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The 2009 Indian geek movie 3 Idiots http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3_Idiots had a prototype just like that. It looked like they built it for less than $500.

There were toy radio-controlled helicopters selling for $1,000. http://www.rctoys.com/rc-products/DF-VTI-EYE.html

If you seriously want to pay the price, you might consider the Draganflyer V Ti PRO RC Gyro Stabilized Electric Helicopter With High Res Color Video Camera System

This: http://veratech.aero/rotorx.html

Looks like a rip off of this:
http://www.rctoys.com/draganflyerxpro.php

With some mods. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

As far as the videos go, they are probably setting up some sort of DRM, or God forbid, the things do not exist! Not like anyone has ever setup a hoax.

I feel sorry for those poor kids too, having to ware camo, and act all military like. Thanks for brain washing me dad!

Nowadays, a pretty decent remote control airplane can be purchased for under $100. You can also get a good lightweight wireless videocam for $250. What would happen if an unsavory person combined the two, and stuck a powerful contact explosive on the tip of the plane? It seems like it'd be a cheap assassination method which would be difficult to defend against.

Of course, snipers could potentially take out one of these. But what if a fleet of these was coming towards you?

The only effective defense technique I can think of is an EMP, but those aren't exactly common.

On a completely different note, a remote control blimp with a wireless camera would be a really cool surveillance system.

Nowadays, a pretty decent remote control airplane can be purchased for under $100. You can also get a good lightweight wireless videocam for $250. What would happen if an unsavory person combined the two, and stuck a powerful contact explosive on the tip of the plane? It seems like it'd be a cheap assassination method which would be difficult to defend against.

Of course, snipers could potentially take out one of these. But what if a fleet of these was coming towards you?

The only effective defense technique I can think of is an EMP, but those aren't exactly common.

On a completely different note, a remote control blimp with a wireless camera would be a really cool surveillance system.

Nowadays, a pretty decent remote control airplane can be purchased for under $100. You can also get a good lightweight wireless videocam for $250. What would happen if an unsavory person combined the two, and stuck a powerful contact explosive on the tip of the plane? It seems like it'd be a cheap assassination method which would be difficult to defend against.

Of course, snipers could potentially take out one of these. But what if a fleet of these was coming towards you?

The only effective defense technique I can think of is an EMP, but those aren't exactly common.

On a completely different note, a remote control blimp with a wireless camera would be a really cool surveillance system.

I wonder how the police would react if somebody mounted a Wi-Fi camera on a remote-control blimp, helicopter, or airplane, in order to give live aerial coverage of a protest. Would they end up shooting it down or something?

I wonder how the police would react if somebody mounted a Wi-Fi camera on a remote-control blimp, helicopter, or airplane, in order to give live aerial coverage of a protest. Would they end up shooting it down or something?

You could always buy a Predator http://www.rctoys.com/predator.php and equip it with a GPS powered autopilot. Built-in wireless video camera and 1.5 hours of flight on one battery, yay!

You can buy something like this for a couple thousand bucks... http://www.rctoys.com/predator.php

You don't need AI. You just need one of these and to put a little more processing power into the "mines" (the military is always happy to throw money at shit which will explode, they ought to just make a money bomb and get it over with) so that they can be a mesh network and do the pattern recognition. The system already uses image recognition to decide where the things should go, and it's not artificially intelligent, nor does it need to be.

Dragan Flyer... Its not wi-fi controlled, but you could probably replace the camera with the guts of a wi-fi camera or something.

Remember this one from an earlier story? RC Toys

...lying around, try getting the DraganFlyer IV ($750) and mount an EyeCam ($250) on it. The 'flyer looks interesting, as well as the camera. Although, if you don't want to pay out that much, the Super Aviator ($190) looks interesting as well.

...lying around, try getting the DraganFlyer IV ($750) and mount an EyeCam ($250) on it. The 'flyer looks interesting, as well as the camera. Although, if you don't want to pay out that much, the Super Aviator ($190) looks interesting as well.

