Gizmodo: Drone

Research UAV is Preview of Hovering Spy Drones of Tomorrow

Kit Eaton — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 10:40:00 EDT

Meet STARMAC, the Stanford Testbed of Autonomous Rotorcraft for Multi-Agent Control. Possibly the cleverest remote control mini-helicopter you've ever seen, packed with GPS, sensors and computer power. It's a research quad-rotor that the Stanford team is using to develop algorithms for future aircraft like it.

The algorithms the team develops will allow hovering 'bots like STARMAC to navigate, deal with collisions or avoidance and even to work as a team, sharing info on their environment and navigating around each other.

That has all sorts of cool implications for things like future automated search and rescue drones, able to search large areas efficiently and quickly. But it also means spy 'bots. And when you've watched the video, you'll have to agree that the way the things move reminds you of the flying cameras in (insert name of sci-fi movie of your choice). [Danger Room]

Voyeur Security Drone is For Spying At Sea, Not at Your Neighbors

Kit Eaton — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 06:09:00 EDT

This helicopter mini-drone has been developed by the Navy to help it counter water-borne threats, despite its provocatively lurid name. Made by Lite Machines, the battery-powered Voyeur weighs just four pounds, stands 27-inches high and is actually designed to be suicidal. It's meant to hop out of sonobuoy tubes, patrol for threats for a while and then sink itself. Much more economical than helicopters or jets wasting fuel by attempting to ID surface targets (has the Navy's gas bill gone up at the moment too?) Plus it looks waaay more creepily sci-fi. [Danger Room]

Prox Dynamics Black Hornet: World's Smallest UAV, Too Small for Mr. T

Kit Eaton — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 08:50:56 EDT

I'm no sissy, but I don't like airplanes. And man, don't be shouting "eclipse" or I'll get angry! But I like this helicopter: it's so small, much better than that big Boeing thing. They say it's the "worlds smallest and most capable Unmanned Aircraft System". The Black Hornet is designed to aid soldiers in the field, or allow rescuers to get a camera into dangerous places. It's got a tiny camera in, you see, like a suped-up toy. Any sucker can carry it in a pocket and launch it by hand. It's 4 inches big and weighs just 20 grams. 20 grams? What kinda fool weight is that? Say 0.04 pounds! Should be flyin' in '09. Unlike me. [Prox dynamics via Pop Sci]

Callpod's Drone Bluetooth Adapter Automates Connecting Headphones and Headsets

Jason Chen — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 21:00:42 EDT

Callpod—maker of one of our favorite charging devices, the Chargepod—has just come out with a Bluetooth adapter called The Drone. What's special about this Bluetooth adapter that's not in any of the hundreds of other Bluetooth adapter sticks already out? It "automatically pairs itself with your headset or headphones," which saves about 30 seconds of waiting and having to type "0000" into some prompt.

It's also a Class 1 Bluetooth device, so you've got a theoretical range of 100 meters. Couple that with the Callpod Dragon and you've got a 100 meter headset setup that connects itself. Give it to your parents so you won't have to teach them over the phone how to connect a Bluetooth headset.

Check out Callpod's first ad spot for their Chargepod below. It's actually pretty neat and shows non-techies why it's useful for them.

Raytheon's "Killer Bee" UAV Looks to Sting Boeing in Drone Race

Sean Fallon — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 20:00:29 EDT

A fierce battle is brewing between Boeing and Raytheon to become the main supplier of unmanned aerial vehicles for the US Navy and Marine Corps. Currently, Boeing holds that title with their battle-tested ScanEagle drone. However, Raytheon's updated Killer Bee design is ready for sale, and the company claims that their aircraft has advantages over its competitor like more room for payloads, more than 100 miles of range, infrared feeds, and guide precision munitions with an on-board laser designator.

It sounds impressive, but with Boeing's ScanEagle having already proven itself, it won't be an easy sell. But if it ever came down to aesthetics, the Killer Bee would win hands down. It looks menacing, like some sort of underwater predator. A decision on the matter should be ready by June or July of this year with a rollout planned for 2001. [Popular Mechanics]

Robot Plane Nosedives Into Truck Full of Soldiers

Charlie White — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 09:51:23 EST

There's little info available about this robot drone's ill-fated flight, but it appears that the UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) got confused and flew right into a truck full of soldiers. We can't be sure why this happened, but according the U.S. Defense Department, "A significant contributor to UAV mishaps is the experience level of UAV operators and maintainers." Was the soldier seen here piloting the remote-control craft? He seemed to have some sort of control device in his hands. There are plenty of R/C airplane pilots with astonishing skills—maybe the U.S. military could get some of those dudes signed up. [Danger Room and Naval Safety Center]

50-Knot Sentry Drone Is the Ultimate in RC Boats

AddyDugdale — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 07:30:12 EDT

Just eleven and a half feet in length, the Sentry is an unmanned surveillance craft from British defense firm Qinetiq that can hit speeds of 50 knots. The boat, which can work up to 16 miles from its controller, and go for up to six hours, is on show at an arms fair in London this week, and has all sorts of tricks up its sleeves.

With a beam of just over four feet, the Sentry stands three feet above the waterline, and its remote control uses a PC-based console. On board is a camera for day or night use, microwave data-link communications gear, and a lighting rig that meets international maritime standards, according to Qinetiq.

Suggested missions include harbor patrol, battlefield reconnaissance and damage assessment. Not a swimming pool toy, then. [Crave]

U.S to Deploy an Entire Squadron of Unmanned Aerial Drones in Iraqistan

blongo3 — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 17:15:26 EDT

The U.S. has commissioned an squadron of General Atomics' MQ-9 Reaper drones like the one above, shown at Creech Air Force Base. The Reaper will do more than surveillance, carrying up to 14 satellite-guided Hellfire missiles that can cause some serious damage. Click for a super-high resolution version of the Reaper showing all its naughty bits.

These babies are about two times as fast as their Predator predecessor, thanks mostly to its new and improved 900-hp turbo-prop engine. They are scheduled to be deployed between this fall and early next spring.

As a bonus, here is a video of a similar beast, the Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Block 20 Global Hawk.

[Slashdot]

FAA Says Not So Fast To LA Sheriffs' Drones

Jason Chen — Thu, 22 Jun 2006 17:26:36 EDT

Remember those unmanned drones the LA Sheriffs were going to fly? The FAA is pooping all over this party and in turn, making the Sheriffs "peeved" as hell.

The FAA wants to investigate the demonstration the sheriff's dept. conducted last week to make sure everything's on the up and up, hopefully clearing these drones to peep on you and your sexy wife along with "looking for lost hikers and children".

"A private citizen can go to the store and buy one of those model airplanes and fly them around. But because we're doing it as a public service, we have to deal with the FAA?" said Sheriff's Cmdr. Sid Heal.

Yes. – Jason Chen

FAA Grounds L.A. Sheriff's Drone Plans [Chron - Thanks Mathis!]

Army's New Spy Drone

Travis Hudson — Tue, 09 Aug 2005 17:20:30 EDT

The Army has finally picked out their new next-gen flight drone. They are dishing out $214 million to General Atomics to produce 48 of the Extended Range Multi-Purpose (ERMP) drones. These drones are capable of potentially staying in the air for 72 hours and are able to take off and land on their own. They will observe enemies and relay the information back and not talk back like that foul Private Benjamin.

Army Picks New Killer Drone [Defense Tech]