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To start with, PUMA's and ScanEagles weigh much less than a single Hellfire missile, so cool the hyperbole. They have cameras that still can't see you in your Mom's basement eating Doritos in your underwear. And while we're name-calling other people "gun nuts" you're probably a Halo Hero who likely couldn't shoot anything to save your life, much less hurt a flying fixed-wing vehicle with a shotgun.

Regarding local law enforcement exclusively I was at a UAS event a few months ago where the Executive Director of the Airborne Law Enforcement Association spoke unequivocally that the agreement in the law enforcement community is that arming UAS in domestic soil is a "BAD IDEA". At this same event, many discussed other issues regarding positive civilian uses of Unmanned systems.

http://www.auvsi.org/1832013/2232013CapChapter

On the other hand, considering the Federal Government's track record over the last decade, I wouldn't trust them not to cross the boundary with armed UAS, but they will do it bit by bit so as to not cause a stir until they've come up with a good way to sell it to the public. Customs and Border Patrol are already using Predators and Reapers at the border, so it may only be an "Executive Order" away.

http://libertycrier.com/customs-and-border-patrol-considered-weaponizing-drones/

And no, you can't shoot those down with your shotgun either.

The AUVSI Autonomous Underwater Vehicle competition is getting there.

I keep saying we should weaponize the vehicles anyway...

This is so incredibly true that my current plan for starting a good career after college (especially since I *WANT* to work in academic research or corporate R&D) is to make aliyah and work in the Israeli tech sector.

That might actually work out very well. Play to your strengths! E.g. if you're Californian, you may as well apply at Berkeley. If you're $FOO, don't be too proud to accept a $FOO scholarship. Heck, my Irish-American freshman year roommate had a Puerto Rican scholarship simply because his parents happened to on vacation there when he was born.

Not sure what your particular field is, but I remember seeing lots of Israeli representation at the last couple AUVSI conventions. For you as a new Israeli, though, you'd probably be limited to employment in a non-defense related jobs at first. When it comes to unmanned robotic systems, most anything that's not bolted to a factory floor is a military application.

http://www.auvsi.org/competitions/06competitors.cf m
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/artic le/2006/08/08/AR2006080800960.html
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20060807- 9999-1m7sub.html
http://mywebcache.com/2006/08/07/subjugator-holds- onto-top-honors-in-9th-annual-auv-competition/

We're the only high school to compete in it. Last year we placed 5th but this year we did like no work during the school year and I wasnt here during most of the summer so I have no idea what happened. Our best ranking was 2nd. Apparently this year we're 15th. Look for Amador Valley High School on this page: http://www.auvsi.org/competitions/06standings.cfm

Would have been nice to mention that 2nd place was ETS in the post and not MIT, Cornell or Duke...

Nice work guys! Wished I could have done so well while I was in the team:

http://www.auvsi.org/competitions/2005/05finalstan dings.cfm

Note that the submarine has always been using Linux as the main OS except for the first year where it was just microcontrollers:

http://sonia.etsmtl.ca/en/ETS_jpaper_2005.pdf

In fact, I was inspired to help start a team at ETS after seeing the slashdot.org post in 1999 when MIT won with a Linux-driven AUV.

2 reasons:
1. The IGVC has been around since 1993.
2. DARPA is by no means the main sponsor. The competition is held by the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (http://auvsi.org) that also hosts an air and underwater competition in addition to the this ground event.

There's actually quite a bit of work being done to try and enable UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) to fly in the National Airsapce System without danger to other aircraft and the ground. Very cool systems are being developed to integrate them into normal airspace traffic; systems which allow them to communicate with air traffic control, "see" other aircraft and respond to them (SAA or see and avoid systems), contingency equipment for communications failures etc. It's really some fascinating stuff. I work along side one of the groups comissioned by NASA to develop a "cradle to grave" roadmap which outlines the steps that would be necessary to certify UAVs, individually and as classes of aircraft, from inception to the junkyard. One of the reports that goes with that roadmap is the concept of operations. For more information, you may want to check out AUVSI or google for "Unmanned Systems".

check out AUVSI's Aerial Robotics Competition

Unfortunately, they wouldn't be much help in the WTC situation, where everything is buried under tons of rubble, but there are some really amazing things being done in the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International International Aerial Robotics Competition. My school has had a team for a few years, and they kick ass. The goal: Autonomous flying robots with vision, image recognition, hazard avoidance, and more. This stuff is frickin cool.

Robotic aircraft is a popular avocation, viz.: Aerial Robotics Competition, The Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International and, in particular, their Unmanned Air Vehicles page. Each of these sites has links to many other projects.

Robotic aircraft is a popular avocation, viz.: Aerial Robotics Competition, The Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International and, in particular, their Unmanned Air Vehicles page. Each of these sites has links to many other projects.

Hey, if you need aquatic, you can do it yourself and enter the AUVSI competition next year :

http://www.auvsi.org/auvcomp.htm

And if you've got money, you can sponsor us ;-):

http://www.auvsi.org/auvcomp.htm