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Mark Robers CrunchLabs S03E05 Vortex Cannon vs Drone H 264
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00:00Hiding inside this box is an absolute marvel of engineering you might just find protecting
00:04you the next time you're at a public event.
00:06That's got a lot of people.
00:11And while this just might look like a boring old drone, it's actually one of the fastest
00:16in the world.
00:17It's autonomous, and it weighs five times more than is typical.
00:20Because the purpose of this drone is to lock onto a bad guy drone trying to do bad guy
00:25things and then smash it into a thousand pieces.
00:28Now that drones have become so incredibly cheap, fast, and maneuverable, it's only a
00:33matter of time before they're used to carry explosives to attack key infrastructure or
00:38even worse.
00:39But before you get too worried, there's some good news here.
00:41And so today we're going to take a look at all the latest technologies being developed
00:45to combat this very possible scenario.
00:48And then after we see how the pros are doing it, we'll investigate how a few backyard YouTube
00:53engineers would handle the same problem.
00:55And I don't want to give too much away, but it might involve giant dart turrets, Tesla
00:59coil water guns, and the world's largest vortex cannon.
01:03Now to kick things off with the pros, I headed down to a company called Andro, who are one
01:07of the leaders when it comes to drone defense, where I met up with their founder, Palmer Luckey,
01:11who by the way, you might recognize as the dude who dropped out of school at 19 years old
01:15to invent the Oculus VR headset.
01:17And right out of the gate, he set the stage.
01:19The United States has the ability to defend against fighter jet attacks or bomber invasions
01:23and zero ability to control what happens in the first few hundred feet of our airspace.
01:26That's the thing we have to solve.
01:28We have to tame the Wild West.
01:29Palmer explained to me there are six primary ways to take out a drone with bad intentions,
01:33and every method has a major flaw except for number six.
01:37The first is jamming, where you just overwhelm the drone with fake radio signals so it can no
01:41longer hear the instructions from the human operator and they lose control.
01:4570% of all consumer drones are from DJI, and they actually provide the equipment to law enforcement
01:50that will jam the communications like this.
01:53The second method to take out a drone with bad intentions is hacking, where you remotely hack
01:57into the drone using the radio signal, and then by exploiting known problems in the software,
02:02you can take control and force it to land or crash.
02:04But Palmer pointed out the potential Achilles heel for both of these first two methods.
02:09All they have to do to bypass that is use a different brand of drone, use a different brand
02:12of radio, use a different frequency, or build a drone that doesn't even need those frequencies
02:16in the first place.
02:17Basically, by using something besides the most popular consumer drones and frequencies
02:21means this would have no effect.
02:23Method number three is high-powered lasers, where you basically just heat up the outside
02:27surface of the drone so high that it catches fire.
02:30And this works pretty well against plastic drone casings.
02:33But once again, there's a weakness.
02:35What if I just hang a five-cent pie tin?
02:37It takes orders of magnitude more energy to burn through a metal reflective high tin.
02:42It just doesn't work.
02:43The next method is a focused beam of microwave energy like an EMP.
02:47The goal here is to induce a current in the drone electronics so high that it fries the brain of
02:52the drone.
02:52But as Palmer explained, all a bad guy has to do to mitigate this is to buy some cheap copper
02:57tape from Home Depot.
02:59And once you cover the body of the drone, it becomes practically invisible to this attack.
03:03He can reduce the amount of power that gets to the internal electronics from an EMP
03:07by orders of magnitude.
03:09And that means a microwave beam gun that was previously able to fry a drone at 2,000 meters
03:14away now only works if that copper taped drone is two meters away.
03:19So now the beam gun is basically useless.
03:22Coming in at number five are nets fired in the air from other drones.
03:25And this makes sense if you're trying to capture the bad drone for forensic investigation.
03:29But net carrying drones by default are going to be slower and less maneuverable.
03:34So they're beatable with speed and agility.
