3-d printed unmanned, automated drones - not sci-fi, reality since 2003

techcrunch.com... he links to an article too

The above is about unmanned drones that can ID and shoot-to-kill anyone without human intervention. This is a serious US military/air-force program apparently, and is also being taken up in the UK. The article I have linked to brings up the serious concern, that with easily and relatively cheaply available 3-D printers, how long will it be before a pissed-off guy or an ideology-terrorist print out an unmanned drone and blow someone up?

A little snippet:

Have you been watching the skies? I have. As the US expands its unmanned air force, and the UK plans its drone-swarm tactics, researchers are testing and demonstrating autonomous drones — ones that could “hunt, identify and kill the enemy based on calculations made by software, not decisions made by humans.” (According to the author of the wonderfully-titled Army-funded study Governing Lethal Behavior in Autonomous Robots, “Lethal autonomy is inevitable.”) Philosophers are penning learned monographs on the ethics of drone warfare. Universities are beginning to offer degrees in unmanned autonomous vehicle design.

If you don't know what a 3-D printer is/does, it basically takes a 3-D computer-model, and prints it out in plastic, one cross-section at a time. So it may take a few hours to make a model, but not days/weeks. And the costs are from a few hundered Euros, going up to about EUR 10,000. That's not a lot considering what can be done with it.

This commercial youtube demo is pretty good www.youtube.com...

Anyway, hope this was interesting / useful and I'd love to hear your comments about this.

My own comments:
Frankly, I always wanted to live in a flying car jetsons type utopia, not this mad-max type dystopia where everyone is always tense in the neck & shoulders because you never know who's gonna do you in next. On the other hand, if "TPTB" are making all this effort, maybe there is no massive annhilation plan on the agenda Cue: *always look on the bright side of life* www.youtube.com...

Hopefully they can make this technology invent me a new autonomous wife that will satisfy my every need and obey my commands.

Or I can just get a mail order bride.

3D printers are the future. They just printed a car, although it took 15 years to complete. They also print in materials other than plastic. The day is not too far away where you will take your car to a repair shop and the mechanic will simply print the part they need. Just means even fewer jobs going forward.

reply to post by rainychica


If you don't know what a 3-D printer is/does, it basically takes a 3-D computer-model, and prints it out in plastic, one cross-section at a time. So it may take a few hours to make a model, but not days/weeks. And the costs are from a few hundered Euros, going up to about EUR 10,000. That's not a lot considering what can be done with it.

It does take days, especially the type of printing your talking about, you forgot to mention the waste building material it uses to help build up the 3D model. The printer in your video costs $40,000, the standard price of a 3d printer is $20,000-$60,000. The cheapest is $1000 (RepRap) but this is an open source experimental machine which generally has to be built by yourself, this type does not use excess waste material so is limited in the types of 3d objects that can be made.

3D printing has been available for around 40 years but not in the conventional sense, usually lasers and liquids or powders. The printing machines your talking about have been around since the late 90's my first go on one of these was 2002, and it was 3rd or 4th generation.

My experience, I use these machines.

reply to post by sligtlyskeptical


They now print in clay slips and solder, you can 'technically' build a product with circuitry inside, but the machines lack the steadiness of a human hand especially when using solder.

Internal high performance ceramic pieces for, race cars and aeronautical uses does get me excited though.

There's a reason why cities are being built below the ground now, instead of above the ground.


Technology for war may leave mankind going back to hiding in caves.

This is the first step in the replication process used in star trek. However I beloved they use beaming technology to arrange atomic structures rather than print physical matter.

Baby steps though

My technical high school had a 3d printer. It isn't a new idea or anything OooOoh worthy at all.

reply to post by rainychica


Even if the "terrorists" purchase the 3d printer they will not be able to do the same thing. They also need a custom power supply, custom realtime software, video imaging, radio transmitters, ect... Getting the thing to fly and actually recognize a kill target is no easy task.

Here is a very interesting video on 3D printers..




In fact the comedian Jeff Dunham uses one to make the puppets he uses in his act.

And for those who don't know of him check this out.



He owns a 3D printer so if you can afford one you can have one for yourself. What will we come up with next?