ARGUS... a video surveillance platform

[If_I_Loved_you]

Couple an armed drone with face recognition technology and you have a mechanical assassin.  "Fly over that crowd until you see this face and then detonate within five feet."

This thread is freaking me out more and more!

Hmmmmm.....  Not to take this thread down another road, but don't other 'religions' use this technology?  I'm not saying be more or less afraid, only raising the point that this already happens.

A spy drone doesn't have a religion? 

[If_I_Loved_you]

I think they have a harder time flying silently through a small open attic window at church dinners.

but hey, at least they will be able to accurately guide the little guys with the real time information provided by ARGUS 2!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQIMGV5vtd4

[BridgeTroll]

sheesh... the paranoia here pales in comparison to the concerns of gun owners...

[If_I_Loved_you]

sheesh... the paranoia here pales in comparison to the concerns of gun owners...

“An ostrich with its head in the sand is just as blind to opportunity as to disaster”

[Dog Walker]

It's not just us who are developing concerns about drones, so is Congress:

http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2013/02/01/drones_could_be_used_for_stalking_voyeurism_says_congressional_research.html



The sight of a drone in flight is likely to become a regular occurrence in the United States within the next few years. But the rise of unmanned technology could lead to new crimes like “drone stalking” and “drone trespassing,” lawmakers are being told.

A Congressional Research Service report published Wednesday, Integration of Drones Into Domestic Airspace: Selected Legal Issues, sets out the many contentious areas around unmanned aircraft. It cautions that in the future, as drones become more easily available to private citizens, we may see the technology used to commit various offences. This could mean neighbors using drones to infiltrate one another’s gardens as a means of harassment, or a voyeur using one strapped with a camera and microphone to photograph women and listen in on people’s conversations.

“Traditional crimes such as stalking, harassment, voyeurism, and wiretapping may all be committed through the operation of a drone,” the report says. “As drones are further introduced into the national airspace, courts will have to work this new form of technology into their jurisprudence, and legislatures might amend these various statutes to expressly include crimes committed with a drone.”

Of particular note is a section in the report titled “Right To Protect Property From Trespassing Drones.” It outlines that in certain instances, under a section of tort law, “a landowner would not be liable to the owner of a drone for damage necessarily or accidentally resulting from removing it from his property.” This doesn’t necessarily mean that you can “use force”â€"like shooting the thing downâ€"if someone flies an unmanned aircraft onto your property. But it does mean you could remove a drone from your property without resorting to force, and if it were “accidentally” damaged in that process, you might not be in trouble. Though, of course, it might be difficult to establish accidental or intentional damage in a court, and it could also be difficult to determine whether the drone had in fact been trespassing in the first place.

These issues may seem hypothetical nowâ€"but they are likely to come to the fore relatively soon. Last year, Congress tasked the FAA with safely integrating drones into the national airspace system by September 2015. Border security agencies are already using military-style drones like the Predator to conduct surveillance of border areas, and some law enforcement departments have used them, tooâ€"in one case, even to help arrest a farmer in North Dakota. Federal, state, and local agencies must obtain authorization from the FAA to fly large Predator-style drones, which can be used in designated airspace zones only. But regulations around small model-plane-size aircraft are more relaxed, and as they become more popular and affordable, legal conflicts seem inevitable.

Drones have prompted widespread privacy concerns, with one New York-based artist even recently developing a “drone-proof hoodie” to evade flying eyes in the sky. There are currently a number of bills being proposed by Congressmen looking to bring in provisions that will address drone surveillance. In December, for instance, Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., introduced the Drone Aircraft Privacy and Transparency Act, which includes provisions that would require the FAA to create a public website where it will list all locations of drone flights.* Markey also called on the agency "to provide guidance and limitations" on drones in the United States.

Of course, it’s easy to dismiss the chances of Markey’s bill ever getting voted into law. But with warnings about a future of “drone stalking,” he might be about to see a boom in support.

[BridgeTroll]

There are currently a number of bills being proposed by Congressmen looking to bring in provisions that will address drone surveillance. In December, for instance, Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., introduced the Drone Aircraft Privacy and Transparency Act, which includes provisions that would require the FAA to create a public website where it will list all locations of drone flights.* Markey also called on the agency "to provide guidance and limitations" on drones in the United States.

Great idea! 

[If_I_Loved_you]

It's not just us who are developing concerns about drones, so is Congress:

http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2013/02/01/drones_could_be_used_for_stalking_voyeurism_says_congressional_research.html



The sight of a drone in flight is likely to become a regular occurrence in the United States within the next few years. But the rise of unmanned technology could lead to new crimes like “drone stalking” and “drone trespassing,” lawmakers are being told.

A Congressional Research Service report published Wednesday, Integration of Drones Into Domestic Airspace: Selected Legal Issues, sets out the many contentious areas around unmanned aircraft. It cautions that in the future, as drones become more easily available to private citizens, we may see the technology used to commit various offences. This could mean neighbors using drones to infiltrate one another’s gardens as a means of harassment, or a voyeur using one strapped with a camera and microphone to photograph women and listen in on people’s conversations.

“Traditional crimes such as stalking, harassment, voyeurism, and wiretapping may all be committed through the operation of a drone,” the report says. “As drones are further introduced into the national airspace, courts will have to work this new form of technology into their jurisprudence, and legislatures might amend these various statutes to expressly include crimes committed with a drone.”

