Quad-copters close Gatwick airport

[Domagoj T]

FPV racing quadcopter with skilled pilot and some light&strong (dyneema/kevlar) net. Shape charge secondary "kamikaze weapon" as last resort.

That assumes the pilot of the chaser quad knows pretty much exactly where the offending quad is, however, by the time the intruder is spotted and authorities called in, the offender has flown way out of visual range.

Anti-aircraft missiles ?

I suspect you are joking, but just in case you're not, and disregarding the obvious issues of launching missiles inside the operational civilian airport, I don't think there are any anti-aircraft missiles capable of locking on to a multirotor. Those things are too small for radar, laser or optical guidance, and too cold for IR.
A shotgun could work, though.

[nali]

They use AI to track each of those dots and identify the ones whose behavior violates whatever rules they tell it to. Thats why those companies get the big bucks.

OK then how about you post some links citing how UK police "photograph the ground in extreme high resolution and highlight for them every single car or person that moves for miles" then "use AI to track each of those dots and identify the ones whose behavior violates whatever rules they tell it to"?

[cdev]

I don't remember the name of this show, it was years ago. What I remember is they used helicopters, they had very high res cameras, they used AI. They were cops and they were fighting crimes, it wasn't random.

If you want to learn more about that, consult the computer science literature. There is tons of it.

Its not rocket science. People and vehicles emit heat. Which makes them stand out from everything else thats cooler.

This is the 21st century, after all.

[Bud]

What do they do when birds pose a threat to aviation? (Not so uncommon)

At least in Spain resort to falconry to scare them away.

Except of course a falcon can't scare a griffon vulture, which seem to have a penchant for the Bilbao Airport.

There is a video somewhere on utube about a facility where they train falcons to catch small quadcopters and bring them to the trainer. So may be an option.

[nali]

I don't remember the name of this show, it was years ago. What I remember is they used helicopters, they had very high res cameras, they used AI. They were cops and they were fighting crimes, it wasn't random.

Ah, a TV show. OK.

Its not rocket science. People and vehicles emit heat. Which makes them stand out from everything else thats cooler.

This is the 21st century, after all.

That's thermal imaging which originated many years ago back in WWII, and a completely different subject.

[mikeselectricstuff]

Something odd on flightradar24 - Easyjet plane came onto runway, did 2 laps and then going back to stand.

Makes me wonder - if you wanted to be extremely clever you could have a system that looked at flightradar24, or direct ADS-B transmissions to automatically fly a drone when it saw new activity at the airport.

Ground vehicles are still whizzing around all over the place
 

[Gary350z]

Any reason they can't simply be shot down?

1. There are numerous anti drone technologies available.
2. Reports say the military is now involved. I am sure they have plenty of jamming technology available to protect heads of state against incoming missiles and radio controlled devices.
3. Go get the nearest quad-copter FPV racing pilot, and he could very easily crash his quad-copter into the rouge drone. It is amazing what quad-copter racing pilots can do. Imagine the headlines: 'Quad-copter pilot saves the day for 100,000 stranded people'. The anti quad-copter biased media would shit their pants.

[beanflying]

Any reason they can't simply be shot down?

You will find that in most countries Drones be they fixed wing or Quadcopter styles are 'aircraft' under the local Air Navigation codes. As such Police under the law have limited power to fire on aircraft unless they pose a clear risk to humans and property to a lesser extent. Taking any ballistic approach to a drone in the air is potentially stupid as where does that projectile go when they miss and they will.

Simply trying to dump a multi kg lump of anything from altitude using a random means of jamming has downsides too. Uncontrolled lumps kill too in particular around populated areas or crowds. Consider 4 or 5kg doing 80-100km/hr losing all control and drones get a lot heavier and faster. Protecting a military outpost from a strike is one thing but it is not a solution for all places or circumstances.

Mid air collision as a response by another drone just not going to happen. By the time you get a competent person even in the air whatever was intended has been done and dusted even before the slim chance of getting that collision.

The current 'geo fencing' technologies that a lot of the commercial drones come fitted with (one of mine has it) works really well as government can effectively block those drones being flown in any sensible manner.

I am currently working on a design using off the shelf boards and components where there will be NO geofencing restrictions and the code is open sourced regardless. This is simple cheap and accessible to all.

'But what if we block the GPS' - drones don't have to have GPS to fly. If you want to avoid most of the hitec counter measures and cause harm you don't use a quadcopter for a start you use an aircraft and minimise the metal and heat (easy to do) they fly longer faster and carry bigger payloads. Run redundant receivers and transmitters on very different parts of the spectrum and away you go and you FLY the drone/plane at your target. By the time an airport as in this case figured out you were coming you are already there.

The Idiots of the world can't be stopped and a baseball bat to the head would only increase their IQ's. Those intent on causing harm or disruption will find a way around it as we have seen back into history not just recently. Fear mongering and media hype is not a solution either.

