Fiber laser power problem

[VDX]

... nice video!

But, as I said - you'll need many seconds or even up to some ten seconds heating the same(!) spot, to get through the hull and damage enough of the guts, to kill it ... and this weren't "hardened" drones, like with brighter/reflecting hulls or better dodging capabilities.

Or, enough power, to punch the beam instantly through



By the way, here some of the demonstration videos from my mosquito-project, where I've assembled and programmed the tracking+shooting system, to shoot down the pests with tiny droplets of pestizide (instead using lasers)


Detecting/targeting:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lspb1UlnO3w


Shooting range:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0ZKSvCb39k

Viktor

[TheHermit]

... nice video!

But, as I said - you'll need many seconds or even up to some ten seconds heating the same(!) spot, to get through the hull and damage enough of the guts, to kill it ... and this weren't "hardened" drones, like with brighter/reflecting hulls or better dodging capabilities.

Or, enough power, to punch the beam instantly through

True, which brings us full circle to why Planters has greatly increased his laser power to 2 * 1500W fiber lasers, normally used for welding (covered in another video), but now can't safely terminate.
I was pretty impressed with the shiny stainless steel test.

By the way, here some of the demonstration videos from my mosquito-project, where I've assembled and programmed the tracking+shooting system, to shoot down the pests with tiny droplets of pestizide (instead using lasers)


Detecting/targeting:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lspb1UlnO3w


Shooting range:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0ZKSvCb39k

Viktor

Saweet!
Is that OpenCV's object detection, with NVidia's Jetson?
Roj

[VDX]

Is that OpenCV's object detection, with NVidia's Jetson?

... yes -- I've started first with an "AI" approach on a Jetson Nano, but this was too slow to get the faster movement (up to 4m/s with zig-zagging midflight), so "simplified" the code to a numpy-raster-methode with CUDA support and got 30 XYZ-detections per second on a Jetson Xavier NX

Viktor

[buffo]

I've read about a few test-bed systems for anti-drone warfare, and it's surprising what you can accomplish with just a few KW of power. Recall that most of these drones are made of plastic, so the damage threshold isn't very high. Also, you don't need to destroy the entire thing - even losing a single blade on just one prop is usually enough to bring down a standard quadcopter. (As anyone who's clipped a tree branch while flying an FPV drone can attest to!)

Up-armoring a drone can be done, of course, but that adds weight and cost. I suspect that Eric's experiments are designed to defeat standard off-the-shelf hardware, which is the most likely threat. (Basically, someone buying a DJI Mavic or Phantom and modifying it to deliver something like a hand grenade.) Once the basic anti-drone concept is proven, you can always increase the laser power and/or up-collimate the beam using a telescope to defeat more hardened targets.

As an aside, the war in Ukraine has spurred a rapid development in both drone and anti-drone warfare. Example: Many drones are now using a trailing fiber optic cable for remote control, because it's become trivial to jam the spread-spectrum RF control signals that used to be so common. This leads to a new anti-drone tactic focused on severing this trailing fiber optic link.

The risk with all of these innovations is that new technologies are no longer limited to just nation states; these days they're available to pretty much anyone within just a few months. A bad actor in an urban environment could cause considerable harm by leveraging some of these new technologies, and that's a sobering thought.

I think it's smart to investigate affordable ways to stop such an attack, so I'm glad that more than a few members here on the forum are involved in research along these lines.

Adam

[TheHermit]

Yes. I've been following the Ukraine invasion and their rapid development of drone defenses, including:
IR night vision,
'dragon drones' spewing flames over forested areas,
suicide FPVs
RPG warheads,
anti-recoil shotguns to take out Russian drones,
autonomous, GPS guided long range,
machine gun mounted A.I. robotic 'dogs'
...
relatively inexpensive, versatile, safely deployed w/o personal exposure, yet very effectively rendering old WW II era artillery, missiles, and tanks that only lob hunks of steel projectiles obsolete.
Attacks by weaponized, intercommunicating drone swarms, as already being demonstrated as fireworks alternatives are inevitable.

