Market research in relation to education: Drones in Airsoft?

[NopeDK]

-- tl;dr, see last line --

Hello everyone.

My name is Mads and I am currently studying for a BSc in Robotics.

During the study we have several large semester projects in groups which involve idea generation, business plans and prototype creation.

I came here in that regard to ask if you might be willing to spare a minute and leave some feedback for one of our ideas.

For this semester the main theme is drones and the application of them.

The recent influx of technology have lowered the barrier and increased the usage of drones and they are now widely used for several purposes, including search and rescue, surveillance, delivery, combat etc.

After several brainstorms, one of the ideas we would like to continue working with is the usage of drones in "combat" simulation, e.g. paintball, hardball, MilSim.

The focus would either be a module for a drone or a complete drone system which will implement the necessary elements for aerial observation and/or fire-support and hit detection.

We envision one or several drones to be operated by the teams and would either be used for observation to scout out the location of the opposing teams members or as an aerial weapons platform.

The hit detection would be tuned to allow a given number of hits before the drone lights up, deactivating camera/weapon and notify the operator that the drone has been "downed" and he has to land or it lands automatically, depending on the environment.

We will also develop simplified controls to allow everyone to quickly begin utilizing the drones, similar to the Parrot AR.Drone.

I would like to ask what you think about this idea? Does it have any merit? Is it something you can see participating in this sport? Would it be something you would use/buy?

What about pure Drone vs. Drone combat?

Any feedback is highly appreciated.

Thank you

Mads

Student, BSc in Robotics

University of Southern Denmark

tl;dr: What do you think about drones for observation/fire-support?

[RILiON]

Iv thought about this before I see it having a place and have seen a paintball game where it's been used to spot enemy players. A drone that could shoot would give a very interesting dynamic to the game and force players to be more aware of their situation and position I'm relation to cover from arial attacks. I think these should be implemented I to certain game types where teams earn. The use of a drone for a predetermined amount of time. I know I would enjoy it.

[Sacarathe]

In all honesty, I'd send you to play battlefield 4. In the games in which a player is operating a UAV in which the opposing team does not have an operator, the games have distinct potential for imbalance. That said, engaging in a fair fight is bad form anyway, and adding a tool to both sides must be done carefully lest it be ultimately pointless.

 

Interested in the hit detection you envisage, though I can't help but wonder how one would hit it at all, if airsoft guns fire at 50-80m flat, how do they fair when actively opposing gravity. Though any drone would be out of range anyway?

[Aunty Pasty]

I can envisage use of drones in milsim operations by established teams who know how to communicate with one another. There is no point in the drone operator finding some enemies and then not being capable of passing this information to the rest of his team.

 

If you're going to allow drones to be shot at you will need to defend against possible damage to the flight mechanism/rotors. Potential H&S issue if it loses control and falls out of the sky.

[Mr Monkey Nuts]

It's a stupid idea and here are the Two main reasons:

 

If you are to fly a drone above an active field of playing air softers it will become compulsory to wear a helmet, and not a Chinese cool looking fast replica, no they will be outlawed, it will have to be a CE or BS certified builders helmet, designed for falling impacts. Most current applications of drones are in limited access areas where this consideration isn't as prevalent, I personally wouldn't play a game knowing some 12yo with more money than skill is piloting a lump of plastic 30m above me, and I wouldn't play in a builders lid, so would boycot the site and their big investment.

 

Second is to build a drone robust enough to be shot at won't be cheap, a cheap polystyrene drone will die after a hail of bbs. Airsofters as a general rule; are dickheads, they WILL shoot it.

The fact it brings no sinificant advantage to a game over the gimmick factor makes the price of a decent drone prohibitive.

 

The only useful drone in air soft is for photography and posing IMO.

[ImTriggerHappy]

Airsofters as a general rule; are dickheads, they WILL shoot it.

This is the truest quote I have ever read on here. Cracked me up 😂

[TheGrover]

Drones would certainly be cool. Any drone worth having would be expensive enough to keep away from most wallet warriors anyway, so you'd probably see them used by site operators (like mortar tubes are generally)

 

I DoD actually see an episode of The Gadget Show where an airsoft GBB pistol was fixed to a professional drone and used to "gently encourage" a jogger to run faster, it seemed from the footage to be a viable shooting platform, but the two posts above mine still play, a drone stable enough and safe enough for use in airsoft that is also tough enough to take a few hits (as well as the inevitable bumps and bruises) will be very expensive, and probably not worth the investment for a site owner, though I am more than happy to be proven wrong.

 

Use for surveillance of the site however, one drone per team operates by a small team feeding Intel to squads properly would be a fantastic experience

[Jedi_Master]

Drone v drone combat? Why? We are airsofters. If I wanted drone fighting then I would buy a couple of RC planes and dogfight properly. I want to use my airsoft kit and take on other human targets.

