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Russia Debuts Postal Drone, Which Immediately Crashes Into Wall (futurism.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the life-comes-at-you-fast dept.

On Monday, Russia's postal service tested a delivery drone in the city of Ulan-Ude, Siberia, -- and it went horribly wrong. According to Futurism, soon after launch it crashed violently into the wall of a nearby building, "turning the UAV into a mess of jumbled parts." From the report: Here was the original plan for Monday's test. The $20,000 drone was supposed to pick up a small package and deliver it to a nearby village, Reuters reports. Instead the device failed spectacularly, only making it a short distance before crashing into a three-story building. The small crowd gathered to watch the test can be heard uttering expletives, according to Reuters. No one was injured in the crash, and it didn't do any damage, except to Russia's pride. The organizers aren't quite sure what went wrong, but they suspect the 100 or so nearby wifi spots could have had something to do with it.

62 of 107 comments (clear)

  1. Fake News by sexconker · · Score: 3, Funny

    And CNN expects me to believe they "hacked the election"?

    Sad!

    1. Re: Fake News by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 2

      Well, if they're as skilled at other forms of destruction and chaos, why not?

      --
      Ezekiel 23:20
    2. Re:Fake News by bluefoxlucid · · Score: 2

      We're going to build a wall and Russia is going to crash into it.

      --
      Support my political activism on Patreon.
  2. Well then by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    The US Postal Service will take 8000 of them.

    1. Re:Well then by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      So then they can help deliver Amazon products.

  3. What's your take on this, Russian trolls? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    The Russian's built a building so fast the flight control couldn't see it coming?

    1. Re:What's your take on this, Russian trolls? by AHuxley · · Score: 1

      Russia was so advanced that it could shape elections all over the West in almost magical ways using cyber.
      Now a drone is beyond the skills of Russia.
      This drone news proves Russia is not a master of all new things cyber.
      Elections globally had very normal domestic issues sway results.
      Cant fly drone in 2018 but can sneak past best generations of NSA, GCHQ experts for decades of cyber in the West?

      --
      Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
    2. Re:What's your take on this, Russian trolls? by rwise2112 · · Score: 1

      Naw! They're probably using Telsa Autopilot software, so it can't see stationary objects!

      --

      "For every expert, there is an equal and opposite expert"
    3. Re:What's your take on this, Russian trolls? by amicusNYCL · · Score: 1

      Russia was so advanced that it could shape elections all over the West in almost magical ways using cyber.
      Now a drone is beyond the skills of Russia.
      This drone news proves Russia is not a master of all new things cyber.

      Hold on, are you seriously trying to draw a line between this and election influencing? I see this paragraph in TFA:

      Russian Post was quick to distance itself from the drone crash, saying it was present at the launch merely as a guest. It said the drone was made by a company called Rudron/Expeditor 3M, which had organized the testing.

      Now, you're seriously, and presumably with a straight face, trying to say that because of this failed test launch in the 54th most populous region in Russia, in Siberia near Lake Baikal on the border with Mongolia, which by the way was organized by a private company, that this is proof that the federal security services and whatever other government organizations are incapable of influencing the election outcomes in a number of other countries?

      Because there's a response to that, but before I make that response, I'm just asking you to clarify that this is the claim you're actually making. That you're actually trying to draw a line between this private company's drone test and the Russian government's ability to covertly organize a propaganda campaign to try to influence the electorate in other countries via posts on social media and elsewhere (I'm not sure what's "magical" about that or what your phrase "using cyber" is supposed to mean). What about the spy poisoning in the UK? What does this drone crash teach us about the spy poisoning? Surely it must be something, right? Apparently every fucking thing that happens in Russia is connected to every other thing. According to your theory, apparently the federal government is only capable of doing whatever every single citizen in the country is also capable of doing, right? I mean, no way the federal government can have abilities not shared by the local drone company in fucking Ulan-Ude, Republic of Buryatia, Siberia, Russia. Right? That's what you're saying, right?

      Also, how much do you get paid to post something like that? Do you get paid per post, or is it when you've accumulated a certain number of posts, or is it just a normal boring hourly wage? Do they require you to be based in St. Petersburg, or can you "work" from anywhere?

