Dutch police train eagles to take out drones

[WoodiE]

I think it's fair to say emergency personal are not fans of dangerous drone operators, between firefighters trying to shoot them down and now Dutch police are training eagles to take down drones.

The Dutch police have partnered with Guard From Above, a raptor training company based in Denmark, to determine whether eagles could be used as intelligent, adaptive anti-drone weapon systems. The eagles are specially trained to identify and capture drones, although from the way most birds of prey react to drones, my guess is that not a lot of training was necessary. After snatching the drone out of the sky, the eagles instinctively find a safe area away from people to land and try take a couple confused bites out of their mechanical prey before their handlers can reward them with something a little less plastic-y. The advantage here is that with the eagles, you don’t have to worry about the drone taking off out of control or falling on people, since the birds are very good at mid-air intercepts as well as bringing the drone to the ground without endangering anyone.

http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/...ch-police-training-eagles-to-take-down-drones

 

[hamz9561]

I've seen the results of a hawk catching a UMX P-51 Mustang foamie like that.

 

[WVNed]

I saw those on The LOTR. OMG

 

[Greywolf74]

If I were an eagle owner/trainer Id be afraid that my birds legs would get cut up from the props.

 

[HPIguy]

If I were an eagle owner/trainer Id be afraid that my birds legs would get cut up from the props.

^^This, seems dangerous for the birds to me once you get into larger multi rotors. I refuse to use the word drone unless we're talking about weaponized / militarized aircraft.

 

[Greywolf74]

^^This, seems dangerous for the birds to me once you get into larger multi rotors. I refuse to use the word drone unless we're talking about weaponized / militarized aircraft.

I mean even something as small as a 350qx I imagine would have the potential to cut when its spun up. I got wacked on my forearm when it was just sitting there at idle and it didnt feel to good, I could only imagine if it was doing high rpms.

 

[HPIguy]

^^Yep, agreed. Found this excerpt in the weblink Woodie posted.

Their talons have scales, which protect them, naturally, from their victims’ bites. Of course, we are continuously investigating any extra possible protective measures we can take in order to protect our birds.

 

[WoodiE]

I don't believe the Dutch police are planning on using the birds for large multi-copters either. Smaller ones like the DJI Phantom and QX350 would be perfect sizes for these birds.

 

[alpinehyperlite]

In the right situation, I think this is badass.

 

[ninnon]

They could give the birds mini shin pads...

 

[HPIguy]

They could give the birds mini shin pads...

You think anybody wants a roundhouse kick to the face while I'm wearing these bad boys? Forget about it.

 

[Kris407]

Too Dangerous for the birds and It seemed like the drone operator cut it off when the eagle grabbed it. One mistake could be a dead eagle but obviously the bird handled it well in a controlled situation, It's still pretty damn cool though.
I have to question the logic of using a protected bird to do our dirty work though.

 

[ninnon]

Too Dangerous for the birds and It seemed like the drone operator cut it off when the eagle grabbed it. One mistake could be a dead eagle but obviously the bird handled it well in a controlled situation, It's still pretty damn cool though.
I have to question the logic of using a protected bird to do our dirty work though.

There's no way we'd be able to do it effectively. We could make some kind of signal interceptor that allows the operator to control the drone. Some sort of hijack...

 

[alpinehyperlite]

Those birds are much tougher than y'all think.

 

[HPIguy]

Also, for anyone wondering, I'm pretty sure they'll be able to handle larger multi rotors just fine.

 

[ninnon]

Also, for anyone wondering, I'm pretty sure they'll be able larger multi rotors just fine.

If I were him I wouldn't not be wearing gloves...

 

[WoodiE]

Those birds are much tougher than y'all think.

Also, for anyone wondering, I'm pretty sure they'll be able larger multi rotors just fine.

Agreed. I don't think everyone understands how large these animals are. They aren't your typical blue jay knocking a quadcopter out of the sky. Just look at the image in the first post, that bird practically dwarfs the quadcopter.

 

[Kris407]

Oh yeah the birds are much larger than those quad copters and could easily handle 90% of them and I agree that they probably would only use them in certain situations. Here in Orlando there are a ton of bald eagles and even though they aren't the biggest they are humongous and could take out most of the toy drones I see flying around here which are typically the DJI phantom.
Also I agree it's kind of annoying when people call them drones in my opinion

 

[Greywolf74]

After reading that except and seeing that picture, Id have to agree. Those birds are up to the task.

 

[Tazzzz]

You think anybody wants a roundhouse kick to the face while I'm wearing these bad boys? Forget about it.

Hope they don’t latch on to a drone that will carry the eagle off to never never land