 

Agree that a drone would be a target, reminiscent of the scene in Empire Strikes Back when the recce drone is shot down on ice planet Hoth, but I digress. Using a low level drone as a target could be fun but I would rather go clay pigeon shooting.

 

Airsoft drones that are weaponised are not a good idea, watching kinetic kills from Afghan is one thing, putting it into practice in UK could seriouly hurt someone and no doubt be outlawed under aviation legislation. Is the uplink going to be encrypted, how many control frequencies available to stop remote control being jammed or hacked.

[Sacarathe]

[Albiscuit]

 

I DoD actually see an episode of The Gadget Show where an airsoft GBB pistol was fixed to a professional drone and used to "gently encourage" a jogger to run faster, it seemed from the footage to be a viable shooting platform, but the two posts above mine still play, a drone stable enough and safe enough for use in airsoft that is also tough enough to take a few hits (as well as the inevitable bumps and bruises) will be very expensive, and probably not worth the investment for a site owner, though I am more than happy to be proven wrong.

 

 

 

I saw this episode.. The drone couldnt have been more than 9 foot off the ground. as accuracy and range would not be great and having to fly that low kinda defeats the purpose of having one.

And like mentioned before, it would pose a whole new threat and health & safety issue which would kill any enjoyment factor as we all know what its like over here for H&S bu****it! Plus the fact they would bring all sorts of new insurance issues.

 

Drone vs Drone has potential, a kind of aerial robot wars. But again a pretty expensive idea as a drone with rotors shot off = a dent in the ground. This idea sounds like fun, but more of an RC angle instead of an airsoft one methinks.

 

 

I know I have repeated a lot of previous posts but this is a distraction to my essay im currently writing so neeeer

[geoffreym]

there are five things I'd want in an airsoft drone:

1. tough (capable of not being damaged by BB's)
2. wide angle camera (possible Night Vision option, possibly with separate controls for camera movement)
3. reinforced compact carry case
4. good battery life (capability to use airsoft lipo's would be good)
5. and last but least, not prohibitively expensive (I'd spend no more that £300 on something like this)

if you can provide all these and make it look relatively good looking, you'll have a good seller.

Personally, I don't like the idea of a gun mounted on it, kind of like those BB tanks which go nowhere.

[sp00n]

I do like the idea, but most outdoor sites either are woodland or have lots of buildings etc.

 

Meaning that the use of a drone is abit useless.

 

A better idea might be say a blimp style of balloon on a wire (like what some garages use) with a camera system on it.

 

But it would probably too expensave for the average airsofter

[NickM]

Ignoring the problem of safety and the requirement to have players in lids under it I can see it adding another layer of realism to the whole process and could be great. ( I don't see how a small drone like many already in use would be a problem)

 

Weaponising it would probably be a bad idea. I can see the law/gov/military looking unfavourably on that one.

 

Yes there are Dicks in every walk of life but I wouldn't say Airsofters are any more dickish than the average. Most sites have rules about shooting wildlife already and I would be fairly confident it wouldn't get shot at regularly if similar rules were put in place. Plus at the heights it would be operated to make it useful I would expect very few would be able to hit it.

 

Unbalancing teams, yes well I guess if you give one team a drone you could give the other team the ability to "bring it down". Don't forget battery life while getting better isn't perfect, so you are realistically looking at short periods of time when it would be operational.

How about having a set docking station ( this could possibly charge the drone as well), when hit the drone would return to automatically? Issue the other team a hand held surface to air rocket launcher (no projectile) that would work on a similar system to the IR targeting system the US used to use (MILES I believe). Give the site or operators the ability to decide the number of hits required to down the drone, and control the length of time between shots simulating a reloading. The drone being hit can trigger an additional scenario, recover the drone sim, a large drone sized and weighted lump placed on the field the team would have to recover it, possibly with a key type device that would have to be used to restart the drone. Or just have the drone out of action for a specified length of time simulating reequipping or retasking a neighbouring drone.

[Aunty Pasty]

If they bring in drones there should be a rule that states that anybody shouting "Enemy UAV!" should immediately be cock punched.

[Jedi_Master]

If they bring in drones there should be a rule that states that anybody shouting "Enemy UAV!" should immediately be cock punched.

As opposed to "Achtung, spitfuer!"

[ImTriggerHappy]

If they bring in drones there should be a rule that states that anybody shouting "Enemy UAV!" should immediately be cock punched.

Anybody who shouts COD references should be cock punched.

Unless they are a chav then they should be throat punched.

[geoffreym]

Anybody who shouts COD references should be cock punched.

Unless they are a chav then they should be throat punched then cock punched.

 

fixed it for you.

[sniperslucky]

Hmm, in theory they sound like a game changer but like most other comments, Cost, durability( cos i would pepper that thing until it came crashing down), again who's the pilot? i want to be shot not decapitated

Rambo never had a drone nor will i. Used as a recon tool in milsim then YES.