The Birth of Drones: Radio Controlled War Machines of Antiquity
The very first demonstration of radio control took place in 1898 at Madison Square Garden by none other than Nikola Tesla. Some present were so astonished, they insisted it was some form of sorcery.
The boat was powered by a lead acid storage battery with two lights for night time use, a tall antennae, an electric motor and actuated rudder. Modern RC boats don't differ much except with regards to the battery technology in use today.
The strongest initial interest was military. The potential for radio controlled fighting machines, to keep US soldiers out of harm's way, was obvious to Uncle Sam. It wouldn't take long for this concept to proliferate.
Goliath tracked mines were used in World War 2 by the Germans as tank killers. They were controller over long wires to prevent signal jamming. There was an electrically powered one, and a gas powered alternate version.
Recovering unexploded Goliath mines in the aftermath of WW2 advaned the American understanding of what might be considered early battlefield robotics. The Soviets had their own ideas for future use of remotely controlled ground vehicles, however...
The Soviet 'teletank' was the first example in history of a full size unmanned fighting machine. A number of teletanks could be operated from a single "control tank" hanging back out of harm's way. Their solution to signal jamming? If they lost control of a teletank, they were under orders to fire upon it from the control tank until it was destroyed.
The desire to field teletanks in order to limit loss of life is surprising coming from the Soviets, given that their tank-killing alternative to remotely controlled tracked mines was a simple time delay grenade strapped to a trained dog.
The promise of drones as a means of keeping one's own skin out of the game drove their continued development all the way to the present day. But their vulnerability to signal jamming and hijacking hasn't been diminished. As ever, it's an ongoing arms race between drone developers and their intended targets.
The direction the industry is moving in seems to be away from human control and towards full autonomy. You can't hijack a drone with no wireless capability, which does all of it's own thinking. Whether that's a wise solution remains to be seen.
Stay Cozy!
Flying battleships will be a real thing in a couple years, I'm telling you (And as you know I'm an expert at everything in the world).
They should make a crypto investing in robotics research.
I don't know why I got reminded of the Home Alone movie toy car with a cam recorder, when I first read the title.. It was an interesting and quite different read from what I first imagined.. :)
I wish I owned a tank lol
It's my childhood dream
What would you use it for? I'd try to take it through the drive-thru. They better damn well get my order right.
Use it for anything it'd still be cool.
All those fancy cars have got nothing on a tank.
A tank will be the bomb
Tesla was pretty much a socerrer. 'cause it strange how such scientist with same brain cells as everyone were able to come up with world-changing concepts and inventions.
How far these machines have come.
I recently saw a video of those camouflaged little machines in the ground that rise and start shooting with enemy movement.
I did a research paper in college on Nikola Tesla, he was a very fascinating man ahead of his time. It is a real shame he died alone and broke in a hotel room in New York. You can actually stay in the room he died in at the Hotel New Yorker. The room d cor is of course dedicated to him.
Good information bro
I'm back in those days when inventions would have been perceived as sorcery, inventors as magicians or mad men, but look at how far we have come today.
What we just do now is improve on what we already have. Who knows what inventions will be in the nearest future.
The only thing that can just never be erased is the inventors who set the original blueprint model that new scientists only build upon.
very clear development of control technology. unmanned aircraft. car auto pilot and others. but we are positive thinking only. something man-made can always be traced. studied and anticipated. sooner or later. when talking about this in a public society it becomes a new thing and just a moment. they do not care. Why ? In some parts of the world people are thinking about the stomach not the technology. we do not have to ask why but think how
Mr alexbeyman. well i guess about radio control technology was invented in 1898. now it is very advanced. my question, what do you think of as an award engineer for the scientists you see and feel.
because of your writing do not write one reference.
I don't understand the question.
Ok..how do you think the rewards given to the inventors of technology today in australia. And why in this paper you are not using references. Thank
I hope bro @alex you answer this question. andScreenshot_20180601-081646.png
I am still not sure what this means. There is a language barrier at work here.
I do not care to, and there is no rule which says that I must.
Ok..i understand. Thank you.
I've always wanted to hear someone shout "What kind of sorcery is this?" Soon wars are going to be drone vs drone and then it's like why bother at all?
@alexbeyman,
I thought it was invested by US, but never knew this history till read this post! What a great idea and now this technology went too far and having a lot of lethal weapon systems!
Cheers~