Civilian use of tiny drones may soon fly in U.S.

Civilian use of tiny drones may soon fly in U.S.

seattletimes.nwsource.com

Police agencies want drones for air support to find runaway criminals. Utility companies expect they can help monitor oil, gas and water pipelines. Farmers believe drones could aid in spraying crops with pesticides

(visit the link for the full news article)

Yeah , they will be in the skies everywhere watching and recording data , ohh no problem it's just a utility firm drone or fire department drone, get real , they will be government drones in all but name . Why has no one required a drone before , something smells in the state of Denmark , you get my drift.

seattletimes.nwsource.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

reply to post by Droidinvoid


I dont think many would hesitate to shoot them down, they are "unmanned" and not carring any signs saying dont shoot me down.

I have an idea. ofc there are some things we probaly shouldnt know but!, those that have the security clearances should be public knowledge and the type of clearances they have.

already out there,...




Now, Skynet anyone?

This is silly - you can already put a camera on a "toy" helicopter you buy in a toy store, or build a quadrotor yourself and do the same.

"Drones" are nothing more than radio-controlled aircraft and have been around for decades - it's amazing that it has taken this long for various agencies to cotton on, and that they think they need specialised aircraft for these roles!

reply to post by Aloysius the Gaul


watch that video i posted.....those are not controlled RC choppers....they fly themselves, that is the creepy part

reply to post by Droidinvoid


they have - but as the technology was prohibitivly expensive it was cheaper to use manned aircraft [ either fixed or rotpr wing ] or even conduct survesys from the ground

another area where drones would be usefull is doing this job :



a drone eliminates any risk of crew fatalities and does not require a highly skilled pilot

also surveying gas / oil / water pipes , is an expensive operation - iff carried out by helicopter - as is common nowadays - a drone is cheaper to buy / maintain , and doesnt need an experienced crew

reply to post by ignorant_ape


Great, more jobs lost to technology.

I don't see this as a good thing.

Originally posted by AGWskeptic
reply to post by ignorant_ape

 

Great, more jobs lost to technology.

I don't see this as a good thing.

What about the jobs that would be created that are needed to create the machines, maintain and operate?

Instead of putting their lives at risk doing it manually they can now comfortably sit in a command vehicle and do the work instead. I don't see any actual loss of jobs, but the creation of new jobs and the redistribution of labor within the designated fields.

I was at the Brookstone store in the mall the other day and they were demo'ing a drone that looks like UFO but can controlled by your iphone or android phone. Has a range of a few hundred feet and it can take pictures as well as record live video. And this was at the mall...all yours for $299.99.

Back in 2007, there was a documentary on the discovery channel titled "2057". It was very interesting, it discussed what the world might look like in that year leading up to the technological singularity. I believe you can find it in parts on youtube. Anyways, privacy that we enjoy today will be non-existent by this time. You think its bad now? Just wait...

Originally posted by zarlaan

Originally posted by AGWskeptic
reply to post by ignorant_ape

 

Great, more jobs lost to technology.

I don't see this as a good thing.

What about the jobs that would be created that are needed to create the machines, maintain and operate?

Instead of putting their lives at risk doing it manually they can now comfortably sit in a command vehicle and do the work instead. I don't see any actual loss of jobs, but the creation of new jobs and the redistribution of labor within the designated fields.

edit on 6-12-2011 by zarlaan because: (no reason given)

You think the cheapest place to build electronics is America?

They'll be built in China or India, and what used to take a crew of 20 will now take 3 or 4.

And for each of those lineworker jobs lost you lose at least 3 ancillary jobs.

So each unit put into operation will cost about 45 jobs.

Multiply that by how many crews currently do this work and you have a buttload of lost jobs.

Time for patriotic ugly people to take up sunbathing nude except for hideous argyle socks. After surveying enough footage of ugly out of shape nude people in argyle socks, nosy people and government spooks and LEO's will give up this madness. I know it will work because all of us neighbors stay indoors with our curtains drawn on days one of our elderly neighbors decides to mow his lawn while shirtless, with his prodigious gut on display, wearing khaki shorts and argyle socks. What has been seen, can not be unseen.

A drone needs following requirements:

The ability to automaticaly avoid obstacles/ability to auto-land/stabilize
The ability to hover for long periods of time
The ability to lift atleast 15 Kg (for "worker" drones)
THe ability to attach equiptment easiliy and in air

Originally posted by pointr97
reply to post by Aloysius the Gaul

 

watch that video i posted.....those are not controlled RC choppers....they fly themselves, that is the creepy part

That is also essentially trivial - autonomous helicopters thread on an RC forum