miller solar engine and no battery: five 5 v panels in parallel charge a 20 mF bank, at 3.15 v a voltage detector dumps it into the gearmotor, ~90 mJ per burst. parts chosen, nothing built yet.

direct sun: a burst every second, almost continuous. bright window: every 5-10 s. room light: about once a minute. continuous motion indoors is out, any motor that can flap wings needs ~40 mA just to spin

solar engine for the butterfly

next

what is to come: bionic butterflies. cn 222247703 u, bionic butterfly aircraft. cn 104340365 b and cn 203601565 u, bionic robot with butterfly-shaped mechanism

cn 222247703 u, bionic butterfly aircraft

cn 222247703 u

cn 222247703 u, wing drive

cn 222247703 u

cn 104340365 b, bionic robot with butterfly-shaped mechanism

cn 104340365 b

cn 104340365 b, body

cn 104340365 b, wing

ongoing

solar engine research. to be continued, more solar powered electronics and machines.

mark tilden, wilf rigter, simon fraser, grant

beam circuits, solar engines
beam circuits, pummer
beam circuits, motor drivers
wilf rigter, solar revolver
the walkman page
beam robots, smfr.org
30 million robots, increasingly unclear