Slashdot Mirror
A New Human-Seeking Drone, Much Cheaper Than a Predator
An anonymous reader writes with this envy-inspiring bit from Gizmodo on the Aeryon Scout Quadrotor: "The drone, packing a camera that can ID a human from almost two miles away (using a standard digital cam or thermal vision), can be hand-assembled. Once in the sky, it gyro-orients itself to track whatever it is you're tracking, can hit speeds of over 30 MPH, and is all controllable with a touch remote. Tap a target, and watch the drone zoom over. It's not going to rain down any Hellfire missiles, but hey, it only weighs a kilogram."
Can it detect hot chicks?
"can be hand-assembled..."
I can't be the only one whose first thought was, "Well, I can understand not wanting to use a high level language in its firmware, but we've had assemblers for a long time now and they're really pretty good by now."
Something that small would be hard to spot with radar, and it does not need to rain down hell fire missiles, a single well places .22 round will neutralize many targets.
Repeal the 17th Amendment TODAY! Also Please Read http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/right-to-read.html
OK, so it's cheaper than a predator. It's also completely different than a predator.
It's like saying a golf cart is cheaper than a Freightliner. It's true, but they don't serve the same purpose.
Those who can't do, teach. Those who can't teach either, do tech support.
Shades of Dune! can you say hunter/seeker? I knew ya could!
I'm waiting for them to come up with a self-assembling drone.. Now _that_ ought to make some news!
Geekism is your _only_ God!
iWing!
Just plug the darn accessory into your iPhone, and throw it into the sky - off you go!
Did I mention it comes with both black and white?
This sounds like a hunter-killer. So now we've got Bin Laden does that mean we're going after Paul Maud'Dib next?
Something wrong with using Mantracker to hunt for people?
Daily read for tech news: Freezenet.ca
I wonder if the Middle-Eastern market for crowbars is a good place to invest.
Anyone that can afford one can setup a porn site using these things to peer in windows.
You can get your own:
Here:
http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/product/parrot-parrot-ar-drone-ipod-iphone-ipad-controlled-quadricopter-orange-blue-pf720002ag/10156982.aspx?path=81e4f1876418f65ce283409ba0d00969en02
for $330 Canadian this baby flies for 20 min. indoors and out self stabilizes and hovers, and can be controlled via your iphone or your computer via wifi
and has two onboard cameras (one forward facing one downward facing.
It's made by AR Drone
http://ardrone.parrot.com/parrot-ar-drone/usa/
It's even hackable:
http://www.ardrone-flyers.com/news/73-urbi-following-a-ball-in-25-lines-of-code.html
I've seen it fly and it's sweet. With a VGA camera its pretty cool.
----- "Profanity is the one language that all programmers understand."
After watching the Youtube video of this device, I got very interested. I would love to give it a whirl, to look around the town etc.
Well done, Canadians. If you have the lack of wisdom to outsource production to China, I might get me one of the cheaper Chinese knock-offs ;) Just kidding.
"The agriculture ministry is not in charge of Gundam" - Japanese ministry official.
Two Canadian technology posts on slashdot in two days.... WE ARE THE NEXT CHINA!
Can you say "Paparazzi"? I knew you could.
What's the point of any technology that can't rain down Hellfire missiles?
That's right! None!
Anyone who is developing any technology, from baby food to high-powered anti-personnel ordnance, should ask themselves: "How can we monetize this, and how can we weaponize this?"
It can refuel itself and with little more than a dirty sock it can track a target for miles. Best of all you can deploy hundreds of them for less money than a single drone.
The real damage would come from much further away.
When packed with explosives, this sounds like a perfect tool for assassination. Make it cheap, decrease noise, increase range, add some further refinement in stealthily bringing it into a location (composite materials?)....
The Germans were already marketing these in 2007. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4jtguSF0n4 In fact, Voice of America has already publicly announced (March 2011) that the millitary is using "hummingbird drones" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcXH4iCnck4 in Afghanistan and Pakistan. If the robot spies the size of a hummingbird are already publicly discussed on Voice of America, I would assume they have tick, mosquito, and chigger drones in actual use by now.
Gently reply
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
Looks like we got all the MOTDs at once.
http://michaelsmith.id.au
...in thirty years, when the technology is so commonplace that every terrorist, assassin, etc. can get one.
Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
Either that or the front page of the Time Cube site.
Best "String" Ever!
A lack of ways to kill without guilt has been a big problem for this country. Glad to see progress on this. Wait until these get deployed by police in the US.
MQ-1 Predator can cruise at 80-100 mph, 2000 mile range, 24 hour endurance at 25,000 feet, satellite uplink, SAR, IR/UV/Visible light cameras.
So yea, its going to cost more, it can do alot more.
Out of interest, why does this story have a Canadian flag icon on the front page? It's true the company's Canadian, but other tech stories aren't flagged (heh) by their country of origin -- I don't see the Stars & Stripes gracing every piece about Apple or Oracle.
tl;dr
You do not have a moral or legal right to do absolutely anything you want.
Looks like someone screwed up the EOL chars for the quotes file. It's spitting out the file until it comes to the end of the buffer or memory location (which in some languages would be that length in terms of string variables).
A loop, by its nature, continues. If that didn't make sense, start reading this sentence again.
.... if we could get it to take a crap on their heads, we could revel in the fact we've mechanically reproduced the pigeon.
