DailyDirt: Our Crazy Drone-Filled World

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Tue, Sep 8th 2015 5:00pm — Michael Ho

If you haven't seen any tiny remote-controlled quadcopters circling in the air, you might need to get out a bit more. Maybe we shouldn't get too paranoid about these things, thinking they're black helicopters for the 21st century, but if you hear constant artificial buzzing noises, perhaps you should start gearing up to defend your home. Drones could be delivering your pizza for dinner someday, but there are all kinds of uses for this technology.

If you combined enough tiny drone engines together, could you build a 1-man helicopter? Apparently, yes. But it'll only fly for a few minutes and doesn't get too far off the ground. It also vaguely looks like a contraption from the early 1900s, and this isn't the first multi-copter ever flown that we've seen. [url]
Drones can kill a lot of stuff, but how about mosquitoes? Spraying mosquito larvae from quadcopter drones to prevent mosquito growth will be tested this year in Florida -- with approval from the FAA. [url]
Some folks don't want drones flying all over the place, and Boeing has a laser cannon just for them. Boeing's Compact Laser Weapon System can shoot down small aircraft from a pretty good distance (as long as you can see your target with binoculars), and it only takes a couple of seconds to set a drone on fire. It's probably a bit more expensive than a shotgun filled with birdshot, but it's a lot more accurate and cool. [url]

After you've finished checking out those links, take a look at our Daily Deals for cool gadgets and other awesome stuff.

Filed Under: aircraft, compact laser weapon system, drones, flying car, helicopter, laser cannon, mosquitoes, multi-copter, personal mobility, weapons
Companies: boeing, faa

9 Comments

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Aaron Walkhouse (profile), 8 Sep 2015 @ 5:28pm

I saw a black helicopter once…
…flying around my neighborhood, low, and accompanied by a normally-coloured Griffon [Bell 412] from the local squadron.

The flat black RADAR-absorbent coating which is applied directly to the bare metal dries slowly so they fly around for awhile before applying the camo and markings.
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- Anonymous Coward, 9 Sep 2015 @ 3:44am
  
  Re: I saw a black helicopter once…
  So the Bell was there to provide a RADAR contact?
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  - Aaron Walkhouse (profile), 9 Sep 2015 @ 1:46pm
    
    Re: Re: I saw a black helicopter once…
    No. It was there to provide legality for the flight.
    
    Unmarked aircraft, of course, cannot fly unaccompanied
    but civilian aircraft are forbidden to fly in formation outside designated areas like airshows. This little loophole allows military aircraft to dry their RAM in flight without breaking flight regs.
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DocGerbil100 (profile), 8 Sep 2015 @ 5:39pm

Re: the laser cannon
Good lord above. Looks like a triumph - a huge success, in fact. Does Boeing have cake, do you think?
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Pixelation, 8 Sep 2015 @ 7:31pm

Cool party trick
Dude! I want a drone killing laser.
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Anonymous Coward, 9 Sep 2015 @ 3:46am

With a shotgun, you'll have to worry about wind and range. Not to mention what happens to the pellets that miss.
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Anon, 9 Sep 2015 @ 4:37am

I read that the best way to knock one of those down is a water hose.
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- Anonymous Coward, 9 Sep 2015 @ 5:13am
  
  Re:
  Not if you need binoculars to see it, when you need something with a bit more range than a shotgun.
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orbitalinsertion (profile), 9 Sep 2015 @ 6:42am

Anti-drone laser weapons. Huh. This sounds much better than drones flying around...

And I wonder who will have first crack at abusing this weapons system.
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