Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

A New Human-Seeking Drone, Much Cheaper Than a Predator

Posted by timothy on from the you'd-still-need-a-high-allowance dept.

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."

15 of 178 comments (clear)

  1. Hand assembled? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    "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."

    1. Re:Hand assembled? by plover · · Score: 4, Informative

      Hand assembled wasn't the only misstatement in the article. It can't "ID" a person from 2 "miles" away. The narrator clearly says "with its 425mm equivalent zoom lens it can detect a human from over 2 kilometers away." Of course, we can blame jizmodo for these screwups, as it's their article which is quoted in TFS.

      --
      John
  2. Radar by DarkOx · · Score: 4, Interesting

    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
    1. Re:Radar by olsmeister · · Score: 4, Interesting

      A few ounces of high explosive, a detonator circuit, a fragmentable body, and a kamikaze run would probably take care of things nicely.

    2. Re:Radar by bendodge · · Score: 4, Informative

      depending on size - having not gotten to TFA yet

      Here's a better article on it with some pictures that show scale (in case you're not on board with the video craze): http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/military-robots/aeryon-scout-quadrotor-spies-on-bad-guys-from-above
      It can easily fit in a small suitcase, so no, you're not going to be mounting firearms on it.

      --
      The government can't save you.
  3. Cheaper than a predator by spauldo · · Score: 4, Insightful

    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.
    1. Re:Cheaper than a predator by MrQuacker · · Score: 5, Funny

      Sure they do. One moves a fat ass cross-country, the other moves a fat ass cross-country-club.

  4. Re:The real question is: by Dunbal · · Score: 5, Funny

    You want infra red for that - oh wait...

    --
    Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
  5. Re:I've got a name for it by Osgeld · · Score: 4, Funny

    sigh, can I take a shot at this joke please

    Apple announced its partnership with the military today called iWings for iPads

  6. Get your own: Parrot AR Drone by aqui · · Score: 4, Interesting

    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."
  7. holy crap by Jyunga · · Score: 5, Funny

    Two Canadian technology posts on slashdot in two days.... WE ARE THE NEXT CHINA!

  8. oh, the abuse by Thad+Zurich · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Can you say "Paparazzi"? I knew you could.

  9. It only has to carry a laser to paint a target by Marrow · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The real damage would come from much further away.

  10. Now imagine that is flies in and lands. by Marrow · · Score: 4, Interesting

    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.

  11. Lame by Greyfox · · Score: 4, Funny

    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?