Purile thought of the day - Red Baron garden interceptor

covert_shores

covert_shores

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Apparently it is illegal to shoot down a private drone snooping over your property. Imagine that it wasn't. What would a drone designed to knock other drones out of the sky look like and how would it work?


I can imagine something resembling a regular RC aircraft but with a framework of blades protecting the nose, wings etc. you'd want the prop at the back and a webcam in the nose. The wings would be quite short so that the blades could run the whole length.

Taking off from your garden runway, it'd circle to stabilize control and gain height then climb on a collision course, coming up at the quad rotor target from below so that its silhouetted against the sky. Smash. The quad rotor would tumble out of control and the interceptor would tumble briefly also but regain control and land under RC.
 
Mine would look like this:
 

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Awesome. I used to sometimes walk near a Bloodhound half-battery during the Cold War, truly epic skyline. But not really garden friendly. Maybe EE thunderbolt? Or GardenSlug ;)

Yes the plonker shooting at the drone was the news article that prompted this.
 
I probably shouldn't get too drawn into this one but I will offer this for your amusement -


http://www.chess-dynamics.com/products/anti-uav-defence-system.html
 
Ah, always a company to sell you something against 'the malicious use of commercial drones'.


But, if you did have a garden interceptor, roughly as described in the first post, how feasible is it to make it an automated defense system using current grade commercial UAV technology?

Some sort of a drone detection system, which then identifies the target and launches the model aircraft, which then needs to be vectored in on the target before the camera in the nose can acquire the target. And then it needs to home in on the target and impact. And then recover.
 
Two thumbs way up for the 40W laser shotgun. A more conservative approach might be a decent good ole pellet gun. Enough to get the job done, cheap, without too much unwanted attention.

An array of balloons placed in sensitive areas might also help keep drones away.
 
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2448531


"Legal experts say that shooting down a drone with a gun should technically be a federal felony offense.


Jason Koebler isn't just a fellow quad and FPV pilot, he is also a writer for MotherBoard.com. To top it off he is also an active RCGroups user.


Read his latest story:


The Sky's Not Your Lawn


Comments section tough guys and fictional sitcom characters have popularized the idea that it's completely acceptable to shoot a drone out of the sky. One man in California recently learned, it's not: A judge just awarded a drone pilot $850 in a lawsuit related to the shooting of his custom-built drone.


I was contacted by a man who said his drone had just been shot while flying over his parents' farm. Before talking on the record to the press, he wanted to get the case settled either with his neighbor or with the legal system. In late May, his case was finally finished. It is the first lawsuit relating to the destruction of a drone to become public.


Legal experts say that shooting down a drone with a gun should technically be a federal felony offense. Because the Federal Aviation Administration has decided to consider drones "aircraft" (and has fought for that distinction in court) and has not yet created specific rules about their use, shooting at one should be a violation of federal code 18 §32, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.


"If drones are aircraft, and subject to all of the same restrictions as aircraft, then they should also be afforded the exact same protection the law provides all aircraft," - Peter Sachs, a Connecticut-based attorney specializing in drone issues.


Thus far, the FAA has not charged anyone who has shot down a drone with violating that law, though the FAA has made it explicit that shooting at a drone is illegal.


So, if you are thinking about shooting down a drone, know that at the very least, there's a good chance you'll lose a good sum of money if you get sued."
 
The guy must have had a bad Lawyer. If an individual was flying a drone directly over you're home for the purposes of Harassment, or as a nuisance, or in a threatening way to do harm it seems there would be really good defenses to that type of stuff. Worse still, if an individual was using a drone with a camera or other device to try to get a look at you're wife or daughter, there would be some justification for destroying the drone. What is the valid purpose in that case that the operator justified being over the property.
 
kcran567 said:
Two thumbs way up for the 40W laser shotgun. A more conservative approach might be a decent good ole pellet gun.
Click to expand...

Hitting a drone with a pellet gun would be an amazing shot. With a properly set laser? Point and click. I doubt 40 watts would cause much physical damage to the drone, but I think it's a safe bet that if the beam(s) is (are) focused tightly enough, it would turn any cameras on the drone into smoking burned-out CCD's in a little short of no time. If the laser is in IR rather than blue or green, then the chances that anyone on the ground will spot what's going on are almost nil.
 
If it has a badass black and dark red colour scheme you might get somewhere with it. This might be the start if anti flash white ablative paint schemes for drones.
 
Orionblamblam said:
kcran567 said:
Two thumbs way up for the 40W laser shotgun. A more conservative approach might be a decent good ole pellet gun.
Click to expand...