03:36Now all this would be real bad news were it not for the sixth method that even works if you
03:40designed a super drone that combined all the tricks to defeat methods one through five.
03:45And it's possibly the oldest method of destruction known to man.
03:51Smashing stuff.
03:52Smashing stuff.
03:55Because this method is so foolproof,
03:57Andrew makes a blazing fast drone appropriately called Anvil,
04:01whose only job is to use kinetic energy to bust up a dangerous drone into thousands of pieces.
04:08Imagine a children's bowling ball thrown twice as fast as a major league baseball fastball.
04:14That's what it's like getting hit by Anvil.
04:17And so naturally after hearing all of this, I wanted to see it in action.
04:20So they took me out to their test grounds,
04:22where they set up a scenario where a bad guy drone was zooming towards our position.
04:27Thank goodness we got Anvil.
04:28Now they immediately identified the drone even before it had taken off.
04:32And that's due to the towers you see here.
04:34Each tower has sensors on it, such as radar, optical cameras, or IR detectors.
04:38And then they use computer vision, machine learning, and AI to detect,
04:42classify, and track everything of interest in a designated area.
04:46It's so precise, in fact, it will actually identify and track every single bird on the test range.
04:52They call this software system Lattice,
04:54and it's the real secret sauce at the core of their company.
04:58So what we do is we detect a drone, classify what it is,
05:00and if it's something that Anvil needs to go after,
05:02let's say you try to jam it, you try to hack it, it doesn't work, you now launch Anvil.
05:07Oh, here it goes.
05:08Anvil immediately zoomed out to the bad guy drone, but importantly, it didn't engage.
05:13Instead, it just locked into position about 30 meters underneath it,
05:17perfectly mirroring the other drone's movements, turn for turn,
05:20just waiting for a human operator to give the go-ahead to use its terminal guidance sensors
05:24to close the gap and attack from below, smashing into the drone at speeds approaching 200 miles an hour.
05:31Now besides this Anvil, they have other systems too, such as Roadrunner here,
05:36which is designed to take out faster and larger drones where you would typically have to fire a Patriot missile.
05:41But unlike a Patriot missile, Roadrunner costs an order of magnitude less,
05:45and if you just scare off the threat without needing to engage,
05:48then it could come back to be reused for another time.
05:51Ultimately, Anvil is taking the SpaceX approach to using cutting-edge engineering to make things
05:56way more capable for way less money. And you know they're doing something right,
06:00because they have some portion of their solutions currently implemented in a lot of different places.
06:05Southern border, northern border, national parks, military bases around critical infrastructure,
06:10around nuclear energy sites, there's a lot of sensitive places where you don't want to
06:14have no idea who's there and what they might be doing.
06:17And so now that we've got a handle on how the pros do drone defense, the question you're probably
06:21wondering is how would Mark Rober do drone defense? And I think the answer is, it would probably look
06:26something like this. A seven foot tall, fully articulated mega turret that fires a six-shooter
06:32barrel worth of pre-loaded mega darts. And so to properly test out how effective this was,
06:37I called three of my engineering buddies who also came up with their own ideas on how they would tackle
06:41the problem, and it sort of turned into a four-person backyard engineering competition.