Of particular note is a section in the report titled “Right To Protect Property From Trespassing Drones.” It outlines that in certain instances, under a section of tort law, “a landowner would not be liable to the owner of a drone for damage necessarily or accidentally resulting from removing it from his property.” This doesn’t necessarily mean that you can “use force”â€"like shooting the thing downâ€"if someone flies an unmanned aircraft onto your property. But it does mean you could remove a drone from your property without resorting to force, and if it were “accidentally” damaged in that process, you might not be in trouble. Though, of course, it might be difficult to establish accidental or intentional damage in a court, and it could also be difficult to determine whether the drone had in fact been trespassing in the first place.

These issues may seem hypothetical nowâ€"but they are likely to come to the fore relatively soon. Last year, Congress tasked the FAA with safely integrating drones into the national airspace system by September 2015. Border security agencies are already using military-style drones like the Predator to conduct surveillance of border areas, and some law enforcement departments have used them, tooâ€"in one case, even to help arrest a farmer in North Dakota. Federal, state, and local agencies must obtain authorization from the FAA to fly large Predator-style drones, which can be used in designated airspace zones only. But regulations around small model-plane-size aircraft are more relaxed, and as they become more popular and affordable, legal conflicts seem inevitable.

Drones have prompted widespread privacy concerns, with one New York-based artist even recently developing a “drone-proof hoodie” to evade flying eyes in the sky. There are currently a number of bills being proposed by Congressmen looking to bring in provisions that will address drone surveillance. In December, for instance, Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., introduced the Drone Aircraft Privacy and Transparency Act, which includes provisions that would require the FAA to create a public website where it will list all locations of drone flights.* Markey also called on the agency "to provide guidance and limitations" on drones in the United States.

Of course, it’s easy to dismiss the chances of Markey’s bill ever getting voted into law. But with warnings about a future of “drone stalking,” he might be about to see a boom in support.

This is a start in the right direction!

[If_I_Loved_you]

Oregon Drone Bill Would Claim the 'Airspace' Above Your Shoestrings http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2013/01/31/oregon-drone-bill-would-claim-the-airspace-above-your-shoestrings

New 'Stealth' Fashion Look Lets People Duck Drone Cameras http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2013/01/24/new-stealth-fashion-look-lets-people-duck-drone-cameras

Welcome to Unmanned Vehicle University's UAV Basic Pilot Training Program http://www.aviationschoolsonline.com/school-info/Unmanned-Vehicle-University/1042/2734/F/24.php

[ronchamblin]

Not often do we find aircraft falling from the sky, killing people or destroying property.  However, I remember the recent crash into a house on the east coast of Florida.  Even though in most cases pilots can steer disabled aircraft away from damaging ground based property or people, there are some circumstances which prevent avoidance. 

Increased use of drones causes a more crowded airspace.  Can a failing or disabled drone be controlled so that it will avoid ground based property and people?  Just as a piloted conventional aircraft can in most cases be directed to the most harmless encounter with the ground, I suspect that most drone pilots can accomplish the same objective, realizing of course that there will be occasions wherein both the piloted aircraft and remote controlled drones will be uncontrolled, and therefore fail to avoid impacting valuable ground based property and people.

It seems that the only issue is one of quantity in the air, whether it be piloted, or drone aircraft.  Excessive quantity allows the airspace to become crowded, which increases the chances of mid-air collisions, and the chances of crashes due to human, mechanical, or guidance malfunctions. 

Whereas the idea of fun is frequently the only reason many pilots fly either the small aircraft, or the radio controlled model aircraft, what will be the reasons that most pilots fly the drone aircraft?  I suspect that the line between the larger radio controlled model aircraft, and the drone, will become blurred with time. 

Personally, I can think of few things more fun than shooting down, from the ground, a stalker drone aircraft with a rifle.  This must be done away from residential conditions however because of danger in projectile fallout, and drone crash, to other people.  And the idea of actually shooting down a stalker drone aircraft by using a gun mounted either on another drone or on a larger radio controlled model aircraft would be exciting too.  Another option, although wasteful of resources, is simply to ram the drone with a kamikaze drone, or a large kamikaze model aircraft.  Again, safety to ground property and people would be a primary issue.

When time allows, I would like to design and adapt a large model aircraft for stalker-drone killing.  It will have an aft engine so that I could mount in the front, in the center of the fuselage, a single barrel, 30 caliber gun, operating as a semi-automatic, to be fired via button on the radio control panel.  This stalker-drone killer method requires of course a camera on board the aggressor aircraft/drone, giving real time visual aiming ability to the controlling pilot. 

This project would not only allow one to exercise one’s technical design abilities, but also one’s piloting abilities.  The killer-drone must be sterile, having no fingerprints so that if it crashes nobody could track it to the building/operator.  This could be fun in the extreme.  And the only thing that gets hurt is the stalker-drone, and the feelings and budget of the stalker’s owner.

But then, what if the stalker-drone owner/operator sends up smaller, fighter type drone escorts to protect the larger stalker drone? 

“Chuck Norris once shot a German plane down with his finger by pointing at it and yelling… BANG.”
     

[If_I_Loved_you]

British army unveils toy-sized 'Black Hornet' drones http://www.upi.com/blog/2013/02/04/British-army-unveils-toy-sized-Black-Hornet-drones/7671360008879/

Switchblade Drone- Soon To Be Used By Federal Police All Across America http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dgvBb5ke-E