Moderator

2007-bugtop.jpg

Who is this person?

At last year’s Paris Air Show, some of the hottest aircraft were the autonomous unmanned helicopters—a few of them small enough to carry in one hand—that would allow military buyers to put a camera in the sky anywhere, anytime. Manufactured by major defense contractors, and ranging in design from a single-bladed camcopter to four-bladed multicopters, these drones were being sold as the future of warfare at prices in the tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars.

 

In May, at a different trade show, similar aircraft were once again the most buzzed-about items on display. But this wasn’t another exhibition of military hardware; instead, it was the Hobby Expo China in Beijing, where Chinese manufacturers demo their newest and coolest toys. Companies like Shenzhen-based DJI Innovations are selling drones with the same capability as the military ones, sometimes for less than $1,000. These Chinese firms, in turn, are competing with even cheaper drones created by amateurs around the world, who share their designs for free in communities online. It’s safe to say that drones are the first technology in history where the toy industry and hobbyists are beating the military-industrial complex at its own game.

 

http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2012/06/ff_drones/all/

E-mail me when people leave their comments –

You need to be a member of diydrones to add comments!

Join diydrones

Comments

  • @Chris -- Great article.  It has been fascinating to watch the progress here at DIY Drones and then 3D Robotics.  What you and the developers have accomplished is amazing.  Congratulations.

  • Wow, how far model aircraft have come.  I remember building and flying FF with my father - building, crashing, losing in thermals.  Then he got a single stick Kraft with the huge brick Rx, servos and NiCd batteries and thought that was the bomb.  Today, I'm building with carbon fiber, foam, putting GPS and autopilot/IMU on a plane which is the size of my first .049 FreeFlighter.  Amazing. 

  • Moderator

    Five years? 

    Too bad Chris didn't know someone on the inside at Wired, huh?

  • Can't believe it took 5 years for Wired to finally publish Chris's personal story.  Unfortunately, all the bookstores here closed years ago, so the only readers are the 5 of us.

  • @Sgt Ric, that's exactly what I was getting at.  I wouldn't say there are are no privacy concerns.  There are!  AFAIK, nothing stopping a private citizen from flying a quad up to your bedroom window and shooting vid inside your house!

  • Moderator

    I may be a Canadian, but I know alot about american law...I watch Boston Legal!   

    GO Shatner!

     

  • Moderator

    Unless you are trespassing, if you are on public property or your own, you can record and photograph anyone else.

    And since no homeowner owns the airspace above their property, flyover pics are legal.

    Sound recording however is a different can of worms with differing opinions and precedent.

    Police seizures of cameras and cell phones are abuse of power and not backed by law, and have been ruled unconstitutional.

  • Moderator

    Whoa, R Lefebvre... perhaps police can't photograph you in your yard without a warrant, but anyone else can.

     

  • There was this case not too long ago involving Barbara Streisand 

    http://www.californiacoastline.org/streisand/lawsuit.html

  • That's a really well done article.  I like that he dealt with the "what is a drone/UAV" question without getting bogged down in unnecessary details.  It is what it is.

    I was curious about the part where "we already have laws that deal with the privacy concerns" part, however.  I'm not aware of what those laws are.  At least as regards to personal use.  We know that police can't use drones to spy on people in their backyards without a warrant, but what is stopping regular people/paparazzi?

This reply was deleted.