06:45So in addition to my mega turret, their designs might include a fully electrified drone squirt gun,
06:50a vortex cannon that could do some real damage, and even a very scrappy system that does a little
06:56of its own autonomous drone tracking. But for context on our bootstrapped engineering showdown,
07:00it's important that I first let you know about a super secret project I've been working on for over
07:05two years, because ever since I launched Crunch Labs, the biggest bit of feedback was that this is great
07:10for kids to have a bunch of fun learning how to create and build, but what about something for teenagers
07:14and adults? Well, I'm happy to say that starting today, that exists now. And this is it. It's called
07:20Hack Pack, and it's basically a series of really fun programmable robots that get delivered right to
07:25your door, where we build it together and learn step by step the kinds of engineering skills that go
07:30into making the builds on my channel. And don't be intimidated because all these use a programmable
07:35microcontroller as the brain. Because if you can put together a Lego set, you can put together this,
07:40and it will work right out of the box. No programming required, and it will still be
07:44really fun. Heck yeah! Meaning for the first desktop turret robot, it works just like my mega turret,
07:51where the IR remote can spin it 360 degrees, and you can fire the six-shooter barrel worth of
07:57preloaded darts, either one at a time, or rapid fire. After which you just refill the magnetic snap-on
08:02barrel cartridge. And then for the next box, you'll be building this awesome domino robot that will follow
08:07any line you put on the ground, and lay down a path of dominoes right on that path. But then
08:11it
08:12knows to stop for a refill when it runs out. After that, you've got this oversized custom label maker
08:19that works using just a sharpie and a roll of masking tape, or this beautiful sand garden controlled
08:24with the polar gantry. But here's the thing that makes these totally different, and this is the real
08:30magic of Hack Pack. You can easily hack the brains of any of these robots in a bunch of ways
08:35to
08:35completely level up the functionality. So for example, for the desktop turret, you can make it
08:39password protected, so only you can control it. And if your friend tries and gets it wrong, the robot's
08:44gonna let him know that. Or there's a party mode, sort of like Pie Face, where everyone sits around the
08:49table, and it will spin around as it terrifyingly plays with your emotions. Or you can hack it so when
08:54your dad turns on the TV, the receiver picks up on that signal and autonomously turns to his chair to
09:00unload the full barrel of darts. But there's even hardware hacks too, so it can continuously scan
09:05your office, and if you add a proximity sensor to detect an intruder, it will give them six convincing
09:10rapid-fire reasons to get the heck out. So all these cool ideas act as a motivator for you to
09:15check
09:16out the web-based coding module where you can plug in your robot brain and make any of these updates.
09:21And when you're there, you'll see there's three levels. At level one, the code is fully locked down,
09:25and you can only swap out the full code for verified new hacks, like the passcode hack. At level two,
09:30you can now change some key variables, like how quickly the barrel turns, or how many numbers to
09:35put in your passcode lock. And then at level three, you have full access to change everything. And since
09:39my goal is to take you from wherever you're currently at and then level you up, there's a community where
09:44you can post questions, as well as an AI chatbot named Mark Robot that will check your code for you
09:49and
09:49help you implement your most creative ideas. And each really slick-looking hack pack box that gets delivered to your
09:54door, not only includes a video for me that shows you how to put it together, but each video also
09:59gives you a new juicy nugget about the tools I use to build and code stuff so you can grow
10:03your
10:04creative engineering brain muscles one step at a time. We put up the lid sticker instruction video
10:09for this first box, plus a 20-minute Arduino crash course on the Crunch Labs YouTube channel,
10:14so you can see for yourself that we're not cutting any corners. Just like with my YouTube videos,
10:18I love taking complicated things and making them simple, and that's what we've done here. So if you've
10:23always wanted to learn to code, this is for you. But if you're a master coder and builder, this is
10:28also for you, because this is a community. So I'll absolutely be looking for the most impressively
10:33ridiculous hacks and modifications, and then we'll be sure all the other subscribers see them so they
10:38can be inspired to make their own hacks. And hack pack is a great activity to do with friends and
10:43family, or even just by yourself, if you've always wanted to make and build cool stuff, but just
10:48haven't figured out that first step. On top of all that, a couple times a year, I'll randomly be selecting
10:53one box in which I'll place the Platinum Diploma. And if your box has it, congratulations, because
10:59college is now free for you or a loved one you want to transfer it to. Plus, you get to
11:03come out to
11:04Crunch Labs and brainstorm some of your own ideas with me and my team for a day. So if you
11:09want to
11:09embark on this journey of discovery with me, just go to crunchlabs.com or use the link in the video
11:13description, where to say thank you, we're giving away one free box as an early subscriber special.
