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So will we soon see a co-evolutionary arms race as ever stealthier drones are harassed, blocked or outright disabled by ever more aggressive counter measures?
by olefoo 16y ago
So will we soon see a co-evolutionary arms race as ever stealthier drones are harassed, blocked or outright disabled by ever more aggressive counter measures?
I could see the paparazzi style flying eyes being dealt with by LIDAR countermeasures. The tracking drones are already vulnerable to a number of the same tactics that involve shaking a tail of any sort. I foresee some exciting new precedents getting set from this conflict though.
- lsc 16y agoI think this would bring up some interesting legal issues. I mean, obviously sending up ground to air missiles is likely going to be illegal just due to safety issues. But what if I, say, set up a drone that tangles up your drone in a net of some kind? something no more unsafe than the drone crashing due to problems? What if I only use this on drones flying low over my own property?
- Vivtek 16y agoI'm going to find out. If people are flying free hardware over my property, then by golly, finders keepers.
- noonespecial 16y agoIt'll be like fishing, but with kites! Set up a couple of kites with nice long strings, wait for drone to entangle in string, reel it in! Free servos for me.
- Vivtek 16y agoLike fishing, with kites. I keep giggling about this.
- lsc 16y agoI think the legal issue could go either way. If it is some private entity spying on me on my own property, I don't think any jury would convict me of knocking it down, and maybe even keeping the parts. Clearly, if the interloper was doing something illegal, they might choose to abandon the property and pretend it didn't belong to them, you know, in hope it would make it difficult for me to press charges against the offending party. If it was a government drone, though, I'd be in a bit more trouble. Now, if private usage of drones for celebrity spying etc... is common before the government starts using them to spy on US citizens, precedent could be established; but if not, well, I bet it'd turn out at best like that kid who posted photos on the internet of the clumsy car-tracking device that the feds stuck on his car, which is to say, the FBI comes and takes it back and maybe doesn't arrest you. I mean, the kid didn't break the thing, and that might make a difference. Government drones are not going to be cheap, and, I mean, someone might forget about a hacked-together $300 drone, but if it's three million? Yeah, secret technology aside, I think they are going to want their toy back.
- Vivtek 16y agoThey're welcome to ask. Repeatedly. I live in rural Indiana, and drones are close enough to black helicopters that I think it's not going to withstand close scrutiny that I take what they're freely giving. Especially if they're flying a three million dollar drone over a town that has no fricking jobs to start with. I think people around here would be pretty interested in that disparity. Five bucks says the drones aren't manufactured here, now are they? I could only wish they ask for their toy back.
- lsc 16y agoFive bucks says the drones aren't manufactured here, now are they? If it is a military drone, it's almost certainly manufactured here. The military is very careful about ordering things manufactured in the US, for both political and logistical reasons. (if you do get in to a real war, you don't want to have to ship your ammo and spare parts over from the other side of the world on highly vulnerable cargo ships. And, well, if your war material is made in china, you are going to have a difficult time with your saber rattling. Also, representatives will almost certainly get re-elected if they can bring in a bunch of highly-paid defense jobs to their district. )
- sliverstorm 16y agoI'm hoping for air-to-air strike drones that hunt other drones, perhaps through echolocation. I'll gladly install some power outlets in my rafters for them to roost.
- asynchronous13 16y agoWith the current technologies, a simple rock is sufficient to bring down most of the small uavs. Heck, even a stray leaf will take out some of them. Clearly strike-drones would be cool technology, but there are so many cheaper ways to bring these things down right now.
- pandakar 16y agoStephenson's Diamond Age theorizes on what happens nation-states develop nano-drones. Funky stuff.
- olefoo 16y agoThat's exactly what I was thinking of; I figured the reference would be obvious to those who'd read the book and useless to those who hadn't though.