UAV with Defense System

Community General Discussion
1

Hello,

i need some ideas for an upcoming project of mine. I was thinking of making a UAV robot (4 quad chopper) that will detect intruders with motion sensors (my idea of it is VERY fresh). It will have a camera and a gps installed.
It will guard a specific area, and if it finds tresspassers it will use a specific weapon (obviously not a real one). Any ideas ?

I had severals (stupid though):
-Use of a laser > 1watt around >500nm wave length. Will pretty much blind him in a real operation but nothing more really (might even do the trick).
-Airsoft gun that will fire at the target either auto or with IR detection (user will point out where to shoot).
-Missile ? maybe use fireworks :D?
-A potential tank filled with Hydrofluoric acid that will burn the intruder ?
-Flamethrower ?

Anything else that might work ?

Thanks in advance !!! xDDD

2

How will you tell if an intruder is moving vs the base platform moving?
Anything outside of nerf darts sounds dangerous.

If it's guarding specific area, wouldn't a fixed platform make more sense?

3

wouldn't a fixed platform make more sense?

indeed , if i were to do it for any area , my idea would be, it would save gps coordinates specified by the user , and then it will start guarding that area, now how exactly would it sense movement is unknown to me , even if it were to recognize someone how would it tell if it was an intruder ? (i was thinking of both scenarios, workers that have clearance and those who don't) maybe with a special mark on their shirt ? facial recognition ?

As it would seem ,maybe i should have thought about it a little longer before i posted this thread :D, and yeah i would agree that anything other than an airsoft gun would be dangerous, (but cool)...

4

Ram the intruder and slice them up with your props. RC coptors already kill/injure a couple of people a year, just by accident.

You need to consider "collateral damage"; for example won't sending flaming "stuff" at your targets be moderately likely to do more damage to the area you're trying to protect than the intruder? (Shades of "Caddyshack.") Hydrofluoric acid would be worse; there's nothing quite like turning your property into something that needs a hazmat cleanup before you can use it again...

5

the ramming itself sounds good, very good actually , but it would likely cause more damage to the UAV rather than to the person.

I was thinking of adding ranged weapons, non-lethal for that matter, the laser could do it.
Flamethrower has not that much ranged , and as you said like the Hydro, Acid it would ruin the place it was supposed to protectand if lucky maybe inflict damage to that person to such a degree he would flee.

Any ranged weapons that shoot projectiles, anything else i forgot (DIY style) ?

thanks!

6

First off - if you wanted this to have a chance in heck of working, you'd have fixed sensors in each area being protected, which would start up the quad-copter (when triggered) which would fly off of it's charging base, defend the area, then return back to the base (for more charging). Quadcopters can't fly for indefinite periods of time; they are mainly limited to about 10-30 minutes of flight time (depending on model, construction, costs, options, etc).

DeathByCh0c0:
yeah i would agree that anything other than an airsoft gun would be dangerous, (but cool)...

No - it wouldn't be cool; even an airsoft gun could put an intruder's eye out. I would think in most countries (not all, mind you), the law tends to look down on injuring a third-party, even if by doing so you were trying to prevent a crime they were committing. The only real exception (and only, again - in some countries) - would be the use of force to defend your person (and/or sometimes property - again, laws vary).

Since you aren't there, and the system isn't simply an alarm system - what you describe would be considered a "booby-trap" (similar to wiring a gun to fire at a door when it is opened to keep an intruder out) - and likely run afoul of any laws against such a system.

Even in the cases of where you defend your life/person - even if the law doesn't find you liable, you might face a civil lawsuit brought by the defendant (if they live) or their family (if they don't); whether you win that case or not, you'll still have a hefty outlay of money to defend yourself.

Then you get into the whole "insurance" portion of the situation - you'd have to review your policy (if you have one), but there might be a clause in there about denying any claims you make regarding such a crime, it it were found that you used or had in place such an active "booby trap" system.

Even you if dropped all idea of offensive weapons - and just had the quad-copter fly in to make noise and light, etc - if the intruder was injured by this action (or injured themselves trying to escape) - they could still potentially bring a civil suit against you (even if they weren't caught - not saying they would be smart to do it, but if they were, all of this would be moot, wouldn't it?)...

7

I wouldn't use it for a real operation, just an idea of a project to pass time (well actually for my dissertation it would be something i would like to do, if my institution will ever agree to it , lol).

So, cr0sh what you'r actually suggesting is to drop the entire idea of it having any kind of weapon, correct ?
So even a bb-gun or airsoft gun would get me in trouble ? Wao.., even non-lethal weapons would get me in trouble ?

Since this is general discussion i wanted to share with you my ideas, even i haven't entirely figured out what to do.
I certainly want to do a UAV.

A spy UAV wouldn't be a bad idea either , add some cameras with nightvision (and if by any miracle i have a higher budget when the time comes) add a thermographic camera.

For your reference, regarding lasers, i was thinking of adding this:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/445nm-450nm-400mw-blue-laser-module-TTL-Modulation-Thick-Beam-/121202163249

8

So how would this be much different than the any number of RC tri/quad/other helicopters that are already out there?
See examples here.
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/index.asp

9

I can't reach hobbyking.com , my poor connection must be the fault, but im familiar with the site yes.

how would this be much different

It wouldn't really, but what would you suggest ? What's your opinion on an "armed" UAV ?
Would it really pose that much threat as cr0sh said ? I'm not judging anyone's idea, on the contrary i want as many as possible.

