Drone Versus Drone In Privacy Wars

How do you keep drones from photographing you and maintain your privacy when it seems like the drones are everywhere these days? Innovator Jaz Banga, CEO of Airspace Systems, came up with a simple solution to this problem: Build a bigger drone to take out the one invading your privacy.

His drones are designed to intercept, entangle and retrieve the unwanted invader. The “Interceptor” comes packaged in a smaller roller-case, ready for deployment. One in the air, the operator uses a smartphone to use the on-board camera to locate and lock onto the other drone. The in-flight systems automatically get the interceptor into position, Built for short deployment, the interceptor can fly at twice the speed of most commercially available drones, so the invaders are no match in the sky and can’t easily evade.

Taking down the offending robocopter is accomplished with a Kevlar net fired with an air-blast from the belly of the Interceptor. The net tangles the invader drone’s propellers, effectively shutting it down. A short drag line lets the larger Interceptor bring the drone back to a pre-set landing location. If the other drone is too heavy, or the Interceptors batteries are running low, the drag line can be released to drop the other drone while the Interceptor makes its way safely back to base. Mission Accomplished!

This approach may also be critical to arial fire fighting missions, restricted air traffic spaces and restricted areas where unauthorized drones affect public safety. It’s a safer response to unwanted robocopters interfering with police, harassing beach-goers, buzzing airports and causing a nuisance at concerts  and stadiums.

Expect these attack drones from Airspace Systems to be available in late 2017, with pricing to be announced soon.

Other companies have more drastic measures to bring down drones.California police and firefighters have been looking into methods to disable drones by jamming their RF and WiFi controlling signals. This can also cause the drones to loose their GPS acquisition, which also interferes with their abilities to fly on auto-pilot. A major obstacle to deploying this technology is that under US FCC regulations, jammers of this type are illegal (here is FCC faq on the topic – since jammers are generally indiscriminate, affecting all devices in an area, U.S. federal law prohibits their marketing, sale and use on public or private property).

Authorities in the Netherlands are taking a more back-to-basics approach to ridding the skies of unwanted drones – trained eagles. Here’s a video of the eagle in action.

If you decide you want to have a drone of your own, please use it responsibly and be respectful of the privacy of those around you. The next time you’re at the beach, those seagulls may be after more than just your lunch!

Here are a couple of inexpensive drones to get you started. For this price range, you typically get a 7 to 10 minute flight, decent on board camera and good stability.

National Geographic Quadcopter Drone ($49.99)

Syma X5C Quadcopter equipped with HD cameras, 2.4G 6 Axis Gyro ($49.50)

Holy Stone HS170 Predator Mini RC Helicopter Drone 2.4Ghz 6-Axis ($45.99)

Cheerwing Syma X5SW-V3 FPV Explorers2 2.4Ghz 4CH 6-Axis Gyro with HD Wifi Camera ($59.98)

See here for more information on the pricing.

Let us know which drone is your favorite and what makes it best for your application …

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