8 ms·

That may explain how the target corrects its trajectory towards the actual target, but how does the bullet determine what the "actual target" is in the first pl

That may explain how the target corrects its trajectory towards the actual target, but how does the bullet determine what the "actual target" is in the first place? I would imagine this would be simple in test cases, but in the real world, what about a hostile target may differentiate it from a friendly ally that is nearby?

trevyn 12y ago
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser_guidance http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser_guidance
wiml 12y ago
Laser designator, I think.
ArikBe 12y ago
I commented below that it's marked by laser, but the counterargument was that if you can aim a laser you can aim a rifle. Let me rephrase: the goal of this system is to correct for deviations from the actual target which occur in the air. Because of wind, temperature, rotation of the earth (when taking really long shots) and other factors a marksman might have to adjust his or her aim and actually aim off-target to get the bullet on target. However, using this system you would just keep the crosshairs on target and the bullet will correct itself in the air to hit that target. I think that aiming the rifle in a different spot is only done for test purposes. I can't imagine why you would want to create a system that automatically determines the target instead of letting a trained marksman determine the target and help that marksman.
- ahoodlum 12y ago
  One of the aims of this program was to essentially give any 18 year old kid the tool set to perform like a highly trained sniper. There will still be a need for marksmanship training but this enables the minimum standard of marksmanship for its user to be akin to an expert. Ballistics computation is complicated but this simplifies it to a more straight-forward "point and shoot" approach that almost anyone can understand.
  - phaus 12y ago
    Seems like a silly thing to focus on. Learning to shoot accurately is by far the easiest part of becoming a sniper.
    - XorNot 12y ago
      Think bigger: a drone at 2000 ft having to deal with the cross-wind from different altitudes.
      - spingsprong 12y ago
        Drones don't use 50cal machine guns. What they use is missiles and bombs, and they've been guided for decades.
        moe 12y ago
        Just guessing, but maybe future drone models (esp. low altitude ones) will use machine guns?
        spingsprong 12y ago
        These bullets are not going to be used from a machine gun. It would make zero sense. They're for long range sniping.
        moe 12y ago
        Well, sniper drones then?
        BugBrother 12y ago
        Cough... five comments and no one wonder about the possibility of shooting at drones with this rifle?
        12y ago
- Crito 12y ago
  > I think that aiming the rifle in a different spot is only done for test purposes I could imagine some scenarios where indirect fire, perhaps coordinated with a drone that can light up the target with the laser, could be useful.
- pmorici 12y ago
  I took it to mean that the rifles physical aim is independent of what the bullet is being aimed at through that video system.
- hueving 12y ago
  Why would the rotation of the earth matter? It's a constant speed and the person that fires it is rotating with the earth so the rotation is already part of the trajectory of the bullet. So is the wind for that matter.
  - nkurz 12y ago
    At long ranges (1 km+), the rotation of the earth affects both the horizontal and vertical point of impact. A summary is here: http://thearmsguide.com/5329/external-ballistics-the-coriolis-effect-6-theory-section/ http://thearmsguide.com/5329/external-ballistics-the-corioli... Wind has a larger effect that is evident even at shorter ranges. Bullets are fast, but during their time of flight they are blown around by the wind just like any other object passing through the air.
