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$96 3D-printed rocket that recalculates its mid-air trajectory using a $5 sensor

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Re: $96 3D-printed rocket that recalculates its mid-air trajectory using a $5 sensor

#91
post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The white washing of Koresh is sickening to see. Similar to how some in the US idolize the traitor Colonel Robert E Lee.

If this was Usenet, your post would result in a “plonk” very likely. Why did almost all Presidents up to and including Eisenhower praise Robert E Lee? Was Eisenhower a traitor also?

To be fair, Eisenhower praised Lee's personal and leadership qualities, not the Confederate cause. The GP comment speaks of people who "idolize" Lee, which I think can be presumed to mean people who are on-board with the Confederate cause and by extension racism and slavery, which is pretty much how the subject is viewed by a great many today, but in Eisenhower's time people weren't tuned for twitter-sized ideas and were more capable of recognizing the way some people excelled while also simultaneously being strongly against other aspects of that person. Nuance like having complicated views on complicated people, doesn't do well on much of the internet these days, our culture has moved away from that. Now if you say Lee was a great military officer and also a traitor, people will assume that you mean one of those and just threw in the other to mask your extremist intent or something. People are assumed to be simple, with simple opinions about other simple people.

Re: $96 3D-printed rocket that recalculates its mid-air trajectory using a $5 sensor

#92
post #88

There are 2 short segments in the video showing the actual performance and thus far it is a complete [1] failure [2]. The guy has a talent, and he put together a nice prototype based on OpenRocket [3], but with all due respect, this is not a rocket, and you are not going to win any war with this toy, even if all your enemy has are rocks thrown at you from pretty much similar distance. The remix of computer games / Uk…

And that’s ok if it’s failing to do the job as intended, learning is acquired, and it looks fun to build, I am in the field and I find it great homemade concept.

Realistically, I doubt there’s ANY system out there will be able to counter small weaponized drones that are flown manually let alone with AI, you might have some workarounds, but never a real counter.

Re: $96 3D-printed rocket that recalculates its mid-air trajectory using a $5 sensor

#93

A certain kind of mind deals with stress by devising solutions, even if one cannot put them into action. Seeing people in Israel, Iran, the general Middle East as well as the Ukraine live in fear of drone strikes might have incentivised this person to come up with a potential way to deal with these threats. Cheap air defense would equilibrate drone warfare again: Currently drones are much cheaper that the systems tha…

MANPADS can be effective against large drones, but definitely not against the kind of FOV shit we see in Ukraine. They were originally designed to kill helicopters and low flying aircraft, and I'm guessing that's still his design intent.

My understanding is that for the civilians in Ukraine Shaheed style drones are the danger.

Re: $96 3D-printed rocket that recalculates its mid-air trajectory using a $5 sensor

#94
post #88

There are 2 short segments in the video showing the actual performance and thus far it is a complete [1] failure [2]. The guy has a talent, and he put together a nice prototype based on OpenRocket [3], but with all due respect, this is not a rocket, and you are not going to win any war with this toy, even if all your enemy has are rocks thrown at you from pretty much similar distance. The remix of computer games / Uk…

Yes, I don't think this project is a serious threat as a weapon, it's more interesting if viewed as a politically provocative stunt, to get people thinking about the relationship between technology and war.

Re: $96 3D-printed rocket that recalculates its mid-air trajectory using a $5 sensor

#95
post #17

> This project manifesto declares a fundamental shift: advanced air-defense capabilities—once locked behind billion-dollar state arsenals and classified labs—are now within reach of determined individuals using consumer electronics, open-source software, and rapid prototyping. I guess a lot of people will not be happy with this xD

Translation: everyone should be able to shoot down an airliner, not just nations.

I mean, if we already "trust" nations with that power...

Re: $96 3D-printed rocket that recalculates its mid-air trajectory using a $5 sensor

#96
post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They are using white phosphorus on populated areas in South Lebanon. That's as vile as one can get.

Evidence for the claim?

Human Rights Watch claim it, and have analysed photographs put on social media

https://www.hrw.org/news/2026/03/09/lebanon-israel-unlawfull...

(they have also previously documented that Israel has done this in the past)

Re: $96 3D-printed rocket that recalculates its mid-air trajectory using a $5 sensor

#97
post #92
post #88

There are 2 short segments in the video showing the actual performance and thus far it is a complete [1] failure [2]. The guy has a talent, and he put together a nice prototype based on OpenRocket [3], but with all due respect, this is not a rocket, and you are not going to win any war with this toy, even if all your enemy has are rocks thrown at you from pretty much similar distance. The remix of computer games / Uk…

And that’s ok if it’s failing to do the job as intended, learning is acquired, and it looks fun to build, I am in the field and I find it great homemade concept. Realistically, I doubt there’s ANY system out there will be able to counter small weaponized drones that are flown manually let alone with AI, you might have some workarounds, but never a real counter.

"let alone with AI" what's falling into the AI category here perhaps is the key question, since microseconds counts, and LLM are very slow!

Even the fastest "real-time" LLM frameworks currently report sub-second latencies around 120ms. This is fine for high-level mission planning (e.g., "fly to the red house") but too slow to prevent a drone from hitting a tree at 50mph (80 KM/h)[1]

Whilst the Shahed-136 kamikaze drone typically flies at a maximum speed of around 185 km/h (roughly 115 mph or 100 knots).

[1] https://arxiv.org/html/2602.19534v1 [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HESA_Shahed_136

Re: $96 3D-printed rocket that recalculates its mid-air trajectory using a $5 sensor

#98
post #88

There are 2 short segments in the video showing the actual performance and thus far it is a complete [1] failure [2]. The guy has a talent, and he put together a nice prototype based on OpenRocket [3], but with all due respect, this is not a rocket, and you are not going to win any war with this toy, even if all your enemy has are rocks thrown at you from pretty much similar distance. The remix of computer games / Uk…

Taking a quick look at the BOM, it lacks the correct sensor selection.

Re: $96 3D-printed rocket that recalculates its mid-air trajectory using a $5 sensor

#99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes. Both sides are using explosive FPV drones, flown directly into soldiers (as well as other forms of drone warfare.)

thank you. that was unnerving to watch.

Yeah, this genie is well and truly out of the bottle.

Re: $96 3D-printed rocket that recalculates its mid-air trajectory using a $5 sensor

#100
post #92
post #88

There are 2 short segments in the video showing the actual performance and thus far it is a complete [1] failure [2]. The guy has a talent, and he put together a nice prototype based on OpenRocket [3], but with all due respect, this is not a rocket, and you are not going to win any war with this toy, even if all your enemy has are rocks thrown at you from pretty much similar distance. The remix of computer games / Uk…

And that’s ok if it’s failing to do the job as intended, learning is acquired, and it looks fun to build, I am in the field and I find it great homemade concept. Realistically, I doubt there’s ANY system out there will be able to counter small weaponized drones that are flown manually let alone with AI, you might have some workarounds, but never a real counter.

"Realistically, I doubt there’s ANY system out there will be able to counter small weaponized drones that are flown manually "

Why would lasers not work?

Those cheap drones are made from plastic, if you have a laser powerful enough and a target guidance system (like a camera and a PI) - then you would just need enough of them.

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