11:19We poured our hearts into these for over two years, and I am so confident your brain is going to
11:24love
11:25them. But supplies are definitely limited on this first run, so if you don't want to miss out, be sure
11:29to go check
11:29out that link in the video description. And with that, let's get to the competition. Gentlemen, what's the
11:34confidence level at? Here. Maybe like here? Can I have a shovel? That's the sound of an engineer who has
11:38not
11:39got a lot of sleep this week. I'm excited to face off my turret versus your turret. Your turret actually
11:44shoots things.
11:44How do you know what mine is? It's right there. Oh, that thing. It's controllable with a hack pack
11:52turret remote. No, I'm sorry. Move it that way. Lucky for the boys, the turret got distracted as the
11:59first drone took to the sky, pausing at a height where only a mega turret could possibly bring it down.
12:04I could absolutely hit that with a rock. And while that might be true for the average person,
12:10none of us are exactly first to be picked in gym class type material. At any rate,
12:16it was time to see what this bad boy could do. Let me line it up. Hold on. Oh yeah,
12:21that's looking good. Three, two, one.
12:28That was pretty cool. Yeah. But you missed. Dang it.
12:34This is the one. I can feel it. Three, two, one.
12:46Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Wait, it's okay. What? The drone recovered. That was so cool. That drone is so much
12:59more impressive than the turret. But lucky for me, the definitely not made up on the spot rules
13:03state that if a dart makes contact with the drone, you get one final bonus shot.
13:14The mega turret had secured a mega hit. Check it out. You actually did. Yeah. What's up now?
13:23Let's see you guys beat this. Question is, which one of you guys wants to try and top that? Me.
13:30Me.
13:30Oh God. First up, we've got Kevin. Where's Kevin? He's uh, oh. Yee-haw.
13:39Kevin. Yeah. Yeah. Coming for your drones. This feels like it's bigger than. Whoa. Necessary.
13:48This is the V-Rad cannon. Avian defense turret.
13:54Avian defense. So what? You scare birds with that? Yeah. And shoot down drones. And this concept was
14:00actually invented 200 years ago by farmers shooting it at hail clouds in the sky to try and save their
14:05crops.
14:05But then they found a far less speculative application was just to shoot it towards birds
14:10to scare them away from eating all the seeds in the field. You're going to look so silly if the
14:15drone
14:15doesn't get shot down with this thing, Kevin. Giddy up. And when you mix just the right amount of oxygen
14:20and propane in the combustion chamber and then give it a spark, you basically get a single shot rocket engine.
14:26Three, two, one, fire!
14:32Fire! Wow, Kevin. Real impressive.
14:41And it absolutely destroyed the drone. Oh my god! It like actually totally died. Wow.
14:49That looked like a really good way to kill a drone actually. That was really good. And that's when we
14:53realized it was also a great way to play a certain game called chicken. Bring it on. And if you
15:00think
15:00for a second, we were scared to stand before this gigantic cannon. Why are we doing this? I mean,
15:05you're right. But what's even more scary... Oh! Oh my god! Wait, did it hit any of us?
15:14Was doing it over and over again until it found its aim. Oh! Why was it right? It's coming up
15:20towards us.
15:21Oh my god! I hope it blows your hat off and we can see what you're hiding under there. Oh
15:27no!
15:33Oh! Oh, it got my head! Oh my god! And in our game of chicken,
15:54we were definitely prepared to get much closer to the cannon like these guys, but we ran out of jet
15:59fuel,
15:59so sadly, we had to move on. This is my invention. This is a Tesla coil. You know when you
16:05rub your feet
16:06on a carpet and you get a spark? Yeah, I know. This is like a billion times more powerful than
16:10that.
16:10Three, two, one! Tesla coil!
