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Original air date:
10.24.07
Self-flying Aircraft Aren't Just for the Government Any More
Radio-controlled airplanes have been in the hands of hobbyists for decades, but until recently only NASA and the military had UAV's -- unmanned aerial vehicles that can fly autonomously, with no input from the ground. Now, with the technology cheaper and more widely available than ever, amateur inventors across the country are building their own self-flying planes.
A pair of San Francisco Bay Area geologists, for instance, have equipped their homemade, handheld UAV with a cell phone camera linked to a GPS unit. This allows them to take pictures of any area they want and extract useful information from the results, like property lines, streets and the health of local vegetation. Others are working on the more complex challenge of getting their own robot helicopters to hover reliably in the air.
But of course, the big boys still have the best toys. NASA's Ames Research Center in California is the federal government's prime testing site for all kinds of unmanned flight systems. These days, among other things, they're working with the Army to adapt an autonomous helicopter originally built for crop dusting in Japan for more dramatic purposes. The US-modified version can take off, fly a complex mission like inspecting a hard-to-reach disaster site, then return home, all on its own. With the help of a rotating laser scanner in the copter's nose, it can even inspect the ground to pick the safest place to land itself . The Center is also developing much larger modified Predator drones - machines the size of a regular small plane - that can be used for long-duration missions like helping to battle forest fires, as well as crafts designed to fly over the ocean to measure carbon fluxes as a gauge of global warming.
Here's hoping today's pilots have unemployment insurance.
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10.24.07 6:34 PM PDT
Justin
Cool story, but I believe the two guys in this story said they were geographers, not "geologists". It's not a difference as crucial as the one between Astronomy and Astrology, but still, this is the sort of stuff geographers are doing.
10.24.07 9:48 PM PDT
John R. Manis
I have written to the president of the U.S.A and U.S. House Representive Gus M Blilrakis of how badly our fighting forces in Irag need Mini-Drones persistant saturation seeing eyes surveillance and reconnaissance in the skies of Irag as asked for repeatedly by the U.S. Marines Commander but his repeateded requests ignored even though it is known that 70% of our fighting peoples deaths and terrible wounds are caused solely by roadside bombs of which mini-drones could easily spot bomb placing activity if ever employed as asked for which would mean THAT THEN WE WOULD SHORTLY HAVE INSURGANTS ON THE RUN AND SHORTLY WIN THE IRAG war. I wrote to the president more than once explaining that situation that I and many others could see in Irag and asked for immediate deployment of mini-drones but never received any reply; but did receive a positive reply shortly after writing Rep. Gus Bilirakis who showed agreement with this urgency and mentioned in his reply letter back to me that "Rest assured that I will keep your comments in mind should I have the opportunity to consider relevant legislation in the 110 Congress..." His letter with that heart warming comment was received as written on August 21, 2007 but obviously nothing by our president has been done in that respect to give us so much of a great advantage of satuation mini-drone surveillance and reconnaissance that is ready to go!! We started out fighting the war in Irag on the cheap without proper hindsight nor foresight planning and continued to fight the war so cheaply that our fightging people in Irag had to search on their own for junk metal plates to put on their fighting vehicles that have caused as afore said 70% of our casualties in Irag. Sincelerly and Truthfully yours, John Robert Manis
10.24.07 10:01 PM PDT
chris
And they're from San Diego, not San Francisco.
10.25.07 8:02 AM PDT
Greg Sebourn, LSIT
I enjoyed last night's episode concerning UAV, growing human limbs, and much more. I have to comment on the DIY UAV segment. The producers spoke to two geographers regarding using UAVs for photogrammetry. It is important to point out that only licensed civil engineers and licensed land surveyors are authorized by state law to perform photogrammetry. GIS databases are based upon coordinate systems calculated by land surveyors. In an effort to protect the public the California Board for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors regulates who and how the science of surveying and mapping is conducted. I am a little disheartened that the producers did not interview a photogrammetrist or surveyor for this segment.
10.25.07 3:30 PM PDT
Matt Haines
I thought the UAV's were awesome and that it would be really cool to make one.
10.25.07 11:59 PM PDT
charlee
http://www.rctoys.com/rc-toys-and-parts/DF-SAVS/RC-HELICOPTERS-DRAGANFLYER-SAVS.html
thats all i have to say about that :)
12.8.07 2:48 PM PST
Tim Sears
Does anybody know how to contact these two guys. I wonder if they are willing to give out directions for their system, it could be cool to do at home.
2.13.08 4:17 PM PST
Anonymous
>>John R. Mantis
And here I thought the wars were in Afghanistan and Iraq.
I wasn't aware of the third conflict in the non-existent Irag.
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