The gift that keeps on giving (information to the NSA)
December 26, 2014 1:07 PM   Subscribe

 
Is this another Elf on a Shelf post?
posted by Faint of Butt at 1:13 PM on December 26, 2014 [3 favorites]


No, it's the Gnome on a Drone.

coming Winter 2015
posted by Clueless in Crocodilopolis at 1:38 PM on December 26, 2014 [17 favorites]


I see a bright future for people with varmint rifles and a scrap electronics business.
posted by Uppity Pigeon #2 at 1:45 PM on December 26, 2014 [2 favorites]


I flew RC airplanes for many years. Those were lots of fun. Everyone I knew was very cautious, never flew around people, went to flying clubs, etc.

So I assume these drones/helicopters are just as fun. As long as the price is high ($3k for the one in the video), 99% of what we'll see is the little inexpensive plastic toy models. And those won't have gyro-stabilization, cameras, etc.

It was prohibited to fly the little RC airplanes everywhere; most parks and schoolyards prohibited "model airplanes." There were sometimes little flying clubs in remote areas, but that's about it.

But most of these are still fragile toys and I would wager the majority will end up shattered and in the dustbin by New Year's Eve....
posted by CrowGoat at 1:47 PM on December 26, 2014


2015 - a good year for skeet shooters.
posted by IndigoJones at 1:54 PM on December 26, 2014 [3 favorites]


The gift that keeps on giving (information to the NSA)

I came in for a good long discussion of smart phones, but all I found was little toy airplanes???
posted by indubitable at 2:15 PM on December 26, 2014 [2 favorites]


Eventually someone will make a small one of these that uses ducted fans and is much safer to use around people.

I'm not saying that will stave off people hating them on sight, but at least they won't have to risk being flayed just by being near one.
posted by quin at 3:44 PM on December 26, 2014


My company got these for what seems a legit purpose; aerial views of engineering projects. But thanks to inadequate training/high winds, we lost two of them. You wouldn't think you could just lose one. But you can! Twice. Thousands of dollars, down the crapper. I wonder if someone ever found them/hocked them. They had trackers on them, but they only worked up to a certain radius. Go too far, and it vanishes.

I had a similar experience when the grandparents got my son a little flying helicopter. We took it outside. The wind promptly blew it up on the roof. We flew it some indoors, but it wasn't the same, kept bumping into things.
posted by emjaybee at 4:22 PM on December 26, 2014


I want to train crows to attack drones.
posted by thylacinthine at 4:41 PM on December 26, 2014 [1 favorite]


I want to make a 3d model of my home and yard.

I want to make virtual focus photos from a better vantage point than on the ground.

Apparently its about $700 to get in the game, this year.... I'll be patient and wait.
posted by MikeWarot at 5:09 PM on December 26, 2014


CrowGoat, my Facebook feed is full of ads for sub $100 stabilized drones with ~2MP cameras and live video. The stabilization is even pretty good in the ~$15 quadcopters these days. Obviously you get more as you pay more, but something that'll loft a GoPro isn't a whole lot more expensive.

So, yeah, they're just RC aircraft, and that's awesome, but the prices have plummeted, something with GPS that you can program waypoints into and press "go" is pretty much off-the-shelf.
posted by straw at 6:47 PM on December 26, 2014


2015 - a good year for skeet shooters.

I want to train crows to attack drones.


Me, I'm thinking something more along these lines.
posted by Faint of Butt at 8:56 PM on December 26, 2014


There are some cheap Chinese models like the UDIRC line (use teh google) which are under $100, have cameras (not FP you have to use a uSD card to get the pics) and are have blade guards and are light enough that they are unlikely to injure collision objects, including humans. It's quite possible to fly them indoors to get practice and then outdoors, at least on a not too windy day. I have destroyed one, but did I mention they're under $100? The major risk factor is getting hung up on a tree by the blade guard.
posted by localroger at 9:34 PM on December 26, 2014


I've owned a crow, and I can tell you that this will not be as easy as you think. They will freak out over the sound and the movement, and probably fly off to safety. (Crows being smart enough to recognize something isn't moving like an animal they would normally mess with.)

A better strategy would be to train them to go after the operators. They are very good at looking at human faces, and a guy standing distracted would be easy prey for some malevolent hoppy-squawkie mischief.
posted by quin at 9:52 PM on December 26, 2014 [5 favorites]


We gave our 12 year old son another rc helicopter this year. This is the third one. He's much better at flying it now. He only crashed into the back of his mother's head twice yesterday.
posted by double block and bleed at 4:19 AM on December 27, 2014


I want to train crows to attack drones

You don't need crows, just a pissed of kangaroo.
posted by spitbull at 5:15 AM on December 27, 2014 [1 favorite]


Of=off
posted by spitbull at 5:31 AM on December 27, 2014


I own the airspace above my house and any unauthorized drone incursion will be dealt with severely by Renorocistan.
posted by Renoroc at 8:28 AM on December 27, 2014


I want to train crows to attack drones.

Will a hawk do?
posted by [insert clever name here] at 10:14 AM on December 27, 2014


Pull quote from my Christmas with friends: "Daddy, that's MY present! Let me fly it!"
posted by IAmBroom at 10:26 AM on December 27, 2014


How about someone developing some kind of jamming frequencies that would disable a drone in mid flight. Doubt I'd be too upset watching some spoiled kid's expensive drone crashing to the ground.
posted by notreally at 12:15 PM on December 27, 2014


You wouldn't think you could just lose one. But you can!
I had a similar experience when the grandparents got my son a little flying helicopter. We took it outside. The wind promptly blew it up on the roof.


RC helicopters can be lost in the same way :-( A couple of years ago, my son bought one with money he got for his birthday. After struggling to get it off the ground, I took over to work out how it responded so I could show him (Dad-speak for 'my turn!') and, while I got it off the ground fine, flew it high enough that the wind took it out of range and it shut down and plummeted over the other side of the house out of sight. With a feeling of dread, I rushed around there to find my dread had been realised - it had dropped straight into our dam. I spent a couple of hours diving in the 6 metre deep murky, weed-infested water but never found it. I got my wallet and gave him the money he'd spent on it with a mumbled comment that maybe he'd be better spending the money on something else.
posted by dg at 4:19 PM on December 28, 2014


notreally: Doubt I'd be too upset watching some spoiled kid's expensive drone crashing to the ground.
They're about $50-150 right now, which means even lower-middle-class families can hypothetically own them... plus, what makes you so happy about destroying a child's toy? IRDC how much money their parents make; this incessant "all rich people are ebil!" bullshit is annoying.
posted by IAmBroom at 10:07 AM on December 29, 2014 [1 favorite]


I own the airspace above my house and any unauthorized drone incursion will be dealt with severely by Renorocistan.

Up to 83 feet only, thanks to U.S. vs. Causby (1946). See also Planet Money.

Also, for some dang reason, you can't shoot them down. I think a nice 20-gauge fowling piece firing birdshot would do nicely against most of these weapons, without all that lethal rain of bullets.
posted by Sunburnt at 3:08 PM on December 29, 2014


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