6 ms·

Here's my idea. All I ask for is a free one if you use it. A drone fence. Hear me out. Problem: Fencing is FUCKING expensive. For many people who want to keep

by sauwan 9y ago

Here's my idea. All I ask for is a free one if you use it. A drone fence. Hear me out. Problem: Fencing is FUCKING expensive. For many people who want to keep animals out (garden, animals pooping in the sandbox) buying a fence is really cost prohibitive. Plus they don't always work anyways. Solution: Self driving drones with IR cameras in specific locations. Place a camera or two in strategic locations, and have a drone take off and chase off deer or rabbits. Return to the main station, land, recharge, repeat. Might need to have a squirt gun with some vinegar or something to scare off the more aggressive deer. But combine some machine vision (don't want to chase children), autonomous flying drones, and some smarts, and you could have a $2000 system that replaces a $X0,000 fence. Sorta the opposite of an invisible fence for animals. I would LOVE one of these. I just don't have the capital or talent to make it happen...

markcerqueira 9y ago
This is kind of already being done by Sunflower Labs. https://sunflower-labs.com/ https://sunflower-labs.com/
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
civilian 9y ago
My grandmother was pretty "anti-tech", and thought that e-mail was just a passing fad, but I think that even she would have tried this if it meant her flowers would have been spared by the deer.
damosneeze 9y ago
Pretty good, but also quite niche. I think many people who build fences are not doing it just to keep things out, but also to keep things in, mark territory, provide security against more than just deer, aesthetics, etc. However, on the fence industry, I could see a shake-up of fence estimation software. Perhaps one that uses ML to take the data necessary for an estimation (geographic data based on asker's location + parameters, materials & prices needed for the job, labor, etc) and create an estimation at the click of a button rather than from human input and calculations? Could help to bring your fence cost down (marginally, but still). My dad was in this business his whole life, and said the software in the industry right now is shite. Ripe for disruption.
- briandear 9y ago
  I remember when I was a catastrophe insurance adjuster, I used Xactimate. It was pretty great at the time, but I think the underlying tech (i.e. getting material pricing) could be greatly improved, especially dealing with things like shortages and increased prices due to demand spikes.
- blakdawg 9y ago
  I knew a guy who made a shitload of money with a software program he wrote for carpet stores/installers to optimize cutting different carpet pieces to minimize waste. It sounds simple and boring, but if you can save people a lot of money, they don't mind sharing it with you.
pvaldes 9y ago
mmh ...too much noise pollution. Mammals will learn quickly to visit the area at night.
albertgoeswoof 9y ago
The nice thing about this idea, is that even if it flops you get to have a lot of fun flying drones around!
josefrichter 9y ago
I was wondering when the "attach guns" part comes up. Wasn't disappointed :-)
pault 9y ago
This is how the fences in Neal Stephenson's The Diamond Age work. The drones fly in a honeycomb pattern and are recharged in a mesh network with a few base stations flying around. Whenever a drone has a low battery it steals some power from its nearest neighbor, so the power gets diffused through the network without any of the drones needing to move out of position. If I recall correctly they just bunch up and push you away if you try to walk through them, but otherwise don't obstruct the view. Pretty fun stuff. :)
dagss 9y ago
In Norway we have sheep roaming the mountains in summer....and wolves. How many wolves to kill is a huge political issue. Government reimburses sheep killed by wolves. Building fences around the areas is basically impossible. But I hope some day drone-shepherds can do the job.
- ajeet_dhaliwal 9y ago
  This would be cool but then the debate remains almost the same, just how many wolves can the drone guarding the sheep shoot, a wolf has got to eat so some programmers got to randomize a few 'look the other way' actions in.
  - pcmaffey 9y ago
    If sheep have evolved to have drone guards, then wolves will just have to feast on deer, elk, and whatnot, until they join forces with the eagles and hawks to take down the drones.
  - dagss 9y ago
    The thought of the drone shooting didn't even cross my mind. No way anyone would approve military equipment roaming the mountains like that. What if it shot a human? I was thinking flashlights and sounds to scare them off.
zpr 9y ago
When I read this, I first thought you meant a fence for keeping drones in (or out). Maybe it zaps them when they get too close. Another idea for OP.
icebraining 9y ago
A turret or two seems more practical: http://pyvideo.org/pycon-us-2012/militarizing-your-backyard-with-python-computer.html http://pyvideo.org/pycon-us-2012/militarizing-your-backyard-...
mogget 9y ago
Invisible Fence is a fantastic product that gives great value to many people. Seems to me that this could be the same. Note that Invisible Fence offers expertise in install, dog training, etc, over and above the DIY kits. We recently put a deer fence around about a half acre and it was not inexpensive. Another upside is that this would be reconfigurable. And there'd be a ton of ML-extractable insights for customer and the company. PS: Skimming, I originally read the intent as "a fence to keep drones out", which is funny.

