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Sounds Can Knock Drones Out of the Sky

angry tapir writes: Next week at the USENIX Security Symposium, researchers at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) in Daejon, South Korea, are presenting research into knocking drones out of the sky using directed sound waves. They target a component crucial to every drone's ability to fly: its gyroscope. "A gyroscope keeps a drone balanced, providing information on its tilt, orientation and rotation, allowing for micro-adjustments that keep it aloft. Hobbyist and some commercial drones use inexpensive gyroscopes that are designed as integrated circuit packages." For some drones, the gyroscope and its housing have a resonant frequency that's within the audible spectrum. By targeting the drone with sound waves of that frequency, the gyroscope will begin to generate erroneous data, leading to a crash.

4 of 120 comments (clear)

  1. Not surprising by LaurenCates · · Score: 4, Informative

    It's also been established that sound can put out fires.

    http://physicsworld.com/cws/ar...

    --
    Some people don't believe in fairies. I don't believe in The Patriarchy.
  2. Re:Not all gyros are mechanical by jabuzz · · Score: 3, Informative

    Yeah but you are not going to have a ring laser or fibre optic gyroscope in a consumer "drone". It is going to be a cheap MEMS gyroscope, not something that costs thousands of dollars.

    Apart from anything else I suspect that optical gyroscopes need things like export license. Just take a look at the of example ring laser applications on the wikipedia page. It includes things like Trident missiles and a large range of military aircraft.

    In fact a little further Googling shows gyroscopes that are advertised as "Non-ITAR", which should tell you all you need to know.

  3. Re:That is, until... by TWX · · Score: 3, Informative

    As is the case in an arms race.

    Perhaps eventually we'll have air guns firing very fine lengths of tungsten wire to physically foul the propellers.

    --
    Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
  4. Re:Cheaper in KY by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    I'd rather use a jammer. It's much harder to track back to you that way.