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Drones

Started by area51drone, April 17, 2014, 11:45:43 PM

On a lighter note, here is a site with a bunch of quadcopter (drone) aerial videos
http://travelbydrone.com/

A small fly around Zurich
Cool video of the crane
http://youtu.be/_l2e340Ca08

Yorkshire pud

Quote from: Kelt on June 23, 2014, 07:31:51 PM
I think if you saw a drone in your neighbourhood you would have to give serious consideration to knocking it out of the sky just on general principle.

I'd be more inclined to call the CAA and ask if they knew that there was a possibly unauthorised flight, and could they get it looked into. Or do you mean a quadcopter? 

Kelt

Quote from: Yorkshire pud on June 24, 2014, 01:31:51 AM
I'd be more inclined to call the CAA and ask if they knew that there was a possibly unauthorised flight, and could they get it looked into. Or do you mean a quadcopter?

I don't care enough to make a distinction.



pate

Once again chiming in when I don't know wtf I'm writing about...

I like the 3d printing tech, but my understanding is that the medium you 'print' on isn't that robust, yes you can 3d 'print' a hand-gun or fully auto rifle, but the product doesn't last for more than a few live fires of standard ammo...

Not to say that 3d printing is useless at this time, my jeweler actually uses one to make molds for some pretty cool stuff that would take weeks/months to produce by hand...

--

Now that I have satisfied thread subject requirements, I think the 3-liter plastic (think 2-liter of Coke only bigger) bottles of 'hard' Cider were left out of the UK list of suitable drinking beverages...

I never purchased one, but I did see them in the markets while visiting and thought that it was awesome, not necessarily something we should have in the States mind, but awesome for the UK that it was an option...   Sort of blew away the 40oz of malt liquor thing you (I think) can still get somewhere in the USA...

--

Back to the subject:

I sort of like the drone idea, IF it isn't weaponized.  There are already police helicopters flying around the city, they aren't generally weaponized, more of an intel gathering platform.  It must be cheaper to maintain and operate a drone than it is to have a piloted helicopter.  Of course like any technology (firearm vs 'billy club') there are opportunities for abuse... 

Caveat:  I'd like the drones to be used to stop the drunks from urinating in my yard, but if I want to pee in the corner of my own yard I don't think I should be ticketed/hauled off to jail for it...  So a fine line there I guess...

albrecht

Quote from: pate on July 06, 2014, 01:56:40 PM
Once again chiming in when I don't know wtf I'm writing about...

I like the 3d printing tech, but my understanding is that the medium you 'print' on isn't that robust, yes you can 3d 'print' a hand-gun or fully auto rifle, but the product doesn't last for more than a few live fires of standard ammo...

Not to say that 3d printing is useless at this time, my jeweler actually uses one to make molds for some pretty cool stuff that would take weeks/months to produce by hand...

--

Now that I have satisfied thread subject requirements, I think the 3-liter plastic (think 2-liter of Coke only bigger) bottles of 'hard' Cider were left out of the UK list of suitable drinking beverages...

I never purchased one, but I did see them in the markets while visiting and thought that it was awesome, not necessarily something we should have in the States mind, but awesome for the UK that it was an option...   Sort of blew away the 40oz of malt liquor thing you (I think) can still get somewhere in the USA...

--

Back to the subject:

I sort of like the drone idea, IF it isn't weaponized.  There are already police helicopters flying around the city, they aren't generally weaponized, more of an intel gathering platform.  It must be cheaper to maintain and operate a drone than it is to have a piloted helicopter.  Of course like any technology (firearm vs 'billy club') there are opportunities for abuse... 

Caveat:  I'd like the drones to be used to stop the drunks from urinating in my yard, but if I want to pee in the corner of my own yard I don't think I should be ticketed/hauled off to jail for it...  So a fine line there I guess...
The highly speculative article above points out the flaws in current 3D printing technology but supposes that the technology will be improved. I would imagine one could currently help make at least a small drone because they need to be light and don't carry much weight?

Re: Cider. I've seen those big bottles of cider and actually bought one and smuggled it back on the plane to give to a Scottish friend of mine as a joke (they are a bunch of drunks.) I never seen anyone actually drinking from them except teenagers and winos. I think it is basically designed for the hardcore drunken bum or teens. I recall some years ago we had wine coolers and "purple passion" in 2liter bottles (again intended primarily for high school kids.) They also have a great item called Buckfast, but I think only sold in Scotland. It is a kind of cheap fortified wine and caffeine (think MD 20/20, Thunderbird, or Wild Irish Rose with some energy stuff added.) The bums and kids like that stuff.

zeebo

I think I saw a drone near my house a few months ago.  It was at night, and it had a blue light on it.  At first I thought it was a star but then it started moving around and I could hear a kind of nearby whirring sound.  Then I thought maybe it was just a model airplane but who'd fly one at night? 