16:17And if it was a contest for coolest visuals? Wow! See, that's pretty cool, right? Alan definitely
16:23would have won right on the spot, but it wasn't. I feel like that's not gonna get a drone. All
16:28right,
16:28here's my real plan. Salty, electrically conductive goo. Is that legal? What in the world is this? So this
16:37is xanthan gum and salt. It should conduct electricity. That nozzle is gonna shoot a stream of goo,
16:43so when it touches the drone, it's gonna fry it. Well, it's just salty protein and it's thick. It's safe
16:49to
16:49say I had reservations about pretty much all of this. Tesla coil on! As predicted, the coil on its
16:55own had nowhere near the range to hit the drone. Goo stream on! Oh! Oh! Wow! Why is it so
17:03low? That's no good!
17:06And it seemed like the goo wouldn't either, but after a little pressure adjustment,
17:10there we go! The electric goo gun made contact. Oh, come on! Oh, yes! Yes! And it appeared like
17:20Alan had taken it out for good. Whoa! Still, like, trying to be alive! There was no way to salvage
17:27things here, so sadly... Use your heel, Mark, in one solid hit. This feels wrong! We had to put the
17:33little
17:34guy out of his misery. No, Mark! Mark, it's not! I said it again! I'm so sorry! Goodbye, little fella.
17:46I said goodbye! May your microchips forever rest in the watery depths below. And that's how you kill
17:53a drone! The light's still on! All right, Will, I think it's your turn. It's this.
18:01Drone in a fog machine! Wait, and special effects? I didn't know he could order a fog!
18:07But out of the fog, William's creation gloriously emerged. Sort of. I want you to hold on to that.
18:14Wait. And this was the point where I realized Will's drone had taken a sudden interest in what I was
18:19holding. I suddenly feel unsafe! I'm looking at you, Mark! It's looking at you! Run away, Mark! Run away!
18:23And it was totally tracking me. Until it was. I did finish it just 30 minutes ago!
18:29Will had very ambitiously taken the andro approach of attempting to actively track the target drone.
18:35Ultimately, his hunting drone was using eight overlapping photo detectors to look for a specific
18:40IR source on the target drone I was holding, and then it would keep itself oriented in the direction
18:45where that signal was the strongest. You have to attach this thing to the target drone for your
18:51drone to know where it is? Uh, yeah. I mean, how's it going to take it down? By smashing into
18:56it!
18:57Let's do it! And this is where Will brought in his secret weapon, Peter Schriepel. But to be fair,
19:03all Peter was actually doing was hitting the gas pedal on the drone at the right time. All the other
19:07choices were being made autonomously by the drone itself. Okay, I'm taking off and then we're going
19:12autonomous. All right, so it's hunting! Whoa, it's going towards the drone! It's hunting the drone!
19:18Run! Oh! Oh! Oh, it missed! Oh, boy. Oh, it's coming back! Okay. Go!
19:24It reminds me of like, toro, toro!
19:31That looked pretty good. But after a series of near misses, the hunter got serious.
19:38Oh! Oh! Oh! Whoa! Oh! Oh! Nice!
19:42Smashing into the drone for the final kill of the night and taking a much-deserved victory lap.
19:48Dude! Wow! Round of applause!
19:53That's cool. Time to announce the winner of the Drone Defense Derby. I get to decide,
19:57since this is my channel. And honestly, I gotta give this one to William.
20:01Yeah! Whoa! As much as I hate to say it, I deserve it!
20:06From an engineering standpoint, it's very, very impressive. And your prize? You get three
20:12hack packs! Whoa! Yeah!
20:15Now you guys can, you know, hone those engineering skills in.
20:19And so if you too want to hone your own engineering skills, or heck, even just begin to learn some
20:23basic
20:24building skills in the easiest way possible while having a ton of fun at the same time, be sure to
20:29check out that link in the video description to crunchlabs.com to get your free hack pack box
20:34as the early adopter special.
20:59The best player?
21:03Ooh!
21:19Number five!
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