Drones in the News - Fatal drone accident - Discussions

found this in the "news"
http://www.electronicsweekly.com/Articles/21/05/2012/53696/avionics-gps-loss-preceded-fatal-drone-crash.htm

Quote

it was revealed that the loss of the technology likely to make it all possible - automatic GPS navigation between waypoints - led to a fatal accident last week.

The news comes after the maker of a surveillance drone that crashed into its control truck in Incheon, South Korea on 10 May, killing one of the company's engineers and injuring the two remote pilots, has confirmed that loss of the aircraft's GPS signal was an initiating event in the accident.

I realize this was probably not a DIY drone, but I wonder if there are some insights that the DIY Drone community can share about it.

( I was surprised that we don't have a Drones it the news category ... )

Although North Korea was intermittently jamming GPS in the border region between 28 April and 15 May it is not known if the jammer was operating at the time of the fatal crash.

Dumbasses. Relying on GPS signals while right on the border of an "Axis of Evil" country... Stupid! GPS is NOT meant for reliable positioning, it is only ever supposed to be used as an aid to properly working nav. systems. The US can and does inject errors into the system whenever they feel like it, and certainly when there is a military objective. North Korea just tried and failed to test launch a nuclear missile, and I wouldn't be surprised in the least if that failure was a result of intentional US GPS error injection. There's probably somebody still laughing their ass off at that one.

They're also stupid for flying a 150 kilogram (330 pound) drone. Obviously they aren't ready to be playing with anything heavier than styrofoam.

I feel a little sorry for them if the GPS problem was due to intentional errors or the North Koreans spoofed them with fake signals, but if it was simply jammed they have no excuse for this recklessly caused crash.

I wonder if it was the model with the missile mounted on it? Really makes you wonder what in the hell they're thinking trying to kill people with this thing when they can't even fly it properly and avoid killing themselves.

Replies

Rob_Lefebvre May 22, 2012 at 8:32am

There's a blog post about this already.

Jake, that's a little harsh. Many people died in the early days of manned flight, but without their sacrifice, we wouldn't be where we are today.
Jake Stew May 22, 2012 at 8:18am
Jake Stew May 22, 2012 at 8:17am

Although North Korea was intermittently jamming GPS in the border region between 28 April and 15 May it is not known if the jammer was operating at the time of the fatal crash.

Dumbasses. Relying on GPS signals while right on the border of an "Axis of Evil" country... Stupid! GPS is NOT meant for reliable positioning, it is only ever supposed to be used as an aid to properly working nav. systems. The US can and does inject errors into the system whenever they feel like it, and certainly when there is a military objective. North Korea just tried and failed to test launch a nuclear missile, and I wouldn't be surprised in the least if that failure was a result of intentional US GPS error injection. There's probably somebody still laughing their ass off at that one.

They're also stupid for flying a 150 kilogram (330 pound) drone. Obviously they aren't ready to be playing with anything heavier than styrofoam.

I feel a little sorry for them if the GPS problem was due to intentional errors or the North Koreans spoofed them with fake signals, but if it was simply jammed they have no excuse for this recklessly caused crash.

I wonder if it was the model with the missile mounted on it? Really makes you wonder what in the hell they're thinking trying to kill people with this thing when they can't even fly it properly and avoid killing themselves.

This reply was deleted.