Another use the FAA did not see coming.
Local engineers’ drone declares WAR on troubling wild hogs in Louisiana
Kris Wartelle
WHITEVILLE — It is well past 8 p.m. on a Thursday, and engineers James Palmer and Cy Brown are a long way from their day jobs at Raven Research and Development in Lafayette.
Palmer and Brown are in the middle of an expansive rice field in rural St. Landry Parish. It is pitch dark and mostly quiet.
They are on a mission.
“We do this every weekend,” said Brown, who is the team’s computer operator. “We will be out here all night.”
Armed with state-of-the-art gear, computers, infrared cameras and thermal imaging scopes, they are hunting.
Their target is a herd of wild hogs that has been devastating a local farmer’s rice and soybean crops.
Enter the “Dehogiflier,” the name Palmer and Brown have given their invention.
It is a domestic drone that can fly above dense, grassy fields and see into the night. The drone is almost silent and deadly accurate.
“It’s not really hunting,” Palmer said. “There is not much sport to it. It’s about getting the maximum advantage in order to get rid of the hogs.”
Across the country, drone technology, once used only by the military, is being developed for many other practical uses from taking aerial real estate photographs to monitoring oil pipelines.
Right here in southwest Louisiana, Brown and Palmer have come up with their own groundbreaking application that may one day help farmers control this extremely destructive species.
Find more video on Cy’s YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/user/cybrown?feature=watch
The RC groups thread http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1478852
Comments
Wild Hogs can kill livestock, children, and even adults so I'm more then glad to see our hobby gaining another great application to assist people with everyday things that provide cheaper cost, more efficiency, and better saftey.
One thing in the picture is really bugging me! Is this bugging anyone else? :
The RED LED should be on the LEFT Wingtip, the BLUE/GREEN should be on the RIGHT. At first, I thought that the image was mirrored, but the guy's shirt shows that the picture is normal/non-mirrored. Ah! So frustrating! Marine/Aeronautical tradition getting mixed up.
Good applications, no doubt. Just a pity that there is the consistent use of evocative wording - 'war, hunting, drones, -deadly accurate-', etc. Others construe from that a 'state of mind' and a Gung-Ho attitude. If these are engineers doing this, some sensitivity to the US drones paranoia would be in order...
Joe
The Nampilot.
Great work guys!
Mobile delta also has a hugh wild hog problem, as do many coastal marshes on the gulf coast and along the Antlantic. They are not just a nusiance. There are some communities where the hogs are bold enough to be dangerous to residents. Ever see a dog slashed by one? i have and would not mind all of the feral hogs wiped out.
Getting the word out about real world applications is a great way to show the uses of "drones", aka RC aircraft with cameras, and show that can be used for more than spying on people. Fight back against the lies and misinformation with the facts and truth.
This application would be a great help to professional hunters, farmers and serious amateur hunters. It might even help get the idiots that threaten to shot down drones on side, although their limited grasp of reality will need to be overcome... There are problems with wild animals causing damage around the world and a drone that can be built for the cost of hiring a helicopter and pilot for a single hunt has real potential.
Hey guys, I understand the concern about the public freaking out over the words "drone" and "hunting" in the same story. Part of me wants to agree that we should keep everything we do in the shadows, but the other part says we have to get our story out there so that people understand what is really going on and why they shouldn't freak out over it.
Also, the more people that know about our airplane the more places we get invited to go hunt, so I have a little incentive involved when news papers call up asking for information etc. Here's the actual hunt that the reporter was around for: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eqx1gcziX98
- Cy Brown
www.facebook.com/louisianahogcontrol/
I understand that they're using it to only look for the hogs (Awesome concept BTW), but with the current atmosphere so anti-drone, don't you thing that the words 'drone' and 'hunt' will have some people worried?
I am not criticizing them by any means though,their project is awesome.
You should install flamethrowers on sides of the drone and throw fire on them like a dragon.That will double the fun.You may end up lighting the whole forest but that seems to be only a minor issue :)
We can use that IR camera to hunt poachers here in South Africa
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