Pilotless police drone takes off

[Joanne98]

Source: BBC

The UK's first police remote control helicopter has taken off.
Merseyside police are using the "spy drone", fitted with CCTV cameras, mainly for tackling anti-social behaviour and public disorder.

The machine is 1m wide, weighs less than a bag of sugar, and can record images from a height of 500m.

Originally used by the military, it is due to be operational by June for a full three-month trial, which is the "first of its kind" in the UK.




Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/merseyside/6676809.stm

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OH that anti-social behavior!...

BOO!

[Captain Hilts]

1. Well, I live in DC and I'm sick of helicopters hovering over my house. TV stations, the military...

[Joanne98]

2. They're like gigantic mosquitos torturing you!

[Captain Hilts]

5. Mosquitos don't have as many moving parts!

There was a water main break near me and the damned things were hovering over my house at 6am!!!!

I want greater control of my airspace.

[Benhurst]

3. Sadly the nation which gave us 1984 is becoming

a police state. George Orwell, prophet without honor.

[Mika]

8. England is (almost) a gulag.

We've ALWAYs been at war with Eurasia

[Habibi]

4. Geez, mid-life dyslexia strikes again

I read the title as "Pitiless police drone . . ."

Although, same diff, I guess.

[Joanne98]

6. LOL

[lpbk2713]

7. I see the inspiration for another *Police Academy* movie here.

.... the Queen is having a veddy proper garden party when out of nowhere .....

[Massachusetts]

9. V

[The2ndWheel]

10. The UK government will do anything for a camera

Which will become increasingly common anywhere in the world.

[doodadem]

11. SkyNet, here we come!

Remember the scenes from the Terminator movies, with the unmanned drones up above shooting at the humans, and the robots crunching over human skulls below?.

[CGowen]

17. Life imitating art?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x883414

Following the announcement of the new Flying-HK-style "Reaper" death machines for the British forces, the prophetic nature of the Terminator movies has been further confirmed.

Not only will the UK MoD deploy airborne cyber-gunships remarkably similar to those in the films, the flying robot assassins will be controlled by an IT project named "Skynet".


This latest case of life imitating art (well, kind of art) was revealed this morning, with the news that the first of the Skynet 5 satellites has gone operational and is now successfully carrying data to and from British forces fighting in Southwest Asia.


.......


And it may not just be the Reapers that are controlled by Skynet. There's no word yet of any plans to cloak Asimo robots in living flesh cloned from large Austrian bodybuilders, but it can only be a matter of time.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/05/11/skynet_takes_control/

[CreekDog]

12. Uh oh, we are going to make the "pilotless drone" guy mad again

"Is there any other kind of drone, a pilotless drone?!" (repeat 10 times).

"Don't you check these things?"

"Drone, drone, drone, drone, get it...you high school dropout?!

To hear the now famous podcast,

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/detail?blogid=5&entry_id=12853

[donsu]

13. the US has these things too, I've posted articles about them

we have one that can hover and look in windows and follow and talk to people on the street. you would have to show ID to the hover, etc.

sounds like science fiction, but we have hem.

[youngdem]

14. Link?

Hovering and talking to pedestrians?

Hmmmmm.

Please provide us with a link.


I don't doubt that it could be....I just haven't heard about it and I feel sure I would have if we had a police drone hovering and talking to pedestrians.

We do have border blimps. I have seen them around Big Bend and I have seen them in Southern Louisiana.

They don't last long...I think either they have short missions (a week) or rednecks shoot em down, because the one in South Louisiana wouldn't last too long at all. Hours. Then it would slowly go down, then the next day, it would be back up in the same spot.

[triguy46]

15. Last night on Nova...

The contest for robot controlled cars, in which 5 were able to run a 160 mile course in the desert with no human direction. This should enable police to soon send a vehicle to get donuts rather than having to drive in person.

[superconnected]

16. Learn your computer skills now. One day we're going to have to shut

this whole thing down.