Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

New Bird Shaped Drone Shown at Security and Defense Trade Show

Posted by samzenpus on from the it's-a-birds-it's-a-plane-it's-big-brother dept.

garymortimer writes "SHEPHERD-MIL, a UAV which looks like a native bird with the same flight performance, will be featured at HOMSEC 2013. This UAV is characterized by the glide-ratio and noiseless motor that make it invisible, silent and unobtrusive in sensitive missions. SHEPHERD-MIL is equipped with cameras and geolocation software. The system is especially suitable for border surveillance missions, firefighting, and anti-drug trafficking operations amongst others."

20 of 124 comments (clear)

  1. Hyphenation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    "Bird-shaped"

    The way it's written now, I parsed this at first as "Some new bird shaped a drone that is shown at a security and defense trade show".

    1. Re:Hyphenation by Sulphur · · Score: 2

      Even with the hyphen, it can still be read as "shaped by a bird". Perhaps context and common sense can help ease the confusion.

      Shaped by a bird colonel?

    2. Re:Hyphenation by teaserX · · Score: 4, Funny

      Oddly, there are number of emu ranches in the southwestern U.S. so that would not be out of place. An emu in sky might, however, raise an eyebrow.

      --
      We really need your help
      http://www.gofundme.com/help-sherry
  2. Firefighting. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Everyone knows that fires are blind to birds. Their one natural enemy.

  3. Firefighting? by Mr2cents · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Why would you disguise a UAV as a bird if you want to use it for firefighting? Also, it's just a press release infomercial, some guys want to put their hand in the military money jar so they put some feathers on a remote controlled airplane. Awesome... not!

    --
    "It's too bad that stupidity isn't painful." - Anton LaVey
    1. Re:Firefighting? by 4wdloop · · Score: 2

      Ditto..."border surveillance". I'd think we'd want border surveillance to be visible as deterrent, no?

      --
      4wdloop
    2. Re:Firefighting? by AK+Marc · · Score: 2

      They are good at fighting fires. You go up high and get a more localized view of the wind/smoke, and good recon on your own guys, especially if radio is spotty (or more practically, the people brought in for the biggest fires aren't familiar with the local surroundings).

      Yes, I get the pedantry of "good recon doesn't put out a fire, water does." If that's truly your stance, you should take radios away from all the fire fighters as well. After all, a radio never put a fire out.

      --
      Learn to love Alaska
    3. Re:Firefighting? by AK+Marc · · Score: 2

      Yeah, but $10,000,000 for a single helicopter (about what they end up paying for a decent helicopter for a fire department) vs 1000 $10,000 drones and tell me which is the better deal. The fire department is more likely to have to choose between a drone or nothing. Which is the better choice then?

      --
      Learn to love Alaska
    4. Re:Firefighting? by AK+Marc · · Score: 2

      A plane, because 1000 out of 1000 drones will still fail in conditions when one plane will succeed.

      Asserted without proof. Why do you need to fly the drone so "unsafely" to see the fire? Oh yeah, because you are lying sack of shit who will spew lies to prove your opinion to be fact When your opinion is neither correct, nor fact.

      If fire department can't afford a plane to look at fires, it better should stay away from fighting them.

      They used to fight lots of fires without planes. You know even less about fighting fires than you know about drones, and you know nothing about drones (and nothing about planes, though you probably have flown, given the jackassery you've shown about aircraft).

      And yes, I am a pilot and a firefighter, though I've never flown related to a fire action. And I own a recreational drone.

      --
      Learn to love Alaska
  4. Interesting patent issues... by girlinatrainingbra · · Score: 3, Interesting
    If you follow one of the links inside the linked article for this, you find an interesting statement about some software available on iTunes called Parrot: Parrot removes FreeFlight 2.2 from iTunes
    French manufacturers of the worlds most popular UA have plainly run into problems. They issued a statement yesterday:- AR.Freeflight 2.2 was removed from iTunes last month due to the need for patentsâ(TM) clarification on accelerometer and absolute control...
    In a couple of years time I donâ(TM)t believe anyone will be left flying UAS with conventional RC gear when the smartphone in their pocket will be able to cope.

    It's talking about a way of controlling RC aircraft using your smart phone with a map-view control system rather than using a standard stick-controller to control the plane's pitch/yaw/roll using the control surface actuators directly. It's a shame that even software to do basic things like this has to deal with patent crap. Boo software patents!

    1. Re:Interesting patent issues... by ThePeices · · Score: 2, Funny

      Why on earth would you release something like that on iOS?.

      Because if you are cool enough to fly spy drones, you need to be seen doing it with the bestest phone in the whole wide world.

      Would Steve (peace be upon him, hallowed be His name) be caught dead controlling spy drones on an Android? Of course not, and neither should you.

  5. Re:Shape versus behavior by ColdWetDog · · Score: 3, Funny

    It's a bird!

    It's a plane!

    (Somebody really needs to come up with a Superman UAV.)

    --
    Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
  6. "...sensitive missions...firefighting..." by John+Hasler · · Score: 4, Funny

    Because, after all, you wouldn't want the fire to know it was being watched.

    --
    Warning: this article may contain humor, sarcasm, parody, and perhaps even irony. Read at your own risk.
  7. Re:Shape versus behavior by Ken_g6 · · Score: 3, Funny

    It's a bird!

    It's a plane!

    (Somebody really needs to come up with a Superman UAV.)

    Somebody did!

    --
    (T>t && O(n)--) == sqrt(666)
  8. Re:Hmm by Sulphur · · Score: 2

    And I hope many guilty drones by hunters who were hoping for a trophy.

    It's just so win-win...

    Its not drone season.

  9. Re:Shape versus behavior by Opportunist · · Score: 3, Funny

    It's a Birdplane!

    (Hey, you asked for it...).

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  10. Re:Hmm by Opportunist · · Score: 3, Funny

    It's always drone season (*cocks shotgun*).

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  11. Can we leave the birds out of this? by Jeremi · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Birds have enough problems without being always shot at on sight because they might be spies.

    --


    I don't care if it's 90,000 hectares. That lake was not my doing.
  12. Re:For domestic consumption by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    You don't shoot the birds down. You hide from them. Shooting the birds down just tells them where to look to find you.

  13. Actual Birds by Flere+Imsaho · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I fly RC quite a lot, and it's not uncommon for birds of prey, gulls and magpies to attack model planes. Magpies, especially when broody and you are near their nest, will attack relentlessly. A mate has a plane that's shaped and painted to look like a hawk, and he reckons he gets twice as many attacks when flying it compared with his more conventional rigs.

    So I wonder what the lifespan of these things will be?

    --
    It gripped her hand gently. 'Regret is for humans,' it said.