Fascism: An authoritarian and nationalistic right-wing system of government and social organization. See also: NAZI's
Seriously, all you need is a tiny charge and fly it over the person. If people think this won't be weaponized they are fooling themselves.
From the Aeyron website "Operational duration: up to 25 minutes."
In practice it's probably a lot less than that.
I'm not sure that their scenario of detecting a dork dressed up like a spy stealing my Hyundai has me sold on the concept.
... also, I can kill you with my brain.
It would make sense to kick out another game in the spirit of Full Spectrum Warrior, let alone America's Army or Future Force Company Commander.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Say someone lands it on a rubbish heap or something, Its flat, quiet, drab. Camera is running. They watch a house. The target appears in a doorway for a second. Bing. The signal goes out. The target is painted. A global-hawk-predator-whatever that has been sitting on station for the past month refueling in-flight is tasked. Weapons free. The weapon follows in the laser. Boom.
They could make it smaller with a top mounted camera so it could sit in on a haystack or on top of a barn. With just a fiber-optic camera sticking up. Heck, it could even have a solar panel to keep the camera transmitting for long periods.
It seems like a sweet way to get "public" pictures if you were in the paparazzi / picture media biz. People are talking about loading it down a load of weapons, but I say, just load it up with extra batteries to get more flight time, and a good camera, and I imagine you'd do quite well following (or doing recon on) anyone.
No hellfire missiles, much cheaper than a predator. Lame.
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
First thing I thought of, except those were motion-sensing. Anyway, stick a poison needle on the front of it.
-mrxak
Onions Will Kill You
You're pretty much right on the dot with the problem with UAVs these days. It doesn't take all that much technical expertise (nor much sophisticated technology) to be a UAV operator. It does, however take a lot of trust and responsibility.
From http://www.boeing.com/news/releases/2005/q1/nr_050214s.html
The two X-45As began the latest test, known as Peacekeeper, by departing from Edwards and climbing to altitudes of 24,500 and 25,500 ft respectively. Separated by approximately 25 miles and operating at Mach .65 (225 knots), the jets began their combat air patrol (CAP) mission to provide airborne alert over the exercise area. Tasked with suppression of enemy air defenses, the two vehicles were given two simulated pop-up ground threats to eliminate.
Once alerted to the first threat, the X-45As autonomously determined which vehicle held the optimum position, weapons and fuel load to properly attack the target. After making that decision, one of the X-45As changed course and the pilot-operator allowed it to attack the simulated ground-based radar. Following a successful strike, another simulated threat emerged and was subsequently destroyed by the second X-45A. The two X-45As completed their mission and safely returned to Edwards.
In the future, ground-based pilots will be controlling multiple combat aircraft with high-level commands: Patrol that sector, destroy target, refuel, RTB.
Did anyone else think the camera, at the end of the video clip, reminded them of Sauron's Eye?
My worry as an RC enthusiast (I have three RC helicopters) is when our increasingly paranoid governments see this sort of thing, they are going to start legislating the RC hobby into oblivion because of "fears of terrorists". It really wouldn't be that hard to automate my T-Rex 600, the parts can be bought from Sparkfun Electronics, and governments will fear that an ordinary citizen can build a drone from off-the-shelf RC parts and electronics.
All of a sudden we're treated as "terrorists" and another avenue of harmless pleasure is closed off or made so awkward (for instance, you need a background check to buy RC parts) that it will destroy the hobby.
Oolite: Elite-like game. For Mac, Linux and Windows
Half-life 2 had these in 2004. Easy to take down with a crowbar
my karma will be here long after I'm gone
It can transport small valuable cargoes. Fly it to your dealer and back with coke or other drugs.
There might be a few sales to our Mexican friends who want to expedite international trade.
Cue: Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds......
Spelling Obligatory maybe?
I'm too lazy to compose a creative sig.
missiles are noisy and needlessly, senselessly destructive. too many collateral casualties and too much unwanted attention. this is the nineties, people. we have aerosol propelled chemical weapons. you can drop a bulb the size of your paintgun's baby co2 canister right between a target's feet and have your choice of impact or radio release. tsch. missiles. as if!
"Stratigraphically the origin of agriculture and thermonuclear destruction will appear essentially simultaneous" -- Lee
I knew Harper using child labor in our Maple plantations to fund his defense spending would pay off in the long run... and their legs and arms will be stronger when we sell them off to the NHL in a couple years!
How high do wind speeds have to be to make this thing ineffective?
I am tired of the use of that childish phrase to describe anyone being targeted by the military or law enforcement. It's infantilizing, naive and may even contribute to an imperialistic foreign policy.
http://www.pdfernhout.net/recognizing-irony-is-a-key-to-transcending-militarism.html
"Military robots like drones are ironic because they are created essentially to force humans to work like robots in an industrialized social order. Why not just create industrial robots to do the work instead? "
A 21st century issue: the irony of technologies of abundance in the hands of those still thinking in terms of scarcity.
They get even better surveillance capabilities and some aerial IEDs. That's about it. It's not like they are unable to kill people at present...
Therefore, by the (faulty) logic you're using, you're just a cow with a keyboard - osu-neko (2604)
Anyone purposefully sending them traffic is a fucking reject. Fuck you slashdot.
BeauHD. Worst editor since kdawson.