by sauwan 9y ago

markcerqueira 9y ago

This is kind of already being done by Sunflower Labs. https://sunflower-labs.com/ https://sunflower-labs.com/

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

civilian 9y ago

My grandmother was pretty "anti-tech", and thought that e-mail was just a passing fad, but I think that even she would have tried this if it meant her flowers would have been spared by the deer.

damosneeze 9y ago

Pretty good, but also quite niche. I think many people who build fences are not doing it just to keep things out, but also to keep things in, mark territory, provide security against more than just deer, aesthetics, etc. However, on the fence industry, I could see a shake-up of fence estimation software. Perhaps one that uses ML to take the data necessary for an estimation (geographic data based on asker's location + parameters, materials & prices needed for the job, labor, etc) and create an estimation at the click of a button rather than from human input and calculations? Could help to bring your fence cost down (marginally, but still). My dad was in this business his whole life, and said the software in the industry right now is shite. Ripe for disruption.

briandear 9y ago
I remember when I was a catastrophe insurance adjuster, I used Xactimate. It was pretty great at the time, but I think the underlying tech (i.e. getting material pricing) could be greatly improved, especially dealing with things like shortages and increased prices due to demand spikes.
blakdawg 9y ago
I knew a guy who made a shitload of money with a software program he wrote for carpet stores/installers to optimize cutting different carpet pieces to minimize waste. It sounds simple and boring, but if you can save people a lot of money, they don't mind sharing it with you.

pvaldes 9y ago

mmh ...too much noise pollution. Mammals will learn quickly to visit the area at night.

albertgoeswoof 9y ago

The nice thing about this idea, is that even if it flops you get to have a lot of fun flying drones around!

josefrichter 9y ago

I was wondering when the "attach guns" part comes up. Wasn't disappointed :-)

pault 9y ago

This is how the fences in Neal Stephenson's The Diamond Age work. The drones fly in a honeycomb pattern and are recharged in a mesh network with a few base stations flying around. Whenever a drone has a low battery it steals some power from its nearest neighbor, so the power gets diffused through the network without any of the drones needing to move out of position. If I recall correctly they just bunch up and push you away if you try to walk through them, but otherwise don't obstruct the view. Pretty fun stuff. :)

dagss 9y ago

In Norway we have sheep roaming the mountains in summer....and wolves. How many wolves to kill is a huge political issue. Government reimburses sheep killed by wolves. Building fences around the areas is basically impossible. But I hope some day drone-shepherds can do the job.

ajeet_dhaliwal 9y ago
This would be cool but then the debate remains almost the same, just how many wolves can the drone guarding the sheep shoot, a wolf has got to eat so some programmers got to randomize a few 'look the other way' actions in.
- pcmaffey 9y ago
  If sheep have evolved to have drone guards, then wolves will just have to feast on deer, elk, and whatnot, until they join forces with the eagles and hawks to take down the drones.
- dagss 9y ago
  The thought of the drone shooting didn't even cross my mind. No way anyone would approve military equipment roaming the mountains like that. What if it shot a human? I was thinking flashlights and sounds to scare them off.

zpr 9y ago

When I read this, I first thought you meant a fence for keeping drones in (or out). Maybe it zaps them when they get too close. Another idea for OP.

icebraining 9y ago

A turret or two seems more practical: http://pyvideo.org/pycon-us-2012/militarizing-your-backyard-with-python-computer.html http://pyvideo.org/pycon-us-2012/militarizing-your-backyard-...

mogget 9y ago

Invisible Fence is a fantastic product that gives great value to many people. Seems to me that this could be the same. Note that Invisible Fence offers expertise in install, dog training, etc, over and above the DIY kits. We recently put a deer fence around about a half acre and it was not inexpensive. Another upside is that this would be reconfigurable. And there'd be a ton of ML-extractable insights for customer and the company. PS: Skimming, I originally read the intent as "a fence to keep drones out", which is funny.