Drones are becoming very popular recently. People are making drones in garages, backyards, and it is a hobby for some. "Civilian use of drones is becoming more widespread, with sometimes strange and interesting results," says Rebecca Boyle in her drone article for PopSci.
One hacker/mechanic created a drone loaded with a HD-camera and a 340 million word dictionary to hack through passwords and use others' wifi. It has to be manually piloted for take-off, but will use a pre-installed route for searching. It will trick cell phones into thinking the plane is a cell phone tower, to gather information.
Many people are making their own drones out of various gadgets and toys. New cameras that weigh as little as 15 grams are on the market, which invokes amateur drone-makers. Models like the helicopter and plane drones are most common. People use them for hunting, curiosity, spying on the neighbors, getting areal views of their homes, etc.
One hacker/mechanic created a drone loaded with a HD-camera and a 340 million word dictionary to hack through passwords and use others' wifi. It has to be manually piloted for take-off, but will use a pre-installed route for searching. It will trick cell phones into thinking the plane is a cell phone tower, to gather information.
Many people are making their own drones out of various gadgets and toys. New cameras that weigh as little as 15 grams are on the market, which invokes amateur drone-makers. Models like the helicopter and plane drones are most common. People use them for hunting, curiosity, spying on the neighbors, getting areal views of their homes, etc.
It usually takes 20 weeks and $135,000 to train a drone pilot compared to the $2.6 million to train a fighter pilot. This is why they are getting so popular with the U.S.A.F. (United States Air Force).
In early 2011, drone pilot John Chesser found many unusual road side bombs in Ghazni, Afghanistan. The bombs were planted in an area the United States was using during the war. John informed them, and the bombs held 200 to 500 pounds of explosives, much more than anyone has seen before. What made it such a good find is that the bombs were carefully hidden in the highway, but one must have stuck out. The drone saved many lives that day and nobody was injured.