Oregon Company to Sell Drone Defense Technology to Public
The company says it won't knock drones down, but will stop them from 'completing their mission'
Do you want to keep drones out of your backyard?
An Oregon company says that it has developed and will soon start selling technology that disables unmanned aircraft.
The company, called Domestic Drone Countermeasures, was founded in late February because some of its engineers see unmanned aerial vehicles—which are already being flown by law enforcement in some areas and could see wider commercial integration into American airspace by 2015—as unwanted eyes in the sky.
[READ: Maine Police Buy $300 'Toy' Drone That's Illegal to Use]
"I was personally concerned and I think there's a lot of other people worried about this," says Timothy Faucett, a lead engineer on the project. "We've already had many inquiries, a lot of people saying 'Hey, I don't want these drones looking at me.'"
Domestic Drones Countermeasures was formed as a spin-off company from Aplus Mobile, which sells rugged computer processors to defense contractors—though the company won't discuss its specific technology because it is still applying for several patents. Faucett says that work has helped inform its anti-drone technology.
The company will sell land-based boxes that are "non-offensive, non-combative and not destructive." According to the company, "drones will not fall from the sky, but they will be unable to complete their missions."
Though Faucett wouldn't discuss specifics, he says the boxes do not interfere with a drone's navigation system and that it doesn't involve "jamming of any kind." He says their technology is "an adaptation of something that could be used for military application" with the "combat element replaced with a nondestructive element."
[PHOTOS: The Expansion of the Drone]
"We understand the nature of the equipment drone manufacturers are using and understand how to counter their sensors," Faucett says. "We're not going to be countering Predator drones that are shooting cruise missiles, but we're talking about local law enforcement drones and commercial ones that people might be using for spying."
For now, Faucett admits the technology is "expensive," but the company is already ready to design custom anti-drone boxes for customers.
"We envision it could be cheap enough for residential use very soon," he says. "It's quite possible to deploy it if you were shooting a movie and wanted to protect your set, or if you had a house in Malibu and wanted to protect that, we could deploy it there. If a huge company like Google wanted to protect its server farms, it can be scaled up for a larger, fixed installation."
As drones become more commonplace, Faucett says more people will begin searching for a way to protect their privacy.
"The thing that brought it home for me was Senator [Rand] Paul doing the filibuster, there's a lot of unanswered questions," he says. "We think there might be as much business for this counter drone stuff as there is for the drones themselves."
Article from:http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2013/03/15/oregon-company-to-sell-drone-defense-technology-to-public
Replies
Keep it up! Hooray!!
Good Companies to fight the government spies!
yep - all you need is a satellite antenna and a modified signal generator to jam the satellite control signals. Point the antenna at the drone and jam the signals it gets for control
HA! Love it!!! That will fix them for trying to take out their own!!! What is it going to take for the foolishness to stop...makes me crazy to think that there are enemies within that are not muslims, etc. but actually other Americans?!!!! Looks like someone is right on target...no pun intended!: ;o]
I think that I would like to have one.
Don't forget about the National Constitutional Sheriff's Association and the many sheriffs in Oregon that will stand up to feds! The resistance is growing!
That depends on what airspace they're assigned to. It's unlikely that they'll be given high altitude assignment due to the constraints of county perimeters for local use, and even less for towns and cities.
Good!
Yahoo as long as Obama does not shut them Down!!
I'm thinking that these devices will be designed so that they are operating 24/7; that way, there will be no need to locate the drone before it sees you.
I've long been concerned over the fourth amendment enumeration of our right to privacy and this technology, and I'm happy to know such people are working on counter measures. I have worked in aviation electronics two decades and specifically on military measures, counter-measures, and so on, I've also been a "kit builder" as a kid, with radios, motors, test equipment and built quite a few gadgets from the twenties and thirties. Among them, "Tesla coils", the towering coil which emits lightning from its top and causes all around it to glow, such are a very interesting project for anyone and they absolutely ensure no electronics of any sensitive sort works anywhere around them. The basis for a simple one can be made from an old monitor or TV, or a microwave oven. Anyone with the ability to learn to solder wires, and willing to read and re-read the set of articles one decides to use to build their particular iteration, enough times to have that "Eureka moment" can easily build one for less than fifty bucks, and have a very interesting and learning experience doing it.
The transformer and magnetron of a microwave can also be made into a mass "white noise" emitter which would interfere with both drones and conventional radio communications in the local area. Boy's Books from the last century up through the seventies are all good reference material for such interest and concerns.
John McClain