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This would involve a mass deployment of a ground central
satellite-communications "hub" and hundreds or thousands of
"seeds" dropped from an airplane onto sensitive areas that
need constant close-range monitoring that cannot be
detected by satellite.
Each seed would be about the size of
a golfball, with enough
battery power to last up to 90 days or more. They would be
colored to "blend in with the territory. Each seed would
contain acoustic, motion, light, full-spectrum radio frequency
sensors, and GPS to determine their exact location when they
land. An on-board program would look for patterns that
indicate human activity - i.e. voices, gunfire, flashes, radio
communications, etc..
When a seed is "triggered" by a recognizable pattern, it opens
up a digital TCP/IP RF network with nearby seeds to
determine the size and scope of the detection. The network
would link back to the central hub, which would collect data
from all the seeds and report back to the operations control
of the detection.
This would enable reliable intelligence gathering of the
movements of enemies without relying on long-distance
communications or risky reconnaisance manouvers. A large
geographic area could be "surveyed" simply by dropping seeds
all along the perimiter.
Seeds could even be deployed along a wire so that miles of
seed could be used as a "fence" to detect individual "foot
tripping" of borders and secured zones.
Baked - Unattended Ground Sensors
http://www.newscien...s.jsp?id=ns99991588
US scattering heat and vibration sensors over Afghanistan. "The UGSs can be buried by ground forces or camouflaged and dropped from the air. They lie in wait for the enemy and report any activity using a combination of seismic, acoustic, infra-red, optical and magnetic technologies." [pottedstu, Dec 07 2001, last modified Oct 04 2004]
Smartdust
http://www.wired.co...,1282,44101,00.html
Wired article [omegatron, Aug 15 2005]
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Annotation:
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Also combine the sensors with land mines for maximum effectiveness (and evil). |
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I can hardly wait for these sensory golf balls to trickle down to the civilian sector. They'd be the best thing since webcams. |
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And a golf club would make an ideal delivery mechanism, if the sensors were strong enough to withstand the blow. The only problem would be ensuring they didn't land lens-down (less of a problem in water, where things can right themselves easily). |
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We've got some "Bluetooth syndrome" here with the TCP/IP reference. |
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Ad-hoc sensor networks built by spraying "bugs" over an area are frequently discussed, though I'm not sure how much has actually been developed. |
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"Each seed would be about the size of a golfball, with enough battery power to last up to 90 days or more. They would be colored to "blend in with the territory. Each seed would contain acoustic, motion, light, full-spectrum radio frequency sensors, and GPS to determine their exact location when they land. An on-board program would look for patterns that indicate human activity - i.e. voices, gunfire, flashes, radio communications, etc.." |
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So the idea is to cram a camera, acoustic and seismic sensors, a 'full spectrum' radio receiver, a GPS system and it's antenna, AND a battery capable of running this monstrosity for three months...into a golf ball? |
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Egnor, I think the 'bluetooth syndrome' is the LEAST of the problems. |
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I suggest you go look at the individual sizes of the equipment you're wantonly jamming together and their battery demands, and think again. One D battery equivalent isn't going to be able to power any of this, let alone all of it; and every bit of the electronic equipment is going to interfere with the radio detector, especially with it being stuffed together like that. |
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Sure, some of it can share circuitry, which will lower the overall size, and the antenna can be used for transmitting and receiving, but most of it is so blatantly different that one would need cyberpunk's polymorphic circuitry, capable of rebuilding itself on the fly. |
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Try middlin' large rocks. Start with real rocks and they'll blend in. But if you could fit all of this into a rock the size of a boom-box, I think you'd be doing pretty well. |
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Actually, I have no doubt that you could fit most of this into an object not much larger than a golf ball. You can get very small GPS units these days, and even smaller cameras and short-range RF transponders. I personally own devices that can do most of this and which are much, much smaller than a boom-box. |
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Power consumption is an issue, though. |
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And one single D battery would take up all of the space. That's why I said 'all of this'. |
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One solution is to make them with a spiked weighted shaft long enough to contain most of the electronics. Drop them from a plane, they fall spike first, ram themselves into the ground, leaving just the visual sensor portion (yes, cunningly disguised as a rock) exposed. Other sensors could be in the shaft.
Alternatively, forget making them multi-purpose.. drop a range of devices. |
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Would be horibly EXPENSIVE, and probably not very cost affective. |
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This is neither expensive nor cost ineffective. Google Operation Igloo White from the Vietnam war- essentially this used against the Ho Chi Minh Trail. As others have said similar devices are used in Afghanistan. |
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