Jesus. Coming to a horror game near you soon.
this post was submitted on 24 Sep 2023
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For many years I have criticized that video "Slaughterbots" about the autonomous assassin quadcopter drones with facial-recognition tech. And I still do, it was silly and alarmist. But some elements of it sure seem to be coming close to reality at this point.
It’s technically feasible, and relatively cheap. (Which is the terrifying part.)
Not yet, there are several key parts of the "slaughterbot" scenario's technology that's still missing. In the video's scenario the quadcopters had real-time facial recognition and autonomous navigation that allowed them to fly around inside a university looking for specific individuals to kill in a chaotic swarm of panicked people, which is still well beyond anything we've got right now. Especially in terms of cheapness and reliability. And also as I recall the film skipped over the fact that quadcopters have no way of opening doors. Even in this real-world scenario a simple curtain would have prevented the drone in this video from getting inside the building to detonate, which would have reduced its deadliness significantly.
Maybe someday. But by then I would expect there to be autonomous defender bots zooming around dog-fighting enemy slaughterbots and things will balance out again between offense and defense.
Coral AI chips are relatively cheap and could be outfitted to an RPI and then that could be used to do the real time facial recognition and flight.
All technically possible, all of the parts already exist separately.
Also like... just put something over your face, right? If this becomes a serious issue then everybody just carries a pocket balaklava ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Hell, even covering your face with your hands should be enough.
In that case everyone with a balaklava becomes a target, "problem" "solved".
They didn't skip over the doors thing, from memory several copters worked together to set up a wall charge. Could be misremembering though.
Given that the drones wouldn't know which door they need to open, this sounds like it'll get rapidly very expensive and not so much of a targeted thing any more.
I see it the other way around. Virtually all modern mobile phones can easily do real time facial recognition, and certainly have enough processing power to navigate through a known location. And even being cynical about tracking specific individuals, targeting all humans would be an easy problem to solve in comparison, assuming you’re just trying to sow chaos.
As for the problem of doors, in the film there were specialized drones with shaped charges to blow holes in walls and windows, letting the rest of the swarm inside.
Looks like an fpv racing drone. Crazy how these fun toys now have explosives strapped to them and are now used to kill people.
It literally is an fpv racing drone, just with a bomb strapped to it.
I've been flying them for the last 2 years or so. Seriously, the skill involved in what we are seeing is not to be undervalued. It is not autopilot - someone is on the other end with a controller precisely maneuvering it, avoiding trees, leaves, branches, all with a shitty analog signal and probably a 6-8 minute (on the high end) time limit due to battery limitations. Crazy skills involved.
I've been looking into the world of fpv racing and it is pretty complex. I feel like it's a hobby specifically for computer and electrical engineers because I looked up on how to get into it and I had to buy a bunch of parts, do some soldering, and program it myself with some open source software out there. One day I will get into it but the skill to get into them and even to fly them is amazing.
Duuude it is so fun. I totally hear you though, there is quite a bit to it and it can be overwhelming.
Here's my recommendation: just get this - https://emax-usa.com/products/tinyhawk-3-fpv-racing-drone-ready-to-fly-w-controller-and-goggles#
This is a "bind and fly" package with everything you need to get started, no overcomplicated systems required. This drone is actually great for learning on - it's basically all I flew for the first year, and it was a blast.
As you get better, you will naturally learn more about the hobby and how to improve on the system you are using to learn, but you really don't need to worry about that until later. Until then, this is all you really need.
Good day. Do you have a moment to talk about our lord and savior ka-boom?
Great soundtrack on this one.
Does it blow up once it got inside or was it destroyed by the Russians?
That smoke at the end is the place burning up.
And the drone was the cause of the fire? Is it a “suicide” drone or does it drop an explosive and bail? Sorry if these are stupid questions, I’m not exactly familiar with weapons/warfare.
Yep, suicide drone. They often have a mortar or grenade round strapped to them with a trigger that will set them off when the drone flys into something.
Thank you for the explanation!
They usually have 2 wires at the front. Once they touch each other due to hitting anything they trigger the detonation.
The balls involved loading the thing...
There is a switch that actives this mechanism at whatever point the operator wants, so usually once it is away from them.