On Tuesday, an ambitious aerospace engineer from Washington, DC began seeking donations on Indiegogo to create an “open-source drone detection system.”
The Drone Shield would combine a Raspberry Pi, a signal processor, a microphone, and analysis software to scan for specific audio signatures and compare them against what known drones sound like (because obviously a Predator drone is going to sound very different from a small quadcopter.) Once a match is found, the Drone Shield then sends an e-mail or SMS to its owner. As of this writing, the campaign is only closing in on one-tenth of its goal with $301 out $3,500 raised.
John Franklin, the project’s organizer, believes it would cost around $60 to $70 to make one, but he’s hoping to raise funds from other privacy-minded citizens like himself. He notes the idea here is to counter the rising use of drones not only in foreign theaters of war, but also in domestic skies.
Via Meet Drone Shield, an ambitious idea for a $70 drone detection system | Ars Technica.