Annoyed fisherman hooks drone

[K1ngN0thing]

I can imagine emergency vehicles deploying a frequency to force all quadcopters to move away until they're out of radius.

 

[GrantRobertson]

wait wait!!  These DRONES have no sense of where they are?  No GPS?  No recording of position, and homing beacon?  How is that a DRONE?  Must be an industry-hobby misnomer.   Thought if you lost radio contact, it would start doing a widening circle until it runs out of battery power, or it picks up radio control signal again?  maybe the expensive ones can RETURN HOME to programed GPS coordinates, if they loose radio contact?

Or do I have it completely wrong?

Technically, these ARE drones, even by your definition. Many of these quadcopters actually do have GPS in them but all it does is keep them from flying in designated no-fly zones. Yes, the manufacturers are installing GPS and maps of all the areas in the US that they are not allowed to fly. The internal computer will not allow you to fly them in some areas. Most conscientious people will never notice this because they are too smart to fly near airports and such. All of these quadcopters do have some autonomous abilities that older RC planes and helicopters do not have. With the old-style RC stuff, you had to actually know how to fly the thing as if you were piloting an actual aircraft. These quadcopters have electronics in them that automatically keep them level and in place. All you have to do is tell them to go up or down, left or right. Many also have cameras that broadcast back to the pilot so that the pilot has a first-person view. In that sense, they are as much of a drone as the ones used by the military.

And yes, many of them can automatically return home. Some even have software that allows you to draw a line on a map and the thing will fly along that line while keeping its camera pointed at the beacon you carry with you. That allows the thing to make a movie of you doing your amazing stunts without a single other person around. Or film your last hours as you lay bleeding out without a single other person around.

 

[offroad]

GrantR - bleeding out? Dark.