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Guy builds nightvision drone to hunt feral pigs
- alnayyir 15y agoIs this just for spotting? I can't tell if it has any weaponry equipped. This is a very cool build indeed.
- skeletonjelly 15y agoJust for spotting. I imagine it would take on a whole new world of complications with a weapon, but legally and functionally.
- xyzzyz 15y agoEquipping it with weaponry would almost certainly be illegal, let alone the fact that it would be next to impossible to aim if you don't use very expensive weapons.
- baddox 15y agoWhy illegal? Are there specific laws about mounting a firearm to an aircraft, or is the problem the automation of the weapon?
- rjknight 15y agoIt seems that 'remote hunting' has been banned in various US states, although not all of them: http://www.fieldandstream.com/blogs/hunting/2011/02/north-dakota-mulls-banning-remote-hunting-internet http://www.fieldandstream.com/blogs/hunting/2011/02/north-da... Obviously it would be illegal in most of Europe and probably elsewhere too. This is something I've spent a fair few idle afternoons daydreaming about, and to be honest I'm quite worried about the future possibility of semi-autonomous weaponised drones. The average HN reader probably has the knowledge and access to resources necessary to build a basic manually-controlled drone. An iPhone or even an Arduino would provide the necessary computing power for semi-autonomous activity (and a whole bunch of useful sensors, including GPS, camera etc.) and it can't be long before someone builds some open source software to enable these things to fly basic missions (go to these coordinates, film for 30 minutes, return to base, avoid obvious obstacles whilst doing so). Mounting some kind of weapon on there is a fairly simple step. You could even print the weapon parts with a 3D printer... What really scares me is the arms race that will occur when law enforcement has to deal with this kind of thing.
- alnayyir 15y ago>It seems that 'remote hunting' has been banned in various US states, although not all of them: http://www.fieldandstream.com/blogs/hunting/2011/02/north-da.. http://www.fieldandstream.com/blogs/hunting/2011/02/north-da.... There are exemptions to most of these laws, including ones concerning "hunting seasons" for farmers. I knew a guy with an orchard who had the coveted right in Ohio to shoot deer all year long. 80% of that man's familys' protein came from those hungry deer.
- billswift 15y ago"Coveted" by flakes and suburbanites, maybe. If he's like most of the farmers and orchardists I know, he would probably much prefer to buy his meat and not have to worry about the deer eating his money crop. Farmers, and even just general gardeners, mostly hate deer, usually intensely.
- Roboprog 15y agoI hear you about that. I have a small garden. We live in the Sierra foothills in north/central California. Usually, things are OK with the dog and people coming and going. But when we go on vacation, they tear stuff up badly. ... And I like to fly small R/C foamies, as well :-) No plans to build any flying defenses, though.
- JshWright 15y agoWouldn't it make sense that they would 'covet' permission to destroy the object of their hatred year round?
- alnayyir 15y agoDeer have killed a lot of people and destroyed a lot of property. It's a coveted right for a reason. You must have a hell of a wireless keyboard, typing from up on that high horse of yours.
- eftpotrm 15y agoIf you're building this for purposes law enforcement will be concerned with, a flying bomb / guided makes far more sense than a gun platform IMHO. Build a few kamikaze drones, load them up with semtex and shrapnel, put them into a steep dive from altitude over your target... (I should stress I'm a very peaceful chap with no revolutionary or violent inclinations whatsoever!)
- masonhensley 15y agoFrom what I understand, regular folk can't automate firearm actuation. Off he top of my head, you would at least need a Type 7 license with a class 2 SOT from our friends at the ATF to automate weapon fire on a drone. The FAA other alphabet soup agencies probably have other regulations regarding the manufacture and use of a flying killing machine. Some info on ATF licenses: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Firearms_License http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Firearms_License
- Nrsolis 15y agoDude. Putting any kind of weaponry payload on a civilian aircraft (RC or otherwise) is highly, highly illegal in the US. I'm sure it's illegal practically everywhere else that's sane for the exact same reasons. It's not just "remote hunting" that's banned. It's the attachment of any weapon to an aerial or moving platform that's banned. A slingshot on a paper plane would qualify by a literal interpretation of the laws as written.
- baddox 15y agoDo you have a source for this? It sounds quite likely, but any time law gets discussed I always try to find the relevant texts. I'm having trouble finding anything other than laws about carrying firearms on your person while on a commercial airliner.