  - jasamer 12y ago
    Two points on earth with different latitudes move at different speeds. The effect that affects the bullets is known as the coriolis effect (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coriolis_effect http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coriolis_effect).
- jcr 12y ago
  > "I commented below that it's marked by laser, but the counterargument was that if you can aim a laser you can aim a rifle. Let me rephrase..." Some things never change... spotter: acquire the target. sniper: rodger. target acquired. spotter: laser paint the target. sniper: what color? spotter: we should paint it blue according to IEEE 802.11eeek sniper: But we're on the *RED* team! Not the blue team! dummy! spotter: Don't call me a dummy. I read the IEEE spec. Did you? sniper: We should paint it RED! according to IETF RFC-31337 spotter: No! No! No! 802.11eek clearly says blue! sniper: I'M CERTAIIN IT SHOULD BE RED!!!111`` spotter: calm down or you'll miss (again, haha) and just use blue. sniper: you started it with the "No!No!No!" crap. I want red. spotter: you're too frustrated to type "certain" correctly. blue. sniper: but I really wanted red, impending doom an all that. spotter: with blue you'll get purple if you hit the damn target! sniper: Oops! too late. target lost. he hid behind that bikeshed. (sigh) Where is PHK when we need him?
- lloeki 12y ago
  Also, everyone seem to assume the laser comes from or near the rifle, when it could come from a much closer team member for various reasons. Easier to conceal both a laser and yourself than a full blown sniper+weapon in shooting position. Alternatively, moving targets. All sorts of known strategies applicable to e.g Hellfires come to mind (sorry for the dubious reference and descriptions, I recently unearthed old Comanche 3 and Longbow games): shoot timed salvos and light up targets in sequence, shoot blind and hidden then pop up and light up at the last second...
wmeredith 12y ago
If it's like other smart ordinance that is self guided, it requires a designation of some sort. This is often done with a laser. Snipers work in tandem with a spotter already. Their job could go from spotter to laser operator. Or it could just be a function of the actual shooter. Keep your scope (and laser) on the target until impact. Actual the recoil would probably screw that up. I think you would have to have the spotter manning the target designator.
ahoodlum 12y ago
There is some sort of active guidance. Either it is doing the seeking itself (according to a laser designator of some kind) or something tells it where to go in real time, based on that "something" else's targeting capability.
NoMoreNicksLeft 12y ago
Just guessing, but the guidance is almost certainly handled remotely. Which opens it up to being hacked... a smart enemy might cause bullets to veer away from him.
- gte525u 12y ago
  It's unlikely to be actively guided remotely. It's likely a small sensor package in the bullet itself. I imagine a simple passive guidance system akin to one of the early MANPADS (i.e., Redeye or Strela-2), but, using a laser designator instead of target radiated infrared.
dm2 12y ago
Some new rifles allow you to "tag" targets and with sufficiently advanced software it should be able to tell the difference, unless the two targets overlap, then it's a maybe. Sniper rifles already exist that can tag and track moving targets.
- edwhitesell 12y ago
  Tracking Point: http://money.cnn.com/2013/06/11/news/companies/trackingpoint-gun/index.html http://money.cnn.com/2013/06/11/news/companies/trackingpoint...