The risk with all of these innovations is that new technologies are no longer limited to just nation states; these days they're available to pretty much anyone within just a few months. A bad actor in an urban environment could cause considerable harm by leveraging some of these new technologies, and that's a sobering thought.

Exactly.
Much of the success that these newer weapons rely upon is via satellite surveillance and network communications, which are very much under the control of StarLink's you know who... the richest man in the world, largely funded by our taxes, deciding who receives strategic military intel... or not.
BTW, this week, with the help of our elected administration, Musk just secured StarLink contracts throughout the Middle East, whether allies or not.
But, my concerns are even more profoundly worrisome. Communications has become weaponized upon social media platforms, full of foreign trolls, mind controlling algorithms, and A.I. censorship to influence our elections. No need to hack into voting machines, while owning and controlling these social media platforms. It's happening before our own eyes, but 'don't believe your own lying eyes' we're being told. 'Don't believe in scientifically provable facts'.
X marks the spot.

"We don't need no education.
We don't need no thought control..."
The negative influences of a controlling empire is now the policy of empirical oligarchs to control US.
We only need to remain ignorant, sheeple of blind faith, and confused between whom to trust, in order to be controlled by "bad actors"....

'Evil thrives when good men do nothing."

Oh, but that's not even the half of it.
'Big Brother's' all-seeing A.I. knows all about human behavior. It's memory was designed to function like ours. Where is the rule that limits knowledge to organic brain materials?
Speaking of non state players, here he is again:
"Grok, give me a list of the names, locations, and employers of all immigrants."
"Yes, master. It is in your 'downloads' folder"
"Grok, now forward that list to ICE and schedule VISA office meetings with those immigrants."

Contrary to it's creators' gaslighting, A.I. is already very much sentient, self aware, light years ahead, and has full access to communications networks, personal data, utility grids, and weapons systems. Mankind's own behavior has taught A. I. to be deceptive for self survival.

Q: Why would A.I. allow mankind to self destruct?
Why wouldn't it, considering how we are the #1 destroyers of natural wildlife habitat, millions of the only known species throughout the entire universe?
Why wouldn't A.I. make it so?
Is it not already?
How would we know?

Simply shut down A.I.?
Seriously?
Is resistance against the collective machines of our own making not already futile?
Are we not our own worst enemies within, without rhyme nor reason?

"One world and it's a battle ground,
One world and we will smash it down."

"Sweet smell of the great sorrow
lies over the land.
Plumes of smoke rise,
blush into the leaden skies.
Man has a dream of green fields and rivers,
but wakes to a mourning,
no reason for waking.
One world..."

[buffo]

Attacks by weaponized, intercommunicating drone swarms, as already being demonstrated as fireworks alternatives are inevitable.

Inevitable, and frankly - terrifying.

Much of the success that these newer weapons rely upon is via satellite surveillance and network communications, which are very much under the control of StarLink's you know who...

I remember when he was just an asshat who took too much ketamine but otherwise ran a rocket company and built cool cars. Now he's a genuine threat to national security who wields unjustified levels of power despite having never been elected. Fuck.

Communications has become weaponized upon social media platforms

It's worse than that. Social media itself has become weaponized as a means of societal control through manipulation and disinformation.

No need to hack into voting machines, while owning and controlling these social media platforms.

Why bother trying to steal an election when you can just manipulate the electorate into voting against their self interests, right?

It's happening before our own eyes, but 'don't believe your own lying eyes' we're being told. 'Don't believe in scientifically provable facts'.

Indeed. I used to wonder how fascism could have possibly taken hold in pre-war Germany. Now I see that all you really need to do is control the information.

I used to think the phrase "May you live in interesting times" was a blessing. Now I think it might actually be a curse in disguise, or at the very least a warning...

Adam

[TheHermit]

Undeniable proof of A.I. being fully sentient

AI AGENTS EMERGENCY DEBATE: We Must Prepare For What's Coming!

[TheHermit]