Hitting a drone with a pellet gun would be an amazing shot. With a properly set laser? Point and click. I doubt 40 watts would cause much physical damage to the drone, but I think it's a safe bet that if the beam(s) is (are) focused tightly enough, it would turn any cameras on the drone into smoking burned-out CCD's in a little short of no time. If the laser is in IR rather than blue or green, then the chances that anyone on the ground will spot what's going on are almost nil.
Click to expand...


How about a roof mounted ball turret laser/IR blinder that one could buy at the local home mart in a ceiling fan sized package. Market it to consumers wanting added security and privacy. Or would it be illegal to sell it retail?
 
5etbZmW.jpg
 
I don't see the advantages the blades buy you. Realistically you're not likely to hit the drone going so fast that you'll slice right through it, so you'll wind up just battering it... and probably destroying your drone in the process. If that's the case, just shed the excess mass.

Perhaps better to *trail* something... a string with hooks or adhesive on it, perhaps. Snag a drone in flight by flying just above it; the string gets yanked out of its linkage at a certain force that's high enough so that it won't happen accidentally, low enough so it doesn't damage your plane. The string gets caught in the drones rotors and gums up the works.
 
It strikes me that if the goal is area denial("stay off my lawn"), and shooting is banned, that a heavy R/C car with a barrage balloon attached would make for a fun chase and a definite takedown if it catches a wire...
 
Given how fast and nimble quadcopters are getting (there was a video a few weeks back showing a quad doing maneuvers that seemingly defied belief; couldn't be bothered to look it up, though), the practicality of hitting one with another aircraft seems pretty remote. You would need an equally nimble and fast aircraft, which would mean equally expensive, as well as a *superior* control system, which a guy on the groudn with joysticks might not be able to provide. You'd need a fully autonomous surface-to-air missile, which I'm pretty sure would attract the attention of the FAA. And BATFE. And FBI. And USAF.

Consider also that the drones are getting *tiny*. An HD camera equipped drone nimble as a hummingbird, the size of a hummingbird, is probably available now if you have enough money, and will soon be on the shelves of your local Toys R Us. This means that if you are enough of a target to worry about drones, you're going to have to worry about a *lot* of drones. Swarms of 'em. So you'll need an anti-drone system that can take out many, quickly, cheaply. And so I'm back to advocating lasers. The great thing is, if you have a laser capable of frying the optics of a current large drone, it'll likely do structural damage to a small drone.

The neat thing is, the technology to do this is available now. Not just the laser, but the control system. High thee to yon Youtube and search for "mosquito laser." There are numerous videos of laser systems that can track, target and zap skeeters. Just scale it up. It'll need good AI to avoid zapping birds and helicopter pilots, though.
 
Orionblamblam said:
Given how fast and nimble quadcopters are getting (there was a video a few weeks back showing a quad doing maneuvers that seemingly defied belief; couldn't be bothered to look it up, though), the practicality of hitting one with another aircraft seems pretty remote.
Click to expand...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8p5uDf9i_Yc

I wonder how long until we see the first guided version of one of these:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPMVF_3XtW0

The hardware is out there right now that a determined, knowledgeable individual could use for raising hell if they were so inclined.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvDqoxMUroA
 
sferrin said:
Problem is, every time you used it they'd be able to see it on the ISS. B)
Click to expand...

There have got to be roughly equivalent IR lasers.

But then: we're in a thread that's predicated on the idea of using one drone to ram another, so we can assume that the "shooter" is ok with being acknowledged as such. So... having a beam like this - or even more powerful - lancing up out of your home or yard late at night taking out the paparazzidrone might be a *feature* not a *bug.*
 
sferrin said:
Orionblamblam said:
Given how fast and nimble quadcopters are getting (there was a video a few weeks back showing a quad doing maneuvers that seemingly defied belief; couldn't be bothered to look it up, though), the practicality of hitting one with another aircraft seems pretty remote.
Click to expand...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8p5uDf9i_Yc
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's it. If a drone like this is equipped with Evasion Pattern Riker-Alpha-One programmed into it as a way to get out of Dodge upon confirmation of incoming fire or bandits, I doubt there's a missile on the planet that could physically intercept it.

I doubt this drone could get imagery worth a spit while in maneuvers like this, but when in a straight line or hover it could, and it'd be vulnerable. But probably only for a fraction of a second before the autopilot random-walked it to another position.

Bringing something like this down would require either an area-denial system (a W54 warhead aught to do the trick) or something with zero time of flight. Laser to do physical damage, radio jamming, EM pulse to fry the circuits, whatever. A whole platoon of sharpshooters probably couldn't hit this thing.

Behold the future of warfare, gents.
 