      --
      "Our two-party system is like a bowl of shit looking at itself in a mirror." - Lewis Black
    4. Re:What's your take on this, Russian trolls? by amicusNYCL · · Score: 1

      Anyone who wants to "hashtag MAGA" definitely has an agenda they're pushing. However, the vast majority of the country wants to make America great in the ways they know how regardless of what their politics are.

      --
      "Our two-party system is like a bowl of shit looking at itself in a mirror." - Lewis Black
  4. The Russian drone's AI was confused by greencfg · · Score: 2, Funny

    Seeing the building it incorrectly identified it as the Trump Tower, got emotional and stumbled.

  5. The Drone Drank Too Much Vodka Before Takeoff by dryriver · · Score: 3, Funny

    Its software then thought that the building wall was something the drone could make love to.

    --
    Why did the chicken cross the road? Because Elon Musk put an AI chip in its head.
    1. Re:The Drone Drank Too Much Vodka Before Takeoff by JaredOfEuropa · · Score: 1

      Maybe. The last few seconds did not exactly look like controlled flight; meaning the software was operating as expected except for missing the fact that a building was in the way. Maybe the test package was rather heavy and shifted off-center after launch, pulling the drone into an uncontrollable bank. Or maybe the drone was meant to be launched manually by a human operator, then fly on GPS (well, GLONASS probably) to its intended destination where a second operator would assume control for the landing... and maybe that first operator had hit the sauce a bit too much. It's Russia. Everything is possible,

      --
      If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
    2. Re:The Drone Drank Too Much Vodka Before Takeoff by cheater512 · · Score: 1

      Based on my experience with my 680 class hexacopter (with Pixhawk autopilot), there was certainly no software control of it when it crashed at all. The software just can't fly like that.
      Next guess would be a motor failure but that doesn't work either as hexes and octos can fly with diminished performance with a failed motor.

      It actually looks like half the drone lost all power, while the other half didn't hence the flipping motion.
      I wonder if they power it from two batteries, one handling half the motors and the other handling the other half.
      A dodgy connection for one battery would cause exactly what the video shows.

      If that is the case then a pair of back to back diodes between the batteries would have prevented that problem.

  6. Reuters link has video by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 4, Informative

    Things do indeed appear to have gone very wrong.

    https://www.reuters.com/articl...

    --
    #DeleteChrome
    1. Re:Reuters link has video by sexconker · · Score: 1

      Hilarious level of safety precautions.

    2. Re:Reuters link has video by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 2

      Given how fast the drone was going, they’re fortunate it didn’t go through either of the windows on either side of the point of impact! There could’ve been serious injuries.

      --
      #DeleteChrome
    3. Re:Reuters link has video by hey! · · Score: 1

      Back in the Cold War there used to be a saying: an American will do anything if there's enough insurance. A Russian will do anything if there's enough vodka.

      --
      Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
    4. Re: Reuters link has video by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 2

      Maybe they forgot to reconfigure the military firmware to tell it not to destroy things? ;)

      --
      Ezekiel 23:20
    5. Re:Reuters link has video by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

      Look at the wreckage. One of the propeller blades is bent 90 degrees. Those are metal propellers. Crazy Ruskys. How do you say 'resonance shmesonance' in Russian.

      Not like a composite prop is your friend, but those are literal spinning knives. Going flat horizontal at impact by my eye. Full throttle by my ear.

      They're lucky, mothers with kids in frame. Everybody way too close.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    6. Re:Reuters link has video by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      Those are metal propellers

      No they aren't. They are carbon fibre.

    7. Re:Reuters link has video by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      Looks very similar to the kind of response you get when a motor or propeller fails. The WiFi had nothing to do with it. It didn't fly into the building, it hit the building as it fell out of the sky.

    8. Re:Reuters link has video by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

      Carbon fibre does not bend, it breaks. Those are metal.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    9. Re:Reuters link has video by amicusNYCL · · Score: 1

      That would have been fantastic if it went through a window.

      "Mail's here!"