- Nrsolis 15y agohttp://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=ecfr&rgn=div5&view=text&node=14:2.0.1.3.10&idno=14#14:2.0.1.3.10.1.4.8 http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=ecfr&rgn... See section 91.15 for the part about "dropping of items." I'm still looking for the BATF regs on this. IANAL, so it's a bit of work, but I do know a few guys that do weapons systems (govt contractor) and my younger brother is a pilot.
- Nrsolis 15y agoFound this which seems to confirm what I'm saying: http://www.rotaryforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=13318 http://www.rotaryforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=13318 As long as they aren't actually guns, it's legal. As soon as they become actual firearms, then you need permits/licenses/etc.
- gamble 15y agoFlying a UAV for commercial purposes is already illegal. However, mounting a gun on there would raise his chances of being prosecuted substantially.
- fennokin 15y agoYes. He guides his brother(?) with the aircraft via walkie-talkie. There seemed like there was a point where the resolution of the camera wasn't high enough to figure out which was the hunter and which was the pig. Maybe easily solved if the hunter wore a flashing IR beacon or something.
- runjake 15y agoNot so much in stills, but in motion video it's pretty easy to discern between human and animal[1]. [1] Yeah, I've worked with this stuff, too.
- sbierwagen 15y agoThere's a bunch of killer problems faced by aerial antipersonnel weapons platforms. The target is usually: - Small. - Far away - Moving quickly in relation to the aircraft. Additionally, you have lots of vibration (from the engine, and air turbulence) and you have to count every gram of payload; which makes precision weapons unhappy, since they're both heavy and want to be held very still. You can solve the killer trio with very high rates of fire, or explosive projectiles.[1] These are both either very expensive or illegal for civilians; and you wouldn't want to be using them on a rice field anyway. There's a reason Predator UAVs use guided missiles, not small arms. --- [1]: The canonical ground-attack weapon, the GAU-8/A, uses both: 30mm explosive shells at 4,200 rounds per minute. https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/GAU-8_Avenger https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/GAU-8_Avenger
- josefresco 15y agoThose guided missiles while very explosive can be delivered with some shockingly accurate precision. I believe it was a recent Frontline where I heard they could guide these missiles through a car window (no reference sorry) of a moving vehicle. The high explosive part seems more for insurance than a requirement for a successful hit. Civilians of course don't have access to this stuff, but if the military has the capability now, it will eventually trickle down.
- flexd 15y agoThe other difference is that a predator or reaper drone is the size of a small plane, his plane (or anything like it) is about just a basic remote controlled model, a bigger plane would fly much higher and be much more stable.
- monochromatic 15y agoUnless you're talking about missiles or some other relatively recoilless weapon, firing anything powerful enough to kill a hog would tear this plane apart.
- wingerlang 15y agoWould it not be easier to add motion sensors or something like this? Depending on how huge fields they have this might be hard though..
- Zeus-TheTrueGod 15y agoThis could be used to track illegal imigrants as well if you are able to recognize skin color. With automatic image transfer to police men.
- sbierwagen 15y agoBoy oh boy did you choose the wrong venue for anti-immigrant rhetoric. However, this is actually being done (as of 2009) by immigration vigilante Glenn Spencer. http://exiledonline.com/border-wars-a-day-in-the-life-of-a-virtual-vigilante/ http://exiledonline.com/border-wars-a-day-in-the-life-of-a-v... He started American Border Patrol seven years ago after retiring from a lucrative career as a military think-tank analyst and oil prospector, trading in the chance of a slow and cushy death aided by golf and bingo for the life of a border vigilante. He also gave up his wife and his daughters, who broke off all contact with the man after he moved to the desert. “We’re on different sides of the issue,” he told me. But it might have less to do with the issue than his decision to sink his entire life savings into this high-tech security dream.
- giardini 15y ago> Boy oh boy did you choose the wrong venue for anti-immigrant rhetoric. He said "illegal immigrant", not "immigrant". That is not "anti-immigrant rhetoric".
- josefresco 15y agoI think it's the "skin color" part of that statement most would object too.
- sampsonjs 15y agoOnly if they make it past the electrified fence. And minefield. And machine gun nests.
- yvdriess 15y agoAnd here is the guy's Something Awful thread: http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3431642 http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=343...