[chris_leyson]

Latest news says police or maybe army going to shoot it down. Ballistic geometry says you have to be underneath the target because if you miss the bullet will come down within a given radius and you need to make that as small as possible.
Good luck with that one then and how many rounds will that take ? it just says we've got fuck all defense against a rouge multicoptor and maybe tomorrow we'll put another one up if you shoot that one down. It's a wake up call, this is robotics and A.I it's real and it's happening now and how the hell are you going to deal with it.

[beanflying]

It happened a long time ago but now it is just easier and a lot of it off the shelf. Guided missiles are just fancy 'drones' too. Military Target drones have been around a very long time too.

This is the sort of stuff I am talking about for home brew non geo fenced controllers http://ardupilot.org/

Ban Guns people use knives, clubs and fire to commit murder. Licence and control Fertilizer to stop truck bombs, skip the bomb and just use the truck. 

[Neomys Sapiens]

My bets are:
1.) attempt at extortion (must not be the same place, but akin to: look what we did at Gatwick)
2.) attempt at manipulation (stock or related)
3.) disgruntled citizen (flight noise, ex-employee...)
4.) irresponsible, dangerous young people (like the typical laser pointer users, but with more money)

[chris_leyson]

@beanflying I think poeple have tried dumping kg of shit on people with quad copters and it hasn't worked very well.
But using autonimous multi-copters to block an airport, that is new. Imagine if they did that at Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and East Midlands then we would be screwed. Geofencing and jamming are useless and you're going to shoot them down, good luck with that one.

[Bud]

Just monitor Facebook and I am sure some kid is going to brag he did it.

[beanflying]

@beanflying I think poeple have tried dumping kg of shit on people with quad copters and it hasn't worked very well.
But using autonimous multi-copters to block an airport, that is new. Imagine if they did that at Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and East Midlands then we would be screwed. Geofencing and jamming are useless and you're going to shoot them down, good luck with that one.

I think you may have misread my post. All methods of control have problems and can be circumvented fairly easily and I certainly didn't say anything pro shooting down anything.

We have had situations here and I know in other countries where Quadcopters have been sighted 'within the area' whatever that means of fires grounding firefighting aircraft and helis.

There has been numerous 'sightings' for decades of R/C planes near Airports including one in Melbourne within 100m of a runway. This is not new it just suits a current narrative the media likes to portray. Using Drones like a visual bomb threat in this specific way is however new.

[cdev]

So clearly whomever is piloting this quadcopter has made some amazing breakthrough in the area of battery power, which is big news in itself.

How else could a quadcopter stay aloft so very long?

</sarcasm>

[cdev]

It wasn't fiction, it was about the technology.

And it was several years ago. Let me qualify what I said. It was likely on YouTube or a similar site, it also may have been in an academic journal. I read a lot of academic papers, many of them include links to related video. I watch almost no TV, so what you likely thought of when I said TV does not apply. The video included police at work. It was not fiction. These systems are common around the globe now.

[Brumby]

I get the impression there is going to be some wise-ass, watching the nightly news and laughing like a drain, thinking their "harmless little stunt" was the best fun ever.

Being so "clever" I'd like to see them caught - and then get sentenced to create a solution to defeat the crap they pulled.

Now that would be justice.

[Brumby]

Just monitor Facebook and I am sure some kid is going to brag he did it.

A distinct possibility.

[Neomys Sapiens]

So clearly whomever is piloting this quadcopter has made some amazing breakthrough in the area of battery power, which is big news in itself.

How else could a quadcopter stay aloft so very long?

</sarcasm>

Oh come one - that's easy. They recharge from car batteries. Ever wondered why your car battery was so weak in winter, when the feral drone season is on (obviously, see OP)? There you go!

[cdev]

What brand drone is it? How big is it? Could somebody post a picture?

[beanflying]

Oh look the buy my uber protection device has started half way around the world.  https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/australian-company-says-they-could-solve-gatwick-airport-s-drone-crisis-20181220-p50nkq.html

Won't work above maybe 50m AGL but would 'solve the crisis'. Flying a drone 200m AGL would still shutdown an Airport.

[beanflying]

What brand drone is it? How big is it? Could somebody post a picture?

This is the 'best' image of it all the others have been doctored showing a wide range of commercial drones photo shopped in place.

[cdev]

Update: the drone is an industrial model.

Well, that explains it!

[beanflying]

Semi insider report here. He is a commercial UK drone pilot and fairly well connected with those who would know.

Wonder if the numpties will decide the risk is no to high and now just disappear for the time being or pick another target?

https://youtu.be/0ak5QZb0JAk

[mikeselectricstuff]

So clearly whomever is piloting this quadcopter has made some amazing breakthrough in the area of battery power, which is big news in itself.

How else could a quadcopter stay aloft so very long?

</sarcasm>

You only need it to be seen once every hour or two. Hanging around too long greatly increases the risk of being tracked down.