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Comment by DanAndersen | Hacker News Reader

I wonder if projects like this will trigger the development of drone countermeasures, leading to an interesting arms race and regular battles in the skies above us.

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we are here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aviation_in_World_War_I#The_daw...

If you're legally allowed to destroy a drone on your property, then instead of using another drone why not just use a shotgun?

Right now you can't : http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2014/10/03/new_jerse...

shotgun is a bit overkill for sub/urban environments, although i agree it would be especially effective. i've never shot clay before and i was able to hit multiple times on my first clay outing.

however i imagine it would be no more than a weekend job to design a net-firing sabot or perhaps some kind of plastic scatter shot that could launch out of a t-shirt cannon.

In Jersey, one of the worst states for private firearms ownership in the country.

"Unlawful weapons" isn't a crime in the vast majority of free states (excluding NFA items and the like.)

Almost across the state Jersey municipalities have no discharge laws preventing from shooting on your property so this is more about discharging a firearm than drones. Now if you had some type of EMP device that wasn't covered under firearm laws...

The issue is that there is no defined elevation above land you own that is designated part of your property.

My understanding (from an undergraduate US law class) is that you actually own the column defined by your property lines up into the heavens (and down into the Earth). You implicitly grant an easement (a formalized privilege allowing someone else do something with your property) to aircraft and other things like that. I imagine that this easement doesn't extend to drones doing something they're not supposed to.

Slate: How much of the airspace above your home do you own? http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/20...

I wouldn't feel comfortable using a shotgun. I'd use one of those net throwing guns instead.

I wonder if you could just create some kind of roof over the rotors, thus negating the "attack".

What exactly do you think is the point of helicopter rotors?

Not that.

To generate lift. It's most certainly not to shield the helicopter from attacks from above.

Exactly. How do you imagine rotors generating lift when enclosed by a roof?

Something as basic as a wire mesh would fit the bill.

It probably wouldn't, when the rotor has incredible suction and the tangle wire is very thin. I would certainly expect an attacker using monofilament and a defender using several-mm mesh to go the way of the attacker. Too much protection and you lose the airflow.

I must immediately tape speaker mesh to my AR drone! FOR SCIENCE!

Yeah, I'm not aerospace engineer, but couldn't you just put the roof like 10 cm above the rotors so it has enough air flow?

... but then someone else would invent balloons filled with mylar pieces that can saturate the area around the props.

How have birds evolved to handle this?

If you're a small bird, try not to be seen and spend most of your time in areas cluttered by trees and other object to exploit your size and maneuverability. If you're a big bird, spot your targets from distance and strike at high speed.

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