DailyDirt: Our Crazy Drone-Filled World

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

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. After you've finished checking out those links, take a look at our Daily Deals for cool gadgets and other awesome stuff.
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Filed Under: aircraft, compact laser weapon system, drones, flying car, helicopter, laser cannon, mosquitoes, multi-copter, personal mobility, weapons
Companies: boeing, faa


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  1. icon
    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.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  2. icon
    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?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  3. identicon
    Pixelation, 8 Sep 2015 @ 7:31pm

    Cool party trick

    Dude! I want a drone killing laser.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  4. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 9 Sep 2015 @ 3:44am

    Re: I saw a black helicopter once…

    So the Bell was there to provide a RADAR contact?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  5. identicon
    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.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  6. identicon
    Anon, 9 Sep 2015 @ 4:37am

    I read that the best way to knock one of those down is a water hose.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  7. identicon
    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.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  8. icon
    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.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  9. icon
    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.

    link to this | view in thread ]


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