- smackay 15y agoThis is probably way more efficient than just going out stalking but with something like 3 million feral pigs in the USA it is going to take a lot of effort to bring the problem under control. Perhaps something like the Judas Goat, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judas_goat http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judas_goat with an infra-red strobe (so you don't end up shooting it) might be more (cost) effective.
- mumrah 15y agoI have some relatives that have the same problem in central Alabama. It got so bad that the local officials have allowed the use of scoped night vision weapons to let farmers hunt the pigs. Also, this same relative says he doesn't walk around at night without a 0.50 caliber pistol and a shotgun. Apparently these pigs can be pretty unfriendly
- fungi 15y agoi like, very cool idea and relatively cheap. don't think it would be a good idea to mount a gun as you need to ensure a clean kill and be 100% sure of what you are killing. another technique that has been very successful with pigs and goats is to release a pig with a tracking collar. pigs and goats are much better then human at tracking down other pigs and goats. mounting the tracking collar receiver on this system would be of great assistance. http://www.feral.org.au/tag/judas-pig/ http://www.feral.org.au/tag/judas-pig/ http://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/WR96109.htm http://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/WR96109.htm
- Shenglong 15y agodon't think it would be a good idea to mount a gun as you need to ensure a clean kill and be 100% sure of what you are killing Regardless, I was disappointed when I didn't see/hear PEW PEWs.
- fungi 15y agoyeah i felt pretty cheated as well. maybe you could mount a paint ball gun with fluro pellets :)
- BerislavLopac 15y agoIs he shooting the drones out of a giant slingshot perhaps? ;)
- itswindy 15y agoGuy builds nightvision drone to hunt feral pigs Federal government shows up to help ;)
- ErrantX 15y agono no. It's literally feral pigs; I can see how you might be confuse though ;)
- roboneal 15y agoWhat about mounting infrared cameras to weather balloons? He seems to have a problem "lingering" over the right area.
- runjake 15y agoWeather balloons do not provide a stable visual platform for the optics, nor are they maneuverable. Recovering your $4,500 FLIR sensor also becomes a challenge.
- roboneal 15y agoSorry, I meant "tethered" weather balloons. Which I assume would solve the "recover-ability" issue. No idea on "stability".
- ErrantX 15y agoA quadrocopter would probably be a better bet for hovering/stability http://www.quadrocopter.us/ http://www.quadrocopter.us/
- mbreese 15y agoI don't know how well those fly at ~650ft (he was consistently around this altitude in later videos). Perhaps a traditional RC helicopter might work as well, but the noise would probably be a problem (I think he has electric planes). However, if you just want to get rid of the pigs, not kill them, I could imagine that you could do pretty well herding them with a loud RC helicopter... perhaps even herd them into a trap or kill-zone.
- ErrantX 15y agoFair point. I am not 100% sure how high these fly; but you can put together an open-source arducopter for a lot cheaper than in that link (about $300 or so) and they can be programmed/automated. So if you could get them high enough for the noise not to be a big issue, and to give them a reasonable coverage with the camera, you can easily put a few of these up in a network on autpilot (with way points) and just watch several screens at once.
- stfu 15y agoMight be interesting to some of you: http://diydrones.com/ http://diydrones.com/
- bluekite2000 15y agoWhat costs more raising a pig or shooting one in the wild? If the answer is the latter perhaps someone can make a fun business out of it :)
- patrickgzill 15y agoI don't think it is legal to sell feral pig meat.
- terrellm 15y agoThe most effective way of removing feral hogs is by trapping since you can catch multiple animals at a time. Shoot one and the others scatter. Feral hog meat, unlike typical pork, is a deep red and can have a wild-game taste. It makes for great sausage and barbecuing but you wouldn't necessarily want a ham sandwich everyday in your lunch. Many outfitters charge both the hunter for the opportunity to hunt and the farmer for the removal service.
- labby 15y agocool. how about getting those angry birds on this.. :P
- labby 15y agocool. how about getting those angry birds on this.. :P
- terrellm 15y agoAs a hacker who lives and codes from his ranch in Texas that has problems with feral hogs, I give this two thumbs up! One thing to add for those not familiar with feral hogs... these animals are a non-native species and highly invasive. They can have at least 4-6 piglets at a time, 3 litters a year. They damage crop and farmland, carry disease, and compete with native wildlife for food.