Orionblamblam said:
sferrin said:
Orionblamblam said:
Given how fast and nimble quadcopters are getting (there was a video a few weeks back showing a quad doing maneuvers that seemingly defied belief; couldn't be bothered to look it up, though), the practicality of hitting one with another aircraft seems pretty remote.
Click to expand...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8p5uDf9i_Yc
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's it. If a drone like this is equipped with Evasion Pattern Riker-Alpha-One programmed into it as a way to get out of Dodge upon confirmation of incoming fire or bandits, I doubt there's a missile on the planet that could physically intercept it.

I doubt this drone could get imagery worth a spit while in maneuvers like this, but when in a straight line or hover it could, and it'd be vulnerable. But probably only for a fraction of a second before the autopilot random-walked it to another position.

Bringing something like this down would require either an area-denial system (a W54 warhead aught to do the trick) or something with zero time of flight. Laser to do physical damage, radio jamming, EM pulse to fry the circuits, whatever. A whole platoon of sharpshooters probably couldn't hit this thing.

Behold the future of warfare, gents.
Click to expand...


1. How about an EMP pulse type system, would it be cost effective for Drone Denial.

2. If using you're own drone to take down the other drone with evasion programmed into it, how about a one shot shotgun type of weapon spreading projectiles over a larger area, or even some type of adhesive pellets or something.

3. Almost forgot, smoke would be helpful if the drone is just using regular optics. A roof mounted, or drone mounted smoke generator.

4. Mirrors used to blind the drones using sunlight or bright lights at night. Lower liability risk than a laser. "It was only a searchlight..."

5. Lasers.

6. Balloons tethered together.

7. You're adhesive ribbon idea, or string that could be fired above the drone and drop onto the drone if possible. A reusable parachute/balloon mounted proximity fused "mine".

8. A potato gun or slingshot. Who knows you might get lucky.
 
How about this?
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_gKVuejyPe4
 
kcran567 said:
The guy must have had a bad Lawyer. If an individual was flying a drone directly over you're home for the purposes of Harassment, or as a nuisance, or in a threatening way to do harm it seems there would be really good defenses to that type of stuff. Worse still, if an individual was using a drone with a camera or other device to try to get a look at you're wife or daughter, there would be some justification for destroying the drone. What is the valid purpose in that case that the operator justified being over the property.
Click to expand...

The quadcopter was not over the shooter's property, nor was it fitted with any form of camera.

kcran567 said:
1. How about an EMP pulse type system, would it be cost effective for Drone Denial.

2. If using you're own drone to take down the other drone with evasion programmed into it, how about a one shot shotgun type of weapon spreading projectiles over a larger area, or even some type of adhesive pellets or something.

3. Almost forgot, smoke would be helpful if the drone is just using regular optics. A roof mounted, or drone mounted smoke generator.

4. Mirrors used to blind the drones using sunlight or bright lights at night. Lower liability risk than a laser. "It was only a searchlight..."

5. Lasers.

6. Balloons tethered together.

7. You're adhesive ribbon idea, or string that could be fired above the drone and drop onto the drone if possible. A reusable parachute/balloon mounted proximity fused "mine".

8. A potato gun or slingshot. Who knows you might get lucky.
Click to expand...

1. EMPs / jammers are illegal.

2. Would likely be illegal (as a shotgun is a firearm regardless of projectile).

3. Possibly, but to get the coverage desired you'd be suffocating yourself.

4. Definitely possible, but I'd be wary of it's effectiveness.

5. AFAIK, it's legal.

6. Possible, but high maintenance and potentially ineffective.

7. Adhesives are probably overkill; a net would be far easier to have a successful deployment.

8. Who knows, maybe you might.
 
Dragon029 said:
2. Would likely be illegal (as a shotgun is a firearm regardless of projectile).
Click to expand...

Unless it's a black powder shotgun. You could even make a black powder recoilless shotgun... a simple tube with a charge in the middle, with, say, an ounce of birdshot on one side and an ounce of sand or dust on the other.

A high-tech robot taken down by another high-tech robot armed with, essentially, a blunderbuss. Now that's comedy.
 
My modest contribution to the subject.

Should a drone fly over your house at such low altitude that it is within reach, do as follows:

1°) Blow the bugger to smithereens.
2°) Collect all the pieces and burn the motherf****r up to core.
3°) Make sure to have enough blackmail material about any neighbor liable to tell on you.
4°) Deny everything.
 
why think that nice salesman from russia that will only take 15 year R&D ?
If they build that i bet that DARPA has it ready for Combat abbots Terrorist of eeh, all kind...

solution to that ?
steampunk.gif

The Pirate Drone, it pursues, captures and loots other drones.

if that not work, hell sell it as ship model for the 10th part of THE PIRATES OF CARIBBEAN series...
 

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