Just in case someone is wondering, we are not even remotely close to technology like this.
The control problem is very hard, but the perception problem perhaps even harder, Especially when most of the processing needs to be done onboard because you need the perception to be part of the control loop and work at reasonably high frequencies. Higher-level perception tasks such as identifying power lines or people are even further out.
Like a Swarm of Lethal Bugs: The Most Terrifying Drone Video Yet
31–40 of 68 posts
Re: Like a Swarm of Lethal Bugs: The Most Terrifying Drone Video Yet
#32Earlier quoted context omitted.
1. I believe that was addressed in the video. These are very short range devices that can be recharged by solar energy or by sitting on power lines. 2. See the video. 3. You might be able to deny access to buildings with mosquito nets but you're not going to stop close range surveillance, painting targets and other uses. Mosquito nets themselves would be relatively trivial to dismantle with a swarm of these (you'd on…
but those problems were just talked about, not solved. This is the US government we're talking about, so I bet they will never get far, and by the time they have something operational, you'll be able to but something 10x better on Amazon.
"This is the US government we're talking about, so I bet they will never get far"
Oh? You mean the US government that was the first to create nuclear weapons and land men on the moon?
Re: Like a Swarm of Lethal Bugs: The Most Terrifying Drone Video Yet
#33"When I watch that simulation I am horrified. I also think to myself, this technology is more likely to diminish American security than to enhance it." Quite so, but that's no argument for the US not working on it anyway. The enemy will have it eventually no matter what. We might as well have it too.
What is this "we" you speak of?
Civilized humanity? As in the opposite to fundamentalists?
Re: Like a Swarm of Lethal Bugs: The Most Terrifying Drone Video Yet
#34These are about as practicable as developing lightsabers. They are: 1. Difficult to build. It's proving incredibly hard to achieve any decent range for electrical road vehicles. This multiplies manifold when trying to cram components into a much smaller space and make the whole thing fly . 2. Difficult to control. Gusts of wind, predatory birds, reliable bandwidth etc. 3. Trivially easy to defend against. Think mosqu…
Mosquitoes are an apt analogy: however, I don't think the analogy is to the detriment of legitimate fear of these. Mosquitoes have not only overcome those technical obstacles, but thrived as a species. They even manage to kill millions of people a year, inadvertently. Obviously you can't sweep everything difficult about utilizing these bug-drones under the rug as just questions of implementation, but it's pretty clea…
We can't even build an amoeba, much less a mosquito. Heck, we can't even take an existing mosquito and make it fly where we want while transmitting video.
Re: Like a Swarm of Lethal Bugs: The Most Terrifying Drone Video Yet
#35Earlier quoted context omitted.
1. I believe that was addressed in the video. These are very short range devices that can be recharged by solar energy or by sitting on power lines. 2. See the video. 3. You might be able to deny access to buildings with mosquito nets but you're not going to stop close range surveillance, painting targets and other uses. Mosquito nets themselves would be relatively trivial to dismantle with a swarm of these (you'd on…
1. The short range is a killer. You already need to know where the bad guys are, within an area of a few blocks. And solar panels with such small form factor are a joke in comparison with the energy demands of powered flight. (Sure, there are solar powered drones, but they need huge wings, perfect weather, and are little more than powered gliders.) 2. I didn't see any good counter-arguments there. Care to detail. 3.…
[deleted]
Re: Like a Swarm of Lethal Bugs: The Most Terrifying Drone Video Yet
#36I believe most right thinking people in this world are terrified of the military power of the USA. Even I, being a US citizen, am starting to become very concerned with our military weapons and their usage as they seem far more likely to be turned on us then our enemies. Call me a nut job if you want but we are all just a proclamation away from being "domestic terrorists".
Yes, our military (I'm also a US citizen) has a whole lot of things that do bad, painful, often fatal things. They're scary for any number of reasons, one of which is certainly the possibility of their use against us. However, this is in no way limited to the US. Many, many governments -- possibly most -- have similarly awful and destructive, if not as technologically advanced, ways to harm anyone and/or everyone in…
Instead of the current war/combative/investigative tasks that they have, I hereby demand all the drones be re-commissioned and given the following tasks:
- Keeping track of the forest cover and water resources
- Geographical surveys to identify use & misuse of resources
- Track and identify poachers and loggers
- In cities, keep an eye on the air pollution and particulate levels
- Identify factories emitting pollutants above the limits
- Tracking inclement weather
- Attend to humanitarian needs in disaster situations
Re: Like a Swarm of Lethal Bugs: The Most Terrifying Drone Video Yet
#37"When I watch that simulation I am horrified. I also think to myself, this technology is more likely to diminish American security than to enhance it." Quite so, but that's no argument for the US not working on it anyway. The enemy will have it eventually no matter what. We might as well have it too.
But sticking our heads in the sand is so comforting!
Re: Like a Swarm of Lethal Bugs: The Most Terrifying Drone Video Yet
#38Sure, but a lot of this is pure scifi at this point.
[deleted]
Re: Like a Swarm of Lethal Bugs: The Most Terrifying Drone Video Yet
#39Just in case someone is wondering, we are not even remotely close to technology like this. The control problem is very hard, but the perception problem perhaps even harder, Especially when most of the processing needs to be done onboard because you need the perception to be part of the control loop and work at reasonably high frequencies. Higher-level perception tasks such as identifying power lines or people are eve…
Have to disagree with this. This exact technology is operating right now, just not as small. The perception problem is the second hardest (behind power) but still totally possible. On a Raspi running at 800MHz one can get 5-10 fps while running intense vision algorithms. I'd say a micro multicopter with real CV capabilities is possible right now.
Re: Like a Swarm of Lethal Bugs: The Most Terrifying Drone Video Yet
#40Just in case someone is wondering, we are not even remotely close to technology like this. The control problem is very hard, but the perception problem perhaps even harder, Especially when most of the processing needs to be done onboard because you need the perception to be part of the control loop and work at reasonably high frequencies. Higher-level perception tasks such as identifying power lines or people are eve…
This is the disappointing part; every objectively impressive drone video I've seen has been controlled by a centralized computer with a bunch of cameras watching the drones and controlling them accordingly. Long way from group of drones that can fly anywhere and operate in any conditions.