...lying around, try getting the DraganFlyer IV ($750) and mount an EyeCam ($250) on it. The 'flyer looks interesting, as well as the camera. Although, if you don't want to pay out that much, the Super Aviator ($190) looks interesting as well.

One of these [rctoys.com] would make any geek exec happy. It's nifty, AND it lets you spy on your employees!

this company DraganFly Innovations has this remote control helicopter and this more expensive model.

The DraganFlyer 4 is relatively cheap and has an optional mini wireless camera too. It flies with all the same controls as a normal helicopter but it is much easier to assemble and requires much less maintenence.

If you are in the market to get an RC chopper, especially for beginners, this is the way to go. Once you learn to fly with one of these, then if you like go and buy an expensive heli.
One of my good friends had struggled with all the common problems (cost, maintanence, steep learning curve) with his 2 RC helis before he found these folks and got his DraganFlyer.

DISCLAIMER: I am not affiliated with that company in any way. I do own a DraganFlyer 3 and have learned to fly it with no previous experience.

this company DraganFly Innovations has this remote control helicopter and this more expensive model.

The DraganFlyer 4 is relatively cheap and has an optional mini wireless camera too. It flies with all the same controls as a normal helicopter but it is much easier to assemble and requires much less maintenence.

If you are in the market to get an RC chopper, especially for beginners, this is the way to go. Once you learn to fly with one of these, then if you like go and buy an expensive heli.
One of my good friends had struggled with all the common problems (cost, maintanence, steep learning curve) with his 2 RC helis before he found these folks and got his DraganFlyer.

DISCLAIMER: I am not affiliated with that company in any way. I do own a DraganFlyer 3 and have learned to fly it with no previous experience.

this company DraganFly Innovations has this remote control helicopter and this more expensive model.

The DraganFlyer 4 is relatively cheap and has an optional mini wireless camera too. It flies with all the same controls as a normal helicopter but it is much easier to assemble and requires much less maintenence.

If you are in the market to get an RC chopper, especially for beginners, this is the way to go. Once you learn to fly with one of these, then if you like go and buy an expensive heli.
One of my good friends had struggled with all the common problems (cost, maintanence, steep learning curve) with his 2 RC helis before he found these folks and got his DraganFlyer.

DISCLAIMER: I am not affiliated with that company in any way. I do own a DraganFlyer 3 and have learned to fly it with no previous experience.

It's impossible to fly without computer controls, and you can get a little camera for it. They also have a larger, commercial version.

-DF

What you really want is a gyro auto-stabilized hoverer, like the Draganflyer. Unfortunately it costs ~$800, but one of these days I may succumb... Check out the videos!

In another twist, the vehicle can house an unmanned dronelike small aircraft that can hover over a nearby area and send live video back to the vehicle.

I wonder if they are referring to this thing which was supposedly licensed by the military. Slashdot covered it a while back.

Dang. I DID think of Hokey Spokes about 18 months ago when a friend was describing adverts on the walls of the Tokyo subway as you fly past. I was bicycling to work everday, and the thought sprung immediately to mind. Once again, I didn't act on my incredible intelligence. So, I guess I'll have to ask for them for Christmas.

In the meantime, I want a DraganFlyer III R/C helicopter with wireless video and a Brunton Pocket Transit (100 year old high tech). I will be getting a Dell Axim X5 for my b-day on Friday.

My wife and I keep discussing the "no-gift" idea, but the grandparents always foil our best efforts...

You could build it out of a dragan fly and have almost all the same benefits.

Be sure to check out the movie files there of this toy in action! Think geek should be a reseller.

Check out their Draganflyer X-Pro model.

Here's the google cache.

Only $4997! (no, I didn't miss a decimal point.)

Yours for the low, low price of {cough}{cough} US$799. :)

A guy can dream, can't he?

grnbrg

Dragon Flyer

I saw this via Apple's homepage... sounds like you can buy your eye in the sky...

Winton

Almost. I think I'll just settle for buying the draganflyer x-pro from rctoys.

Almost. I think I'll just settle for buying the draganflyer x-pro from rctoys.