So what do you guys think, was it a drone?  Do they usually have lights on them?  And if so wtf is it trying to see flying around at night like that?

Quote from: zeebo on July 06, 2014, 06:38:45 PM
I think I saw a drone near my house a few months ago.  It was at night, and it had a blue light on it.  At first I thought it was a star but then it started moving around and I could hear a kind of nearby whirring sound.  Then I thought maybe it was just a model airplane but who'd fly one at night? 

So what do you guys think, was it a drone?  Do they usually have lights on them?  And if so wtf is it trying to see flying around at night like that?

The quadcopter drone has one blue light and one red light. Is that what you saw?

zeebo

Quote from: Mind Flayer Monk on July 06, 2014, 08:23:00 PM
The quadcopter drone has one blue light and one red light. Is that what you saw?

Hmm definitely saw a blue light, but didn't notice the red one .... but it zoomed off pretty fast so I might have missed it.  It was kinda creepy that thing buzzin around at night like that though, whatever it was.

albrecht

Quote from: zeebo on July 07, 2014, 12:06:48 PM
Hmm definitely saw a blue light, but didn't notice the red one .... but it zoomed off pretty fast so I might have missed it.  It was kinda creepy that thing buzzin around at night like that though, whatever it was.
I don't know where you live (near a base, a prison, the border, an airport etc) but it would be odd, to me, for a r/c copter or hobby drone to be flown at night. Usually these are still flown by looking at the vehicle from the ground. Even ones with cameras are usually for recording things (whether live-streaming or for review later) and not for flying.

zeebo

Quote from: albrecht on July 07, 2014, 01:27:54 PM
... it would be odd, to me, for a r/c copter or hobby drone to be flown at night....

Yeah this was in a pretty typical suburban area, at around 11pm.  That's why I thought it would be weird for a hobbyist to be goofin off at that time. 

Do actual drones have some kind of fly-by-instruments-only feature like planes which can fly at night / in bad weather etc.?

albrecht

Quote from: zeebo on July 08, 2014, 01:26:08 AM
Yeah this was in a pretty typical suburban area, at around 11pm.  That's why I thought it would be weird for a hobbyist to be goofin off at that time. 

Do actual drones have some kind of fly-by-instruments-only feature like planes which can fly at night / in bad weather etc.?
The actual drones (military and police) likely have such a feature. The hobbyist r/c copters have some cool features like maintaining position if signal is lost and returning to base (where they took off from) via gps. But I don't think the amateur stuff, yet, can fly at night or bad weather or via camera on them.


Yorkshire pud

Here's a drone. A proper drone. Damn serious bit of tech gone into making this work. Deeply impressed considering it was stood fifteen years in a compound.

http://video.boeing.com/services/player/bcpid1173939806001?bckey=AQ~~%2cAAAAukPAlqE~%2coAVq1qtdRjwBrIkHYj2MSytJiEK9s5fy&bclid=0&bctid=2684464741001

Hawk downs drone!  If they could be trained to do this, it would sure bring a whole new dimension to falconry!

Hawk Attacks Quadcopter!

area51drone

I was going to post that video, but then I went to youtube and you should see all the bird attacks.  It's not really surprising, just flying my little hubsan around gets a lot of attention from flying things - birds, dragonflies, bees..   it's crazy!   I feel sorry for that bird if it got clipped with the prop.. that fucking hurts.

area51drone

Great idea - a drone that has a defibrillator built in that should arrive quicker than an ambulance:

http://news.yahoo.com/ambulance-drone-prototype-unveiled-holland-190813697.html

albrecht

Quote from: area51drone on October 29, 2014, 10:12:41 AM
Great idea - a drone that has a defibrillator built in that should arrive quicker than an ambulance:

http://news.yahoo.com/ambulance-drone-prototype-unveiled-holland-190813697.html
I know the tech geeks will argue if this is a "drone" or just a R/C vehicle but it is a great idea. Finally a good use for drone besides just either having fun or for monitoring and killing people. I hope this idea takes off.

area51drone

And here is the exact opposite use for them...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/11197823/Mystery-drones-breach-airspace-above-French-nulcear-sites.html

I've been in fear of this sort of thing for a while - ever since I thought up the idea of using C4 on the surveillance drone in Battlefield 3 to kill the enemy.   I wasn't the first to come up with it either, I found out, after I searched out my "novel idea" on youtube.    I don't know why you couldn't do assassinations,  sports stadium attacks, etc etc with drones, pretty easily I might add.   It was so easy to do in BF3, that they actually patched the game so you couldn't lace the drones with c4.  This is so scary and seems like it would be extremely easy to do, that I don't know why it hasn't happened already.

