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naraburns  nihil supernum  2yr ago (text post)   31482 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of November 7, 2022

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Hmm. Some of these asks are a bit contradictory.

Okay, I was about ready to dive into engineering options, culture war be damned, when I realized you were asking about the ethics. Setting aside the plausibility of a weapon which can slash 4 tires but not a human eyeball, this is a pretty unwholesome device.

The cost of 4 tires, or even 40, is not actually all that high. This device isn't a game-changer for wholesale destruction compared to something like gasoline. Instead, it's quite targeted, and It's also strictly less useful for legitimate purposes, meaning I'd expect it to be regulated pretty heavily.

Outside of niche law-enforcement usage, it is best suited for vandalism and vigilantism, AKA enforcing one's will on others or their property. I count no-car anarchist compounds in that category, though I really doubt they're a large contingent.

From an engineering perspective, this isn't viable without a gun or gun surrogate mounted on the drone. Piercing a car tire is difficult; it requires a lot of force. A multi-rotor drone simply isn't able to generate enough horizontal force to do it with just the use of it's propellers.

you can see the recoil of a drone when a gun attached to it is fired here. I'd agree that the drone wouldn't have enough force to stab the tire. But what about something like an electric spinning saw attached to the drone. That might be able to cut the tire.

Pretty much. I was thinking captive bolt pistol.

That will just propel the drone backwards.

Same as a gun of equivalent energy, no?

I think the idea is to avoid consistent pressure like you’d need to cut. Though I’m not sure round, clean holes are a good way to cause irreparable damage.

Captive bolt guns have much less energy than projectile-throwers. In particular, a much lower velocity.

I’d think that a captive bolt driven by, say, a .22LR blank would have similar energy in the short run, assuming the same “barrel” length. So a revolver, not a rifle. Giving the bolt 100x the mass would lead to 1/10th the velocity for the same KE.

I honestly don't think drones can mount any weaponry that would generate any significant recoil impulse. Maybe dangerous laser pointers or small rockets, but at that point, you are likely to risk getting the full fury of the law dropped on you (or the wrath of the FAA, but that's probably the same thing).

That was my thought, yeah. Some style of Derringer-style action with a captive spring-loaded blade or piston, which is what drove the small handful of pierced tires between visiting a human.

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