Drone hive - returning to the nest

[Bob]

Patterned after the concept of the insect hive, the recharge station, maybe maintenance as well.. drones in the near future, besides being autonomous, (or flying on missions of their own..self contained operator-less programming), will be able to find their way back...


http://www.designboom.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/the-hive-drone-skyscraper-new-york-hadeel-ayed-mohammad-yifeng-zhao-chengda-zhu-designboom-02.jpg

http://www.smartdrone.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/the-hive-drone-skyscraper-new-york-hadeel-ayed-mohammad-yifeng-zhao-chengda-zhu-designboom-08-1.jpg

Below example of proposed LAPD drone California wants to deploy (autonomous)..


https://img.rt.com/files/news/28/10/80/00/california-police-drones-us.jpg

(Source (http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/building-swarming-drones-looks-like-7686849))


The tower - which even has the chilling name 'The Hive' - would have a number of landing stations, allowing drones to dock across on its surface.

The bold design was the brainchild of Hadeel Ayed Mohammad, 25, Yifeng Zhao, 24, and Chengda Zhu, 24, who worked on the project for four months at the University of Pennsylvania.

Plans show the 1,400ft tall tower in the centre of Manhattan, New York City.

Hadeel, Yifeng and Chengda used the same height and location as the much-criticised "Millionaire's Matchstick" tower on 432 Park Avenue.

[Bob]

So, is the autonomous small drone a reality or fantasy?

TOR for instance does offer a fully pilot not required drone..

From their website:


Recently, camera mounted drones have been very successfully implemented in combat operations in several countries around the world.

Police, border patrol, coast guard and various security companies have destroyed a large number of manned drones, and are now well aware that police and security guards on duty cannot combine the function of a pilot and maintenance at the same time.

Training of the personnel from police, firefighters and border guard in piloting, has shown complete hopelessness of this route of use of drones.

The system of “autonomous patrol”, realizes a fundamentally new principle of organization for surveillance of large areas and spaces.

In contrast to existing solutions, where cameras should be evenly distributed throughout a surveyed area; and for human recognition, they need to be placed at a distance of not more than twenty meters apart.

The Q-4’s video surveillance system uses cameras that automatically zoom and focus on object movement then enlarge the object repeatedly, in order to identify an intruder within a radius of three hundred meters.

In addition, rapid and autonomous movement of Q-4 drones does not allow an intruder to predict or calculate drone positioning, thus increasing the probability of intruder detection.

Meaning if the drone recognizes the target, it will lock on, zoom in and follow it.

They also say these drones can automatically call for reinforcements..

"For example, when a drone detects multiple targets moving in different directions, it makes a tactical decision.

" A drone determines whether it should gain altitude, in order to use a larger field of vision to track multiple targets, or to signal reserve drones from their landing stations.

This is essential, should an assigned perimeter be breached by several targets, or several groups of targets."


http://torrobotics.com/tor/wp-content/uploads/drone_control_station.jpg

Apparently the idea of flying the mission, avoiding anything in the way is possible, returning to the home base location for downloading, and recharging:


In the event of an encounter with an obstacle along the way, the software will adjust and make the necessary corrections in order to resume the mission.

Once the mission is complete or the battery levels reach a critical level, the drone will return to the ground station automatically, land, download mission data and system diagnostic feedback to the ground control station and ready for the next mission.

Spy in the sky? Police are eager to give these birds a test. Grants have been made available by US Homeland security.. They are keeping close the list.

(Source website (http://torrobotics.com/post/services/drone/))

http://cc.amazingcounters.com/counter.php?i=3190880&c=9572953

Homeland Security Grant Program: https://www.dhs.gov/how-do-i/find-and-apply-grants

Washington Times Reports (http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/dec/10/homeland-security-increasingly-loaning-drones-to-l/)- Drone funding grants to Law Enforcement


DHS recently began distributing $4 million in grants to help local law enforcement buy its own, smaller versions of drones, opening a new market for politically connected drone makers as the wars overseas shrink. "Americans deserve the full story,” said Jennifer Lynch, a lawyer for the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) that studies privacy issues and has sought information on drone use in the United States. “Drones are a powerful surveillance tool that can be used to gather extensive data about you and your activities. The public needs to know [..] "

[joeecho]

Miniaturization anyone?

Will bring a whole new meaning to the word 'infestation'!

https://www.paramountbusinessjets.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/PennyBees.jpg

[uzn]

Here´s a guy showing some cool drones acting as a swarm.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4xtsH6pzoM

[Innocent Warrior]

This creeps me out, I need to befriend an eagle.

https://media.giphy.com/media/l0NwLnLcgCKwRiXQY/giphy.gif

[uzn]

If you wanna have more than one drone, try something like this;)

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

[Noelle]

Popular Mechanics published an article in June 2017 titled "Genetically-Modified Cyborg Dragonfly Is the Tiniest Drone (http://www.popularmechanics.com/flight/drones/a26729/genetically-modified-cyborg-dragonfly/)." So here we have a real dragonfly drone. I am a little sickened by it, but, as the article states, this creature was genetically modified with "'steering neurons' in the insect's spinal cord, which are light sensitive. Tiny, fiber-optic-like structures in the dragonfly's eyes send pulses of light to their brains, functionally controlling where the insect flies via remote control." Its back is fitted with a backpack that contains sensors and a tiny solar panel, which provides power for data collection.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYBAal37stc

[Bob]

Thankyou LadyM for finding the thread...

If one extrapolates the fibre optic insect brain control.. doing such to higher animals would be possible, and IMHO no doubt is the objective of the DARPA research.. (and the university studies that they fund). The kids in the Universities don't know any better when PROF says research this.. do this or do that.. so that they get the passing grade.. The really insidious ones I think take joy in probing the brains of those who have no ability to fight back.. think about that for a minute.. can't fight back and end up getting brain modified to "fight" for the "leader"..

[Noelle]

Thankyou LadyM for finding the thread...

If one extrapolates the fibre optic insect brain control.. doing such to higher animals would be possible, and IMHO no doubt is the objective of the DARPA research.. (and the university studies that they fund). The kids in the Universities don't know any better when PROF says research this.. do this or do that.. so that they get the passing grade.. The really insidious ones I think take joy in probing the brains of those who have no ability to fight back.. think about that for a minute.. can't fight back and end up getting brain modified to "fight" for the "leader"..

You're welcome! I definitely see your point. :(

My backyard is often visited by dragonflies of different colors -- purple, pink, gold, tri-colored. I love to watch them. The idea of them being cyborg-ized to serve any purpose, well, again, it's sickening.