      --
      "Our two-party system is like a bowl of shit looking at itself in a mirror." - Lewis Black
    10. Re:Reuters link has video by amicusNYCL · · Score: 1

      Click here, scroll to the bottom, click on the picture of the wreck to make it larger. There's a second picture in the slideshow. Maybe my second-hand wild assumption skills aren't up to yours, but I'm thinking those aren't metal.

      --
      "Our two-party system is like a bowl of shit looking at itself in a mirror." - Lewis Black
    11. Re:Reuters link has video by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      Carbon fibre does not bend, it breaks. Those are metal.

      You're absolutely right about the first part. There's not a single bent propeller in any picture, I mean other than the native bend of that propeller design. There are however plenty showing perfect flat snaps along with the telltale bits of fibre reinforcement hanging out at the break point.

      There is ZERO reason to manufacture a propeller that size out of metal. And they aren't metal.

    12. Re:Reuters link has video by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      Not only are they not metal but from the picture you linked you can actually see the bits of fibre hanging out at some of the broken joints.

  7. Transcript of the video by Spy+Handler · · Score: 1

    *crash sound*

    Blyat

    BLYAT!

  8. Didn't Do Any Damage??? by Bing+Tsher+E · · Score: 1

    What happened to the small package??

  9. CIA Plot by Aero77 · · Score: 1

    It must have been a CIA plot to discredit Putin and embarrass the Russian People. Ask anybody in the Russian media.

    1. Re:CIA Plot by AHuxley · · Score: 1

      FSB now understands how CIA and MI6 are altering Russian drone software.
      The West is sending Russian drones back to the repair shop using new cyber skills.

      --
      Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
  10. All men by 110010001000 · · Score: 1

    Notice the crowd was all men. The women were busy actually doing real work. Here is a tip idiots: you can pay a worker a tenth of that to deliver your stupid mail.

    1. Re:All men by William+Baric · · Score: 1

      https://www.reuters.com/articl...

      I think one of the men we see on the left (the one with the long hair, the purple coat, the knee-high boots and the beige purse) is kind of cute. Am I gay?

      But yes, in this crowd I count 18 men for 8 women. PATRIARCHY!!! DEATH TO ALL MEN!!!

      As for your tip, since you seem to think we should not use technology, can I ask what the fuck you doing on this website?

    2. Re: All men by amicusNYCL · · Score: 1

      FYI, "-triarchy" is not the suffix.

      --
      "Our two-party system is like a bowl of shit looking at itself in a mirror." - Lewis Black
  11. LOL by Archfeld · · Score: 5, Funny

    Even post office Drones go postal.

    --
    errr....umm...*whooosh* *whoosh* Is this thing on ?
    1. Re:LOL by jwhyche · · Score: 2

      Came for the postal jokes. leaving happy.

      --
      I read at +2. If your post doesn't reach that level I will not see or respond to it.
  12. Can't help but think... by Pollux · · Score: 1

    The poor drone probably committed suicide. Would you be happy having to deliver packages in Siberia?

    It reminds me of that scene from Robocop 2 when they were testing the new Robocop prototypes.

    1. Re:Can't help but think... by freeze128 · · Score: 1

      I imagine it was quite like this:

      Teenyverse

    2. Re:Can't help but think... by scottrocket · · Score: 1

      Nyet - drone like vwodka.

  13. Crash by pdms · · Score: 1

    And I thought FedEx was rough on my packages

  14. Meanwhile my homemade $200 drone works by raymorris · · Score: 1

    Meanwhile, the drone I designed and built from scratch from scratch at home, in just a few days, works fine.

    It runs open source software called inav on an open hardware controller that costs $35. Inav has multiple fail-safes so if it loses GPS it falls back to a safe 'mission abort" procedure. The exact procedure depends on how far it is from its launch point and the settings I choose.

    1. Re:Meanwhile my homemade $200 drone works by Curtman · · Score: 4, Funny

      You act like someone lost $20,000 building this drone.. No, no, no.. Someone made $19,600 building this $400 drone.

  15. Lol true. Minus $8,000 government contracting by raymorris · · Score: 1

    That's funny. If it's like working with the US government, they spent around $8,000 on the RFP and contract. Bidding and handling government contracts is an industry unto itself, and you need experts in government contracting working for you.

