4 ms·

Venezuela President Maduro survives 'drone assassination attempt'

29 points by oska 8y ago

wcrichton 8y ago
Can anyone in robotics/drones speak as to how far away we are from Slaughterbots? [1] [1] https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HipTO_7mUOw&vl=en https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HipTO_7mUOw&vl=en
- godzillabrennus 8y ago
  The NSA probably already has them.
- dogma1138 8y ago
  depends on how you define "Slaughterbots" any micro drone with a small demo charge can kill a person if it detonates on the skull. Intel has a drone kit which can be pretty autonomous you should be able to train it to explode on heads, you might have a pretty big collateral damage as far as soccer balls and water melons go but it will definitely will detonate enough heads if released into the wild (within it's flight range ofc ;)). A practical completely autonomous weapon as in one that makes actual decision is pretty far off, however with modern drones pretty much everything is already automated even the weapon release and guidance is machine assisted these days but that is just to help increase the accuracy of the strike as it can compensate for the delay.
barsonme 8y ago
Crazy. Sort of related, this sort of thing doesn't seem to be terribly uncommon in the middle east. There's plenty of footage on the internet of ISIS attaching mortars and grenades to drones and using them to bomb vehicles and buildings.
matte_black 8y ago
Perhaps instead of using one drone in these kind of attacks, they will use multiple in quick succession, each carrying an explosive payload.
- mmirate 8y ago
  No, quick succession makes them easier to shoot down. Better to send them in simultaneously, as many as possible in a single volley. Maybe then, Venezuela will be free.
nickysielicki 8y ago
I have to imagine it's keeping quite a few secret service agents awake at night thinking about how on Earth they're going to safely and effectively jam DC-6GHz in a large open outdoor area --- because it's absolutely inevitable that they will eventually have to as this technology becomes cheaper and better. Ultimately, I think we'll just see these types of political events go away as the security risks are unable to be mitigated. When you can see racing drones going 150+ mph on YouTube, and you can also see videos of handguns attached to drones, it's really amazing that this isn't occuring all the time. Edit: maybe I'm overestimating the difficulty here. They really only need to jam the ISM and cellular bands, everything else is hard to import due to FCC regs, and thus doesn't get made in the first place. I don't think terrorists will be able to make their own custom spread spectrum transmitters and receivers for their drones. Then again, GNURadio and cheap devices makes this pretty easy nowadays.
- modells 8y ago
  Yeap. “Perfect” (imposed and/or theater) security isn’t desirable in an “open” society because of the loss and abuse of individual freedoms. Back to WW2 barrage balloons, or at least sturdy nets to keep out drone-bombs. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barrage_balloon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barrage_balloon
- gonzo41 8y ago
  Easy, use the smae counter measure they used in Iraq against phone acitivated road side bombs. They make man portable versions. Keep an eye out for backpacks with big antennas
atombender 8y ago
Note that some locals seem to disagree [1]: Firefighters at the scene of an explosion that Venezuelan officials call an attack on President Nicolas Maduro are disputing the government’s version of events. Three officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case say th incident was actually a gas tank explosion inside an apartment. Smoke could be seen coming out of a building window at the site of the incident. [1] https://apnews.com/db760dac560840309cd320648ba12c9a https://apnews.com/db760dac560840309cd320648ba12c9a

29 points by oska 8y ago

Can anyone in robotics/drones speak as to how far away we are from Slaughterbots? [1] [1] https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HipTO_7mUOw&vl=en https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HipTO_7mUOw&vl=en

godzillabrennus 8y ago
The NSA probably already has them.
dogma1138 8y ago
depends on how you define "Slaughterbots" any micro drone with a small demo charge can kill a person if it detonates on the skull. Intel has a drone kit which can be pretty autonomous you should be able to train it to explode on heads, you might have a pretty big collateral damage as far as soccer balls and water melons go but it will definitely will detonate enough heads if released into the wild (within it's flight range ofc ;)). A practical completely autonomous weapon as in one that makes actual decision is pretty far off, however with modern drones pretty much everything is already automated even the weapon release and guidance is machine assisted these days but that is just to help increase the accuracy of the strike as it can compensate for the delay.

barsonme 8y ago

Crazy. Sort of related, this sort of thing doesn't seem to be terribly uncommon in the middle east. There's plenty of footage on the internet of ISIS attaching mortars and grenades to drones and using them to bomb vehicles and buildings.

matte_black 8y ago

Perhaps instead of using one drone in these kind of attacks, they will use multiple in quick succession, each carrying an explosive payload.

mmirate 8y ago
No, quick succession makes them easier to shoot down. Better to send them in simultaneously, as many as possible in a single volley. Maybe then, Venezuela will be free.

nickysielicki 8y ago

I have to imagine it's keeping quite a few secret service agents awake at night thinking about how on Earth they're going to safely and effectively jam DC-6GHz in a large open outdoor area --- because it's absolutely inevitable that they will eventually have to as this technology becomes cheaper and better. Ultimately, I think we'll just see these types of political events go away as the security risks are unable to be mitigated. When you can see racing drones going 150+ mph on YouTube, and you can also see videos of handguns attached to drones, it's really amazing that this isn't occuring all the time. Edit: maybe I'm overestimating the difficulty here. They really only need to jam the ISM and cellular bands, everything else is hard to import due to FCC regs, and thus doesn't get made in the first place. I don't think terrorists will be able to make their own custom spread spectrum transmitters and receivers for their drones. Then again, GNURadio and cheap devices makes this pretty easy nowadays.

modells 8y ago
Yeap. “Perfect” (imposed and/or theater) security isn’t desirable in an “open” society because of the loss and abuse of individual freedoms. Back to WW2 barrage balloons, or at least sturdy nets to keep out drone-bombs. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barrage_balloon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barrage_balloon
gonzo41 8y ago
Easy, use the smae counter measure they used in Iraq against phone acitivated road side bombs. They make man portable versions. Keep an eye out for backpacks with big antennas

atombender 8y ago

Note that some locals seem to disagree [1]: Firefighters at the scene of an explosion that Venezuelan officials call an attack on President Nicolas Maduro are disputing the government’s version of events. Three officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case say th incident was actually a gas tank explosion inside an apartment. Smoke could be seen coming out of a building window at the site of the incident. [1] https://apnews.com/db760dac560840309cd320648ba12c9a https://apnews.com/db760dac560840309cd320648ba12c9a