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A comment on Like a Swarm of Lethal Bugs: The Most Terrifying Drone Video Yet.

Re:Like a Swarm of Lethal Bugs: The Most Terrifying Drone Vi... by mistercow on Tuesday February 19, 2013 @01:45PM (#5246181)
Sure, but a lot of this is pure scifi at this point.
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Re:Like a Swarm of Lethal Bugs: The Most Terrifying Drone Vi... by zokier on Tuesday February 19, 2013 @02:19PM (#5246404)
Black Hornet, in use by British forces, doesn't seem to be scifi on the other hand:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Hornet_Nano_Unmanned_Air_...

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Re:Like a Swarm of Lethal Bugs: The Most Terrifying Drone Vi... by dpcx on Tuesday February 19, 2013 @02:07PM (#5246333)
Probably not as much as you think. Who was it that just a few weeks ago was hired to specifically research and design this exact item?
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Re:Like a Swarm of Lethal Bugs: The Most Terrifying Drone Vi... by trylater on Tuesday February 19, 2013 @02:57PM (#5246655)
really? http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/02/flying-robots-nano-...
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Re:Like a Swarm of Lethal Bugs: The Most Terrifying Drone Vi... by mistercow on Tuesday February 19, 2013 @04:02PM (#5247027)
Yes, we have small flying robots. But off the top of my head, here are a few technologies mentioned in the video that we are not very close to:

1. Small wing-flapping robots that can adjust to wind gusts

2. Tiny, hybrid helicopter-birdplanes that magically don't spin when in rotor-mode, despite apparently having no anti-torque mechanism whatsoever. Also they look exactly like birds when perched and when flying.

3. Device that can harvest enough waste energy from vibrating machinery for powered flight (this one might be straight-up impossible)

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