Recently a biological based smell detector was developed in my country that had incredible accuracy. Also there is in development a desiel powered remote helicopter with a range of several hundred kilometres. The police could implement the smell detector as part of the navigation system of the remote helicopters for use in detecting crops, in particular for my country weed.
-- lostmind, Jul 03 2006

Why not just put it into a robot dog and be done with it?
-- Gallus, Jul 03 2006


because crops are grown in the wild with limited access, helicopters have much better access capabilities than the ground based doggie, are cooler and can retreat into the skies.
-- lostmind, Jul 03 2006


Yes, let's put a sensitive odour detector under a big smelly fan.
Reminds me of a customer who wanted to put a CO2 detector slung on a 100 metre cable below a helicopter, to detect emissions from flares in gas and oil fields, until we pointed out to him that
a) A 1200 SHP helicopter engine produces a fair amount of CO2 itself
b) The downwash from said helicopter would tend to disperse the CO2 anyway.
sp "diesel".
-- AbsintheWithoutLeave, Jul 03 2006


well you could have the sensor significantly below the helicopter. Now I maybe mistaken but the fumes from drug manufacture are heavy and produce characteristic chemicals so having the mini chopper pass by common places of drug labs would at least push them out of the city
-- lostmind, Jul 04 2006


Wouldn't you be able to just see flares from gas and oil fields burning?
-- RayfordSteele, Apr 16 2008



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