Swarm's Up
at Boeing's Surf City Drone Maker
By Matt Coker
Published Wed., Aug. 8 2012 at 7:03 AM
Published Wed., Aug. 8 2012 at 7:03 AM
Boeing Huntington Beach and
Johns Hopkins University are hailing technology they have developed that will
allow operators with very little training to sic swarms of unmanned aerial
vehicles (UAVs or drones, as they are more commonly called) on the
unsuspecting.
With a laptop and a military radio, these drones can reportedly be unleashed. Neat. But am I the only one scared shirtless by the possibility of this getting into the wrong hands? Like Anaheim PD?
Ah, well, must be the pussy in me.
With a laptop and a military radio, these drones can reportedly be unleashed. Neat. But am I the only one scared shirtless by the possibility of this getting into the wrong hands? Like Anaheim PD?
Ah, well, must be the pussy in me.
 |
|
Boeing.com
|
|
A
Boeing/Insitu ScanEagle UAV flies high.
|
Boeing and Johns Hopkins' Applied Physics Laboratory conducted
flight tests in Oregon for several days in June, using two ScanEagle UAVs
manufactured by Boeing Phantom Works in Huntington Beach, reports the Ottawa
Citizen.
"This swarm technology may one day enable warfighters in battle to request and receive time-critical intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance information directly from airborne UAVs much sooner than they can from ground control stations today," Gabriel Santander, program director of Advanced Autonomous Networks for Boeing Phantom Works, reportedly says. "Swarm network technology has the potential to offer more missions at less risk and lower operating costs."
That sounds as if the drone swarms will be used more for reconn than warfare, although when has a swarm ever been needed to collect information? And wouldn't hiring an Orange County Register flash news mob be cheaper still?
Follow OC Weekly on Twitter @ocweekly or on Facebook!
"This swarm technology may one day enable warfighters in battle to request and receive time-critical intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance information directly from airborne UAVs much sooner than they can from ground control stations today," Gabriel Santander, program director of Advanced Autonomous Networks for Boeing Phantom Works, reportedly says. "Swarm network technology has the potential to offer more missions at less risk and lower operating costs."
That sounds as if the drone swarms will be used more for reconn than warfare, although when has a swarm ever been needed to collect information? And wouldn't hiring an Orange County Register flash news mob be cheaper still?
Follow OC Weekly on Twitter @ocweekly or on Facebook!
©2012 OC
Weekly, LP, All rights reserved.
No comments:
Post a Comment