I was also thinking , slightly off topic, of a firefighting robot(UAV), that will have IR-temperature sensors, and a tank filled with water , again it will guard an area and if it finds fire/smoke , it will go and extinguish it. Equiped with a camera , fully autonomous and possibly add manual controls (maybe through a laptop) where the user wirelessly controls it.
EDIT: Was the original idea proposed by a professor at my institute.

I'm even open to a project change (as long as we are talking about a UAV) :),
Thanks for baring with me up to this point

10

What's your opinion on an "armed" UAV ?

It's a lawyer's wet dream.

11

The problem with anything that needs to carry a lot of weight is that it needs big motors to lift that weight, which usually means gas/diesel engines, and fuel for the engines.
I'd think I'd go with something smaller, battery powered.
Maybe fit it up with a bunch of sensors, cameras, whatever, then come up with an autonomous guidance system that can get it someplace, search for whatever, relay data (video, stills, data) back to home base. Commanding it into whatever weapon mode after that left as an exercise - picking up the target to start will always be the hard part.
The guidance system can then be added to scaled up engine platform for larger cargo capacity.

12

hobbyking does seem to be acting up, I can't get past the index screen at the moment.

13

Weight is a big issue obviously, i will add light devices as you suggested.
I will design a simple platform where the motors could fit, then decide which type of motors/props i get, to get the most out of cargo capacity/weight. When done with that and only then will i add misc (water tank, weapons etc..)

Battery based would be my best shot, i don't imagine it would last long though for a flight, (could add solar panels).

Well thank you all for your help and ideas when im done thinking what exactly i want i will probably open a new thread with my final project. :slight_smile:

BTW

What's your opinion on an "armed" UAV ?

It's a lawyer's wet dream.

Hahaha i was laughing 5 min straight.

14

DeathByCh0c0:
So, cr0sh what you'r actually suggesting is to drop the entire idea of it having any kind of weapon, correct ?

Not at all - just realize what you may be getting yourself into. I don't know how Greece (or your particular city, your homeowners/renters insurance, etc) handles such things (legally or otherwise) - but here in the States you'd be a fool to do it (not that there aren't plenty of fools here - every so often you hear of one).

Research your laws, your liability, what an opposing party might do in retaliation (legally or otherwise!), etc - then decide if you really want to go ahead with such a thing...

DeathByCh0c0:
So even a bb-gun or airsoft gun would get me in trouble ? Wao.., even non-lethal weapons would get me in trouble ?

Here in the States, if you so much as fart in somebody's general direction, they might just sue you - and in some cases, the court might not toss it out, and they may just win. Even if they didn't, they will have still cost you some (or a lot of) money defending yourself.

Ok - maybe that's a bit of hyperbole, but not by much.

Let's say you built a UAV or something to patrol your house. One day you have left to go get some groceries at the corner market, and during this it senses an intruder, and flies over to "investigate" - perhaps with a siren and flashing red and blue LED lights.

The intruder is startled, "What the hell is that thing?!" - and turns to run...

In the course of running away, he stumbles over the dog's toy on the ground, trips, and cracks his head on that marble table you just bought at the local antique market a couple of days before.

Let's say he doesn't die - but has sustained a severe brain injury...

Well - here in the States you very well would likely be hosed. If you didn't get arrested for a booby-trapped house, you might instead find the intruder (and/or his family) suing your insurance company (or yourself - or both) for pain and suffering, hospital bills, lost ability to work and support a family, etc - on and on. Whether or not the person is successful won't matter; just the headache from handling the issue would be enough to make you wish you had never built the system. If you had insurance, you might find them settling with the intruder then dropping you as a client (meaning now you have to scramble for more insurance - and when the new company gets wind of why you need insurance coverage - they might either deny you or jack your rate up something terrible).

That's all assuming in the course of events you only injured somebody somewhat - had they lost an eye, or had they stumbled and fell thru a plate glass window, or off the balcony to their death or severe injury...pff.

Then again - maybe in Greece nobody would give a flying...well, you get my drift. Honestly, I wouldn't attempt such a system here - or at least I wouldn't actually put it in action (if you just wanted to build such a thing as a proof of concept, and make a demonstration video without a real intruder getting hurt - no big deal).

But ultimately, it's your choice, based on what you know or understand about the laws in your locality. If in doubt (and I certainly would be!) - consult a lawyer about your proposed project; if he or she doesn't think it would be anything to worry about, then you might be in the clear (well - legally - you might still be dragged into a civil suit or something - perhaps).

15

If your house is on fire do you really want an automated UAV keeping the firefighters away? Especially if someone you love happens to be inside the house at the time.

16

Well i have to say the entire scenario of the intruder stumbling is amusing, but i understand your point of legal aspects i have to take into consideration.

if you just wanted to build such a thing as a proof of concept

That's more like it!

If i really do add weapons, and just the fun of destroying some household items suggests i will, i might take them off after the demonstration and change the course of the project (while i still have a ready to fly UAV will make it less "painful").

If your house is on fire do you really want an automated UAV keeping the firefighters away?

Good point, but the chances are very low, still i would add all emergency scenarios (who am i kidding ,most at least) or some kind of emergency STOP to disable the UAV.

17

may I know type of arduino board you use for do it the drone? because my Final Year Project need to do this thing.