This is for Miles and Bruce

[johneeb]

http://www.avweb.com/avwebflash/news/un ... 169-1.html

This reminds me of the question "how do it know?"

[Bruce Fenstermacher]

John I saw this video from another link.

It is both impressive and very scary. The Terminator movies aren't to far away from reality. I doubt the majority of people really understand that.

As for these quad bots, they don't say how they are keeping them apart. I'm thinking they are each sending their location to a computer who then sends input back to each device. How close they could fly would only be limited by the accuracy of their locating device and the speed to which they can "talk" to the computer.

[bagarre]

From what I'm reading, the quads aren't controlled by a central computer but rather they are autonomous.

So, they are talking to eachother and making decisions on their own.

here is another clip of the same drones doing more complex stuff.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-dkonAX ... re=related

[GAHorn]

Having paid for body-shop repairs to 2 accidents with parked cars while backing up in our driveway, and 5 hitting deer on a back-country road, I can't wait until I can buy that program and have it installed in my wifes car!

[cessna170bdriver]

Someone posted this video on Vans Airforce Forums a couple of weeks ago. I thought the best part was the figure-8 formation. I'm not much on airshows, but I'd pay money to see piloted airplanes do that!

Several years ago, there was a program here to invistigate the feasibility of using extremely accurate GPS/INS to enable autonomous formation flight. I never thought that was a good solution due to the extreme accuracy required across multiple nav systems. I've not read up much on the quadrotor program, but they seem to have some sort of proximity/direction detection system so they can just play "follow the leader" - a much better way of doing it, IMVHO.

[DaveF]

These guys say they use the wall-mounted cameras for position feedback, presumably to a central controller. Maybe more advanced designs use inter-vehicle sensing and communication, but I'd imagine that they all use the cameras to some extent to create a GPS-like environment.

[4-Shipp]

The road to success is paved with adversity...nice to know these uber smart guys and gals have their mere mortal moments

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVrxvqYl ... re=related

[cessna170bdriver]

The road to success is paved with adversity...nice to know these uber smart guys and gals have their mere mortal moments

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVrxvqYl ... re=related

Yeah, that's the reason we used a fully enclosed net volume for this test a few years ago. We sure didn't want that thing escaping the buidling if all didn't go well.

[Bruce Fenstermacher]

The road to success is paved with adversity...nice to know these uber smart guys and gals have their mere mortal moments

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVrxvqYl ... re=related

Well maybe we won't see the Terminator for a few more years but it is coming. The Obama Administration just fast tracked UAV integration into our airspace.

[Brad Brady]

Well maybe we won't see the Terminator for a few more years but it is coming. The Obama Administration just fast tracked UAV integration into our airspace.[/quote]

I read that too, Bruce, I wonder who will have the more regulations. Us or the UAV's

[hilltop170]

............Yeah, that's the reason we used a fully enclosed net volume for this test a few years ago. We sure didn't want that thing escaping the buidling if all didn't go well.

Wow Miles! I'm recalling from the 1980's but I remember witnessing a very similar flight test in Grand Prairie at Lockheed-Martin except the vehicle used powder charges for directional control. It looks like the newer version uses some sort of fueled jets. Very cool.

[cessna170bdriver]

............Yeah, that's the reason we used a fully enclosed net volume for this test a few years ago. We sure didn't want that thing escaping the buidling if all didn't go well.

Wow Miles! I'm recalling from the 1980's but I remember witnessing a very similar flight test in Grand Prairie at Lockheed-Martin except the vehicle used powder charges for directional control. It looks like the newer version uses some sort of fueled jets. Very cool.

That was a ground test of what was intended to be a "kill vehicle" to intercept incoming warheads outside the atmosphere; essentially a bullet designed to hit another bullet. We were testing it's abiliity to maneuver while keeping track of a target, without the 15000 mph (yes that's the right number of zeroes) forward velocity of course . Propulsion is hydrazine/nitrogen tetroxide liquid thrusters. All you have to do is put those two propellants together and you're off to the races, no ignition. The trick is keeping them apart outside the engines...

[hilltop170]

It's good to know there is still development going on in space defense, we're going to need it one of these days.