trevyn 12y ago

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser_guidance http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser_guidance

wiml 12y ago

Laser designator, I think.

ArikBe 12y ago

I commented below that it's marked by laser, but the counterargument was that if you can aim a laser you can aim a rifle. Let me rephrase: the goal of this system is to correct for deviations from the actual target which occur in the air. Because of wind, temperature, rotation of the earth (when taking really long shots) and other factors a marksman might have to adjust his or her aim and actually aim off-target to get the bullet on target. However, using this system you would just keep the crosshairs on target and the bullet will correct itself in the air to hit that target. I think that aiming the rifle in a different spot is only done for test purposes. I can't imagine why you would want to create a system that automatically determines the target instead of letting a trained marksman determine the target and help that marksman.

ahoodlum 12y ago
One of the aims of this program was to essentially give any 18 year old kid the tool set to perform like a highly trained sniper. There will still be a need for marksmanship training but this enables the minimum standard of marksmanship for its user to be akin to an expert. Ballistics computation is complicated but this simplifies it to a more straight-forward "point and shoot" approach that almost anyone can understand.
- phaus 12y ago
  Seems like a silly thing to focus on. Learning to shoot accurately is by far the easiest part of becoming a sniper.
  - XorNot 12y ago
    Think bigger: a drone at 2000 ft having to deal with the cross-wind from different altitudes.
    - spingsprong 12y ago
      Drones don't use 50cal machine guns. What they use is missiles and bombs, and they've been guided for decades.
      - moe 12y ago
        Just guessing, but maybe future drone models (esp. low altitude ones) will use machine guns?
        spingsprong 12y ago
        These bullets are not going to be used from a machine gun. It would make zero sense. They're for long range sniping.
        moe 12y ago
        Well, sniper drones then?
        BugBrother 12y ago
        Cough... five comments and no one wonder about the possibility of shooting at drones with this rifle?
        12y ago
Crito 12y ago
> I think that aiming the rifle in a different spot is only done for test purposes I could imagine some scenarios where indirect fire, perhaps coordinated with a drone that can light up the target with the laser, could be useful.
pmorici 12y ago
I took it to mean that the rifles physical aim is independent of what the bullet is being aimed at through that video system.
hueving 12y ago
Why would the rotation of the earth matter? It's a constant speed and the person that fires it is rotating with the earth so the rotation is already part of the trajectory of the bullet. So is the wind for that matter.
- nkurz 12y ago
  At long ranges (1 km+), the rotation of the earth affects both the horizontal and vertical point of impact. A summary is here: http://thearmsguide.com/5329/external-ballistics-the-coriolis-effect-6-theory-section/ http://thearmsguide.com/5329/external-ballistics-the-corioli... Wind has a larger effect that is evident even at shorter ranges. Bullets are fast, but during their time of flight they are blown around by the wind just like any other object passing through the air.
- jasamer 12y ago
  Two points on earth with different latitudes move at different speeds. The effect that affects the bullets is known as the coriolis effect (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coriolis_effect http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coriolis_effect).
jcr 12y ago
> "I commented below that it's marked by laser, but the counterargument was that if you can aim a laser you can aim a rifle. Let me rephrase..." Some things never change... spotter: acquire the target. sniper: rodger. target acquired. spotter: laser paint the target. sniper: what color? spotter: we should paint it blue according to IEEE 802.11eeek sniper: But we're on the *RED* team! Not the blue team! dummy! spotter: Don't call me a dummy. I read the IEEE spec. Did you? sniper: We should paint it RED! according to IETF RFC-31337 spotter: No! No! No! 802.11eek clearly says blue! sniper: I'M CERTAIIN IT SHOULD BE RED!!!111`` spotter: calm down or you'll miss (again, haha) and just use blue. sniper: you started it with the "No!No!No!" crap. I want red. spotter: you're too frustrated to type "certain" correctly. blue. sniper: but I really wanted red, impending doom an all that. spotter: with blue you'll get purple if you hit the damn target! sniper: Oops! too late. target lost. he hid behind that bikeshed. (sigh) Where is PHK when we need him?
lloeki 12y ago
Also, everyone seem to assume the laser comes from or near the rifle, when it could come from a much closer team member for various reasons. Easier to conceal both a laser and yourself than a full blown sniper+weapon in shooting position. Alternatively, moving targets. All sorts of known strategies applicable to e.g Hellfires come to mind (sorry for the dubious reference and descriptions, I recently unearthed old Comanche 3 and Longbow games): shoot timed salvos and light up targets in sequence, shoot blind and hidden then pop up and light up at the last second...

wmeredith 12y ago

If it's like other smart ordinance that is self guided, it requires a designation of some sort. This is often done with a laser. Snipers work in tandem with a spotter already. Their job could go from spotter to laser operator. Or it could just be a function of the actual shooter. Keep your scope (and laser) on the target until impact. Actual the recoil would probably screw that up. I think you would have to have the spotter manning the target designator.

ahoodlum 12y ago

There is some sort of active guidance. Either it is doing the seeking itself (according to a laser designator of some kind) or something tells it where to go in real time, based on that "something" else's targeting capability.

NoMoreNicksLeft 12y ago

Just guessing, but the guidance is almost certainly handled remotely. Which opens it up to being hacked... a smart enemy might cause bullets to veer away from him.

gte525u 12y ago
It's unlikely to be actively guided remotely. It's likely a small sensor package in the bullet itself. I imagine a simple passive guidance system akin to one of the early MANPADS (i.e., Redeye or Strela-2), but, using a laser designator instead of target radiated infrared.

dm2 12y ago

Some new rifles allow you to "tag" targets and with sufficiently advanced software it should be able to tell the difference, unless the two targets overlap, then it's a maybe. Sniper rifles already exist that can tag and track moving targets.

edwhitesell 12y ago
Tracking Point: http://money.cnn.com/2013/06/11/news/companies/trackingpoint-gun/index.html http://money.cnn.com/2013/06/11/news/companies/trackingpoint...