Re:Guy builds nightvision drone to hunt feral pigs
by eftpotrm on Monday September 26, 2011 @07:21AM
(#3038374)
If you're building this for purposes law enforcement will be concerned with, a flying bomb / guided makes far more sense than a gun platform IMHO. Build a few kamikaze drones, load them up with semtex and shrapnel, put them into a steep dive from altitude over your target...
(I should stress I'm a very peaceful chap with no revolutionary or violent inclinations whatsoever!)
Re:Guy builds nightvision drone to hunt feral pigs
by baddox on Monday September 26, 2011 @02:30PM
(#3040129)
> (I should stress I'm a very peaceful chap with no revolutionary or violent inclinations whatsoever!)
That's how it starts...
Re:Guy builds nightvision drone to hunt feral pigs
by ilamont on Monday September 26, 2011 @09:55AM
(#3038902)
...to be honest I'm quite worried about the future possibility of semi-autonomous weaponised drones.
"A future for drones: Automated killing"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/national-security/a-f...
Re:Guy builds nightvision drone to hunt feral pigs
by alnayyir on Monday September 26, 2011 @05:39AM
(#3038206)
>It seems that 'remote hunting' has been banned in various US states, although not all of them: http://www.fieldandstream.com/blogs/hunting/2011/02/north-da....
There are exemptions to most of these laws, including ones concerning "hunting seasons" for farmers.
I knew a guy with an orchard who had the coveted right in Ohio to shoot deer all year long. 80% of that man's familys' protein came from those hungry deer.
Re:Guy builds nightvision drone to hunt feral pigs
by billswift on Monday September 26, 2011 @06:48AM
(#3038313)
"Coveted" by flakes and suburbanites, maybe. If he's like most of the farmers and orchardists I know, he would probably much prefer to buy his meat and not have to worry about the deer eating his money crop. Farmers, and even just general gardeners, mostly hate deer, usually intensely.
Re:Guy builds nightvision drone to hunt feral pigs
by Roboprog on Monday September 26, 2011 @08:47AM
(#3038588)
I hear you about that. I have a small garden. We live in the Sierra foothills in north/central California. Usually, things are OK with the dog and people coming and going. But when we go on vacation, they tear stuff up badly.
... And I like to fly small R/C foamies, as well :-) No plans to build any flying defenses, though.
Re:Guy builds nightvision drone to hunt feral pigs
by JshWright on Monday September 26, 2011 @11:13AM
(#3039303)
Wouldn't it make sense that they would 'covet' permission to destroy the object of their hatred year round?
Re:Guy builds nightvision drone to hunt feral pigs
by alnayyir on Monday September 26, 2011 @01:41PM
(#3039929)
Deer have killed a lot of people and destroyed a lot of property. It's a coveted right for a reason.
You must have a hell of a wireless keyboard, typing from up on that high horse of yours.
Obviously it would be illegal in most of Europe and probably elsewhere too.
This is something I've spent a fair few idle afternoons daydreaming about, and to be honest I'm quite worried about the future possibility of semi-autonomous weaponised drones. The average HN reader probably has the knowledge and access to resources necessary to build a basic manually-controlled drone. An iPhone or even an Arduino would provide the necessary computing power for semi-autonomous activity (and a whole bunch of useful sensors, including GPS, camera etc.) and it can't be long before someone builds some open source software to enable these things to fly basic missions (go to these coordinates, film for 30 minutes, return to base, avoid obvious obstacles whilst doing so). Mounting some kind of weapon on there is a fairly simple step. You could even print the weapon parts with a 3D printer...
What really scares me is the arms race that will occur when law enforcement has to deal with this kind of thing.