  16. Re:Just like how Russians drive by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 1

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

  17. Re:it works! by Mr0bvious · · Score: 2

    "Russia" Debuts Postal Drone..

    How is this "Russia", because it happened in "Russia"?

    The headline makes it sound like Putin has enacted a plan to deliver everything via multi-copters.

    Looks like "some Russian dudes" attempted a delivery, that failed.

    --
    Never happened. True story.
  18. Finally by lucm · · Score: 1

    I guess this means systemd has finally reached Russia. Time to sell my gazprom stock.

    --
    lucm, indeed.
  19. Queue ED209 scene from Robocop by mnemotronic · · Score: 1

    Ah yes, wonderful, infallible technol--nol--nol--nology--nology--nolo--g--g--g--g--g--g--gy.

    --
    The Russians have won. They have made the world a cesspool of distrust, greed, fear and hate.
  20. Re: it works! by dunkelfalke · · Score: 1

    Because the Russian post is a government organisation.

    --
    "It's such a fine line between stupid and clever" -- David St. Hubbins, Spinal Tap
  21. Re:it works! by cavreader · · Score: 1

    "How is this "Russia", because it happened in "Russia"?" Ah.. Yes? And the only one mentioning Putin happens to be you.

  22. Neural Network? by ShoulderOfOrion · · Score: 1

    This drone looks like it was programmed by watching the workers at my Post Office. They have the same effect on packages.

  23. Reminiscent... by Darkling-MHCN · · Score: 1

    This is all very reminiscent of early attempts at flight 100 years ago that featured crowds and officials gathering to watch a revolutionary new technology only for it to embarrassingly fail.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

    Maybe in 20 years time I guess.

  24. Nothing to worry about by GeekWithAKnife · · Score: 1


    I've ordered a kettle bell workout set via drone delivery for tomorrow, what's the worst that can happen?

    --
    A 'singular oddity' is an event that cannot be explained and only happens when you are alone.
  25. The road to success by Max_W · · Score: 1

    is paved with failures.

    Imagine freeing the roads from 50% of traffic, which is dealing with one or another form of delivery.

  26. Re:Sounds like a SpaceX rocket or Tesla Model S by jfdavis668 · · Score: 1

    How many SpaceX rockets have crashed?

  27. Re:it works! by Mr0bvious · · Score: 1

    Right, so when some bunch of dorks somewhere in the US crash a quad, that'll be "America fails again at latest quad flight attempt."

    I know how it works and it's still nonsense.

    --
    Never happened. True story.
  28. Re:it works! by Maritz · · Score: 1

    Right, so when some bunch of dorks somewhere in the US crash a quad, that'll be "America fails again at latest quad flight attempt."

    I know how it works and it's still nonsense.

    If those dorks are on the payroll of the government, yes.

    You're just not very bright, are you?

    --
    I do not want your cheap brainburning drugs. They are useless for work. And I am a working man today.
  29. Re:Sounds like a SpaceX rocket or Tesla Model S by Maritz · · Score: 1

    They've crashed loads, they always said they would. They don't care because they keep getting better. AC doesn't understand this, because AC is what we call a 'stupid cunt'.

    --
    I do not want your cheap brainburning drugs. They are useless for work. And I am a working man today.
  30. That's the point of testing by radarskiy · · Score: 1

    If you already knew it worked perfectly, you wouldn't need to test it.

  31. So, they can't operate a drone ... by Rambo+Tribble · · Score: 1

    ... but they have nuclear cruise missiles? Should we worry?

  32. Overheard after the crash by Provocateur · · Score: 1

    But Boss, the lab test was a success! The dummy's head did not get chopped off!
     
    That was no dummy!He was the guy holding the drone!

    --
    WARNING: Smartphones have side effects--most of them undocumented.
  33. Re:it works! by Mr0bvious · · Score: 1

    If those dorks are on the payroll of the government, yes.

    Ha, yes your thinking is flawless. Well done.

    You're just not very bright, are you?

    Maybe, but at least I'm not an arse.

    --
    Never happened. True story.
  34. Re:it works! by cavreader · · Score: 1

    "America fails again at latest quad flight attempt."
    I am pretty damn some people would say just this while others would not.