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Monday, January 19, 2015

Counter-Drones Need 12 Cameras for Interception

Popular Science: With all the privacy concerns associated with drone usage, Rapere.io offers a counter-drone. "Simply take it outside, put it on the ground, and press the GO button. The Rapere will take off, while at the same time scanning the sky for drones. It can tell the difference between a bird and a drone, and will fly over top of any drone within range, then disable it." Rapere strikes with string by lowering a tangle line onto the rotors of its target:


Twelve 90fps VGA cameras pointing in every direction are used to guide the drone to it's target - hovering above the free floating target drone. Rapere says that detecting a free floating object which is well illuminated and far from any other visible object is easy. The counter-drone can burn lots of watts on the onboard computer, because of the short intercept flight time, which also simplifies the work.

With drones and anti-drones both using many cameras, it appears that image sensor market is set for a new explosive growth.
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10 comments:

  1. AnonymousJanuary 20, 2015 at 12:48 AM

    So, we will need another drone can detect and evade anti-drone drone

    ReplyDelete
  2. RobJanuary 20, 2015 at 8:30 AM

    Here is an old (Published on Sep 19, 2012) Video that shows what happens when one Rotor is lost: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNdzBRNNkAw -- newer Drones are more capable IF you use an advanced Flight Controller.

    How well is this supposed to work ?, the Rotors blow upwards and blow the string away; a netting would be more effective (but may have fewer deployments per flight). With a hook you could grab it, and possibly disable one engine. They might as well have used Silly String™ for this idea.

    Is there a country were this is legal to use ?, shooting down a Plane (or Drone) could kill someone.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AnonymousJanuary 20, 2015 at 1:32 PM

      > the Rotors blow upwards
      Right, if you want to fire that thing directly into the ground.

      About the video: It's a drone using 6 rotors. For a quadro copter it might be hard to keep that thing up in the air.

      Delete
    2. AnonymousJanuary 20, 2015 at 3:39 PM

      Hehe "blow upwards". Sure ;-)

      Delete
    3. Eric R FossumJanuary 20, 2015 at 7:24 PM

      I think this is where the delete comment feature is useful.

      Delete
    4. AnonymousJanuary 20, 2015 at 8:16 PM

      +1 for Eric :-)

      Delete
    5. RobJanuary 21, 2015 at 2:34 AM

      Great stuff here today. Optionally leave out one word and you get three non-helpful replies (and one useful one, thanks). Had the Post been perfect (for you) it could have stood unanswered, your a winner ! ;)

      Lets go from " the Rotors blow upwards" to " the Rotors would blow upwards".

      If you get hit effectively the rotor is brought to a stop and the drone moves away from the hit rotor as the engine loses lift. The other engines still have lift so you tilt in that direction (and spin).

      When you are about to get hit it could be detected and the one rotor that was about to be hit would blow upwards. That blows the string away and dives that side of the Copter, thus moving it away from the string in the shortest path direction (rotate sideways). Once you are tilted sideways you blow upwards, thus move sideways and downwards, the fastest escape direction from the string.


      Were there to be any attempt to avoid taking in the string and possibly becoming entangled it would most likely involve rapid sideways movement (which is caused by the reversal of one or more rotors, on the same side). Going upwards is slowest and going downward to avoid a downward falling string is not a plan well thought out.

      I guess I should have added all the above additional info to my first Post so you could either read it without misunderstanding or, as often happens, read a line or two and then rip into it with an off topic reply. Would images or a video have be more helpful ?


      PS: Inhaling the gas from the Silly String™ can is, well, just silly. While having not tried it myself I would advise yall yall to refrain from further use. Answers where we all (or most of us) learn something are more productive. Thanks for your participation.

      Delete
  3. AnonymousJanuary 20, 2015 at 9:35 AM

    I think these and similar technologies are going to have a bright future. I expect drones are going to form the largest public safety threat this world has ever known. Terrorists will be dropping and detonating explosives this way. Forget suicide bombers. It's probably just a matter of time? Counter-drone shields are a crucial technology from that point of view. Good to see that imagers help dealing with this box-of-pandora-technology.

    Think even beyond: will these drones require licence plates, and do we need automated drone licence plate detection cameras on every building? And will there be spectacular automated police drone chases?

    JB

    ReplyDelete
  4. adiJanuary 20, 2015 at 2:00 PM

    I also predict the "umbrella drones" which will protect us from falling drones caused by counter drones. Seriously guys, it is going to be tough to walk in the streets in the near future..

    ReplyDelete
  5. UnknownApril 5, 2016 at 9:19 AM

    What's really needed is real anti-drone tech to prevent weaponized drones from illegally policing the citizens of USA. Or... Paparazzi lol

    ReplyDelete

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