It Flies: Da Vinci's Dream Comes True

Re:It Flies: Da Vinci's Dream Comes True by run4yourlives on Monday July 25, 2011 @01:56PM (#2803725)

Hello DoD? Yes, we've built the most revolutionary battlefield surveillance tool since the airplane. You want 4500 of them? Sweet.

Talk about hiding in plain sight.

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Re:It Flies: Da Vinci's Dream Comes True by ChuckMcM on Monday July 25, 2011 @04:00PM (#2804335)

Actually DARPA has funded a number of small UAVs with bird like properties. The Aerovironment humming bird [1] is one such example.

If you want to see some some overhype check out the video in [2]. Basically it has a the humming bird types everywhere. I suggested to a friend who shared that video with me that perhaps the military would add 'skeet shooting' to their rifeman training so that some members of your squad are designated MAV suppression :-)

Its wonderful robotics, I'm not sure its so great for folks who care about the civil liberty aspects, or the folks who have to worry about a larger threat surface.

[1] http://www.avinc.com/nano

[2] http://video.designworldonline.com/video/vid=0f7d1e1689b1472...

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Re:It Flies: Da Vinci's Dream Comes True by Someone on Monday July 25, 2011 @06:55PM (#2805104)

Have you checked the wingspan (6 feet) and the weight (17 ounces; IIRC, that is about a pound)?

Exaggerating: this thing almost floats in air. I think you can forget about adding any load to it, or about deploying it in rain or wind.

It is a great technological accomplishment, but I think it needs quite some improvements before it will be of practical use.

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Re:It Flies: Da Vinci's Dream Comes True by kevinchen on Monday July 25, 2011 @09:14PM (#2805519)

Even if it can't carry cargo one day, it could still be outfitted with a tiny camera, some sort of radio, and maybe a little onboard storage. Paint it like a bird, and boom — a sneaky surveillance system.

[Somebody's already said this, huh?]

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Re:It Flies: Da Vinci's Dream Comes True by Someone on Tuesday July 26, 2011 @02:53AM (#2806286)

I do not think that would prevent this from being blown away (maybe even to pieces) on almost any day of the year.

Birds its size weigh roughly ten times as much.

Also, I did not notice them publish top speed or range. I guess is those still leave something to be desired.

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Re:It Flies: Da Vinci's Dream Comes True by hugh3 on Tuesday July 26, 2011 @07:26AM (#2806849)

I do not think that would prevent this from being blown away (maybe even to pieces) on almost any day of the year

Maybe, but make 'em cheap enough and at least you've forced the enemy to waste time and bullets shooting at birds.

Battery life is no doubt an issue though.

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Re:It Flies: Da Vinci's Dream Comes True by snippyhollow on Monday July 25, 2011 @02:07PM (#2803775)

Do you think DoD did not think about it previously while they put transmitters on birds? I think it has to do with autonomy, speed (a real bird is more energy efficient, is more powerful and has a longer flight autonomy), and electronic signals betraying you (you have to physically come back with the data, not upload/transmit).

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Re:It Flies: Da Vinci's Dream Comes True by run4yourlives on Monday July 25, 2011 @02:36PM (#2803926)

It's one thing to carry out experiments that might one day be used on a battlefield. Such pie in the sky thinking is pretty constant.

It's completely another to adapt a working prototype into a viable device, and as far as I know nothing to date has come as close as that video I just witnessed.

In addition, secure two-way data feeds in real time is pretty much a solved problem, and is currently being used on pretty much every UAV in existence today.

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Re:It Flies: Da Vinci's Dream Comes True by doron on Monday July 25, 2011 @10:47PM (#2805758)

In his latest book "zero history", William Gibson writes extensively about the festo as an urban espionage and tracking device, quite Brilliant.

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