Google Testing an Airborne Camera Drone 182
mbone writes "The Blogoscoped site carries news that Google has purchased a German 'Microdrone' for evaluation (here is the original German version). These devices can take off, fly a mission, and land automatically using GPS. They can carry night-vision cameras or even 'see-through-walls' Far IR cameras. Of course, the maker of these drones assures us that they cannot be a 'Big Brother in the sky' because that is 'verboten.' Is it just me, or is Google entering dangerous airspace here? It seems like the ruckus from a backyard-after-dark addition to Street View could completely overshadow the legal tussles Google has already encountered with its street-level photography." Reader Jaymi clues us to another airborne effort a couple of Google employees are mounting with some help from NASA Ames: the NexusOne PhoneSat project — to determine if low-cost mobile phone components can withstand space travel.
Re:Privacy (Score:3, Interesting)
Seems like more of what they do already (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Pull! (Score:1, Interesting)
Then repeal the 2nd amendment of the US Constitution, or stfu.
Re:Opt-Out file? (Score:3, Interesting)
yes in fact you can buy the required sign from these folks http://www.mossberg.com/products/default.asp?id=1§ion=products [mossberg.com]
(please of course check your local regs before purchasing)
Re:Seems like more of what they do already (Score:3, Interesting)
Yeah, nice quality (but not "too good" - such drones can't carry really good photographic gear, for starters) aerial photos, frequently updated, lower cost, lesser risk than sending small airplanes for similar shots & in the same places & as frequently; perhaps also a nice way to obtain textures for Google Earth - what's not to like?
Not everything needs to be about 1984; especially since such photos were already being made. Now they can show more places, and be more current, something which people certainly want.
Re:Probably cheaper... (Score:3, Interesting)
Those microdrones can fly at ridiculous heights.
For all intents and purposes they are a plane. Just slower, more stable and easier to set up and use.
two words. (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Seems like more of what they do already (Score:3, Interesting)
People will get tired of outrage eventually, right?
Re:Privacy (Score:1, Interesting)
I have never heard of a warrant a warrant being needed to conduct surveillance. It is not the same as a search. In any case those laws usually only apply to the government, which Google is not.
Re:Can... (Score:4, Interesting)
Yeah, because we all know that Google would never spy on anyone, or partner with anyone who does, like say the CIA.
http://www.dailytech.com/Former+Agent+Says+Google+and+CIA+in+Partnership/article4774.htm [dailytech.com]
http://www.dailypaul.com/node/141153 [dailypaul.com]
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2010/07/exclusive-google-cia/ [wired.com]
2001 attack (Score:5, Interesting)
The Kronos satellite(50cm greyscale resolution, 100cm truecolor) was turned to snap images of the twin towers and we had those images within some 35 minutes of the 9/11 attacks.
The point I make is, when there is the capability, and when the desire is there, pretty much anything is achievable. Someone at Kronos Satellite took it upon themselves to abandon the current photography job and turn the satellite to the twin towers.
Was that person authorised? I have always wondered.
Re:Privacy (Score:3, Interesting)
FAA rules require that "hobbyist" UAVs be operated under strict visual line of sight (see, for example, FAA AIR-160, UAS Interim Operational Approval Guidance 08-01). And as I understand it, commercial UAVs have much stricter rules, and currently aren't allowed to fly over major roads or populated areas.
To illustrate how daunting the regulatory environment is, a multimillion-dollar research project on UAVs for tornado research (part of Vortex 2) has "learning to interact with the FAA" at the top of its research agenda.
Given that, I don't grok the value of the GPS-guided flight, unless they're planning to use them only outside the US or to sell them to the military.