"Both Unmanned Surface Vessels (USV) and Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUV) have been identified by the Department of Homeland Security as a welcome layer of protection for ports and harbors. But insufficient attention has been paid to the potential for attacks by similar unmanned systems that could be built cheaply to easily penetrate port defenses. So says Dr. Mark Patterson, director of Autonomous Systems Laboratory at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science [shown].
Patterson focused on the threat of DIY maritime unmanned vehicles in a morning presentation at day two of the AUVSI 2011 Symposium at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C. He says that sites like diydrones.com and robot competitions show that very sophisticated platforms can be built with limited resources.
“The bad robots are coming," said Patterson. "It’s the logical outgrowth of what you can buy off the shelf.” And it is made more likely by the rapid development of subsystems that can be used to build unmanned vehicles, he said."
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would reccomend "wired for war" ;), some background on this...
Or let's think the other way:
If we already 'pay costs' of being suspected zealots, 'lone wolves' digging inherently dangerous hobby, let's start really converting them into Tools of Terror.
One day it might be useful here or there, in the meantime we are already risking of being accused and burned like a witches. Repeating all the time we are not camels is only depriving us from the joy of running on the desert.
This politicians should be all put in a cargo ship and sunk in the middle of the ocean ! They create panic and fear, to keep us under their power dome. They find ways to disregard citizens' rights in every way. Drones can be of great fun and also great help in some cases, but this guys want all the fun for them. I hope I will not live to the day when everyone has a tag like cattle !
How about team Robota of Sparkfun and OBC fame doing quite well
http://www.suasnews.com/2011/08/6565/fuel-cell-long-range-platform-...
Just one of several things that I have seen that might have a family tree that includes DIYD
Same old story!
Obama said 'lonely wolf thread' is more likely. So the little rascals are repating.
Give the guy 1000USD and let him make ardupilot and drop a grenade into 10m circle in less than three months, starting now.
If he fails, shot him. This should mark the line between hobby showstoppers and defense analysts.
While a UAV could be used in a small scale attack, it seems to me that a determined terrorist and a full-scale plane is much more dangerous.
This is no different than "guns don't kill people, PEOPLE kill people." Someone has to take the tech and steer it towards some evil end. You can use a gun to get food, to defend yourself against evil does, OR.... to knock off a liquor store. I promise if the NDA (National Drone Association, ;) ) ever calls, I will pledge a few bucks to the cause, something I do NOT do for the NRA. if the gov't wants me to have registration and/or permits tied to me and my aircraft, I am fine with it, just don't get greedy about money OR rights.
We all know there are a plethora of ways to use autonomous vehicles for bad. That is the case with any new technology though. By being responsible and proactive the public can get a more balanced view of the situation. I think SparkFun has handled situations like this well in the past that can be used as an example.
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