MetaFilter posts tagged with UAV

It's not too early in history to be exterminated by a Dalek

XMLicious — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 04:00:35 -0800

The ring wing or annular airfoil is an aircraft design which has been experimented with throughout the history of aviation with some interesting variations. It has served as the inspiration for several paper airplane designs, model airplanes of course, and a variety of children's toys. The capabilities imagined by the French coléoptère engineers of the 1950's and 1960's and the U.S. "flying tank" designers are available today at least in the form of unmanned vehicles (large PDF brochure, 6 minute video download, 1½ minute YT news clip). The technology has also been adapted to become the surfboard tunnel fin and there are underwater UAVs as well.

UAVs over Sadr City

odinsdream — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 11:31:23 -0800

A sanitized look at the use of UAVs 1.9 miles above Sadr City, Iraq. [print version] 60 Minutes is granted access to information about the use of Unmanned Arial Vehicles (UAVs) over Sadr City as part of Ray Odierno's counterinsurgency strategy. The video includes footage from both unarmed and armed drones used to provide so-called "persistent surveillance" of the city and to execute direct attacks on groups identified and tracked over hours or days. Other parts of the strategy include a nearly two-mile long concrete wall separating the city:

"It seals off about a quarter of Sadr City and it's been beautified, with local artists painting murals of peaceful, happy scenes, that have to be approved by the U.S. Army. To get from one side of the wall to the other, the locals have to go through "entry points" and are checked when going back and forth."

~~Awakening Councils~~ ~~Concerned Local Citizens~~ Sons of Iraq [mefi], another component in the strategy, have had their salaries reduced from $300 per day the U.S. was paying, to about $250 to be paid by the current Iraqi government. 2008 per-capita income is approximately $1,200.

UAV Sniper Drone

socalsamba — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 11:42:04 -0800

It's an unmanned, flying gun.

Vulture to circle for years

backseatpilot — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 09:06:38 -0800

DARPA has announced the contractors for their "Vulture" UAV system. The plan is to build an aircraft that can stay aloft, uninterrupted, for five years. This article discusses some of the technical challenges. For comparison, Northrop Grumman's Global Hawk has a maximum endurance of only forty hours. Similar aircraft have been explored before, most notably with NASA's Helios, which was lost in a crash in 2003. DARPA's site for the program is a little understated.

Alien Acolytes

Kronos_to_Earth — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 08:23:42 -0800

In the seas and in the air...the minions of our Alien Overlords are preparing the way....via

Death From Above

homunculus — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 13:23:11 -0800

The U.S. Military's Assassination Problem: "Software like 'Bugsplat' is supposed to keep decapitation attacks precise. So why do we keep blowing up Iraqi wedding parties?" Globalization Bush-style: Blowing Them Away Means Never Having to Say You're Sorry

The right to build and fly robots

Burhanistan — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 20:49:56 -0800

DIY Drones "a site for all things about amateur Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs)"

OMG! DIY UAV

delmoi — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 18:59:24 -0800

Sub $1000 UAV. Wired editor, author and blogger Chris Anderson^[wiki] built a sub $1000 UAV from a model airplane and a Lego mindstorms robotics kit. The drone flies itself, all you do is punch in a direction (and eventually, GPS coordinates). I don't know if it's technically Open Source, but you can definitely download instructions and code.

Tiny eyes in the sky?

TeamBilly — Tue, 27 Dec 2005 13:10:05 -0800

We've knelt on the altar of the Predator UAV and paid homage with tax dollars (see related MeFi thread) but the Army (and possibly Hollywood [PDF]) and others want to go smaller and more efficient. With massive budget increases for UAV/MAV technology over the last two years and increased use of UAVs for border surveillance, [PDF] one wonders when the tiniest of cool toys starts becoming a tool for surveillance as the legal arguments for and against will almost certainly heat up. Face it - cool RC toys aren't just for amusing/terrorizing your pets anymore.

A Brief History of Precision Guided Weapons

Heywood Mogroot — Thu, 15 Dec 2005 04:04:52 -0800

One-page history of remote-controlled weapons. Includes some Tesla goodness.

revbrian — Mon, 27 Aug 2001 05:44:51 -0800

US drone lost over Iraq - It seems it's only a matter of time before they shoot down a piloted plane (even if by accident). What are we still trying to accomplish over there and what would the reaction be if they succeed?