albrecht

Quote from: area51drone on October 31, 2014, 09:57:35 AM
And here is the exact opposite use for them...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/11197823/Mystery-drones-breach-airspace-above-French-nulcear-sites.html

I've been in fear of this sort of thing for a while - ever since I thought up the idea of using C4 on the surveillance drone in Battlefield 3 to kill the enemy.   I wasn't the first to come up with it either, I found out, after I searched out my "novel idea" on youtube.    I don't know why you couldn't do assassinations,  sports stadium attacks, etc etc with drones, pretty easily I might add.   It was so easy to do in BF3, that they actually patched the game so you couldn't lace the drones with c4.  This is so scary and seems like it would be extremely easy to do, that I don't know why it hasn't happened already.
Yes, very predictable. And it is a wonder that something like this hasn't happened. Having said that I would think it would be relatively easy for government to disrupt/cancel the signal to one of these store bought drones so places like bases etc should be protected. But maybe not? I know they are a lot better than in the days of the crystals (where you could easily interfere with each other) but surely they could "white noise" or jam the bands used by r/c stuff and disrupt the flights? Sadly, I think the first use will be on some more of a civilian attack.

area51drone

Quote from: albrecht on October 31, 2014, 02:21:05 PM
Yes, very predictable. And it is a wonder that something like this hasn't happened. Having said that I would think it would be relatively easy for government to disrupt/cancel the signal to one of these store bought drones so places like bases etc should be protected. But maybe not? I know they are a lot better than in the days of the crystals (where you could easily interfere with each other) but surely they could "white noise" or jam the bands used by r/c stuff and disrupt the flights? Sadly, I think the first use will be on some more of a civilian attack.

You don't need R/C, they are GPS controlled.  If you set up a jamming shield and have some smart electronics, you probably can make a relatively unjammable drone.

albrecht

Quote from: area51drone on October 31, 2014, 04:20:06 PM
You don't need R/C, they are GPS controlled.  If you set up a jamming shield and have some smart electronics, you probably can make a relatively unjammable drone.
Great. I guess time to bring back that margin on GPS that made it inaccurate for civilians? Could you imagine if we tried to roll that back. Soccer moms driving into teachers, longhaul truckers dumping their load in the streets, etc.

But, supposedly, you can jam GPS (and other) signals relatively easily and cheaply (illegal in the US.) Wouldn't surprise me if around certain bases or areas they don't already use those.

area51drone

Quote from: albrecht on October 31, 2014, 05:16:39 PM
Great. I guess time to bring back that margin on GPS that made it inaccurate for civilians? Could you imagine if we tried to roll that back. Soccer moms driving into teachers, longhaul truckers dumping their load in the streets, etc.

But, supposedly, you can jam GPS (and other) signals relatively easily and cheaply (illegal in the US.) Wouldn't surprise me if around certain bases or areas they don't already use those.

If that were true, the military wouldn't be using it.    But the real issue is that even if a shield and a 3 directional antenna wouldn't solve the jamming issues, all you have to do is get far enough away from the jamming signal.   You accomplish that with altitude.   Once you are at the xy coordinate, you just need to shut off power, let it fall like a brick, have an altitude sensor or detonate on impact.

albrecht

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/28/us/white-house-drone.html?_r=0
WASHINGTON â€" It was 42 degrees and raining lightly around 3 a.m. on Monday when an inebriated off-duty employee for a government intelligence agency decided it was a good time to fly his friend’s drone, a 2-foot-by-2-foot “quadcopter” that sells for hundreds of dollars and is popular among hobbyists.

albrecht

I'm not saying that there shouldn't be some rules and regulations but the speed at which new laws are made and without political debate or passing a law but just done by government fiat, I don't like.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/ct-drones-registration-20151214-story.html
"Those who got drones before Dec. 21 must register by Feb. 19. People who buy them later must register before their first outdoor flight.

Owners will have to provide their name, home address and email, and their identity will be verified and payments made by credit card, the agency said."

No grandfathered-in (but I guess ex-post facto doesn't apply anymore.)
Must use a credit-card (why what if someone doesn't use credit-cards?)
Applies to R/C aircraft of any type ("from more than half pound up to 55 pounds")
Must register and prove your identity to the government.
Note, that Congress never passed any law (actually might be in conflict with a law Congress passed,) there was no political debate, and very limited public input (which was ignored.)

This is now how most things are done. Very unelected bureaucrats in Federal agencies, quasi-government groups, or even private but government sanctioned entities.
Here are more rules and regulations Obama announced over Thanksgiving. Note, nobody is voting on this stuff; agencies can just decide: here is a new rule, you must comply. A very "democratic" system.
http://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/eAgendaMain?operation=OPERATION_GET_AGENCY_RULE_LIST&currentPub=true&agencyCode=&showStage=active&agencyCd=0000&Image58.x=31&Image58.y=10&Image58=Submit

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