Can You Take Control Of A TinyWhoop?

Regular readers will have followed our series of posts looking at the issues surrounding reports of drones in proximity to aircraft, and will have noted that we recently asked our community how they would approach the detection and handling of marauding drones in controlled airspace. We are mere amateurs though by comparison to a team with its roots in Delft University of Technology’s Micro Air Vehicle Laboratory, because they have approached the problem through DroneClash, a spectacle best described as akin to a Robot Wars competition for drones. Their website states that “Anything goes, with one exception: no jamming“, and teams will do battle before an audience for a share in a considerable prize fund.

The fun is not however limited to team members. People in the audience will also be able to participate, by being invited to try their luck at bringing down a TinyWhoop that will periodically fly into the arena for a chance at their own prize. The ubiquitous cheap toy drone will be accessible through software, and would-be attackers are invited to register in advance to take a pop at it.

It looks as if DroneClash will be an unmissable event for anyone able to make it to the Netherlands on March 16th. We’ve mentioned it in past years, and we look forward to seeing what comes out of it this year too.

TinyWhoop header image: Dan Lundmark, (CC BY 2.0).

16 thoughts on “Can You Take Control Of A TinyWhoop?

  1. I picture ‘queen’ drones with massive cages around them and ‘fighter’ drones spraying each other with water/fire/glue/etc. while just trying to weigh down the queen.

    Burning lasers, explosives and firearms would be cool, but obviously not allowed. Saws and other mechanical devices will be too heavy, so it will be interesting what they come up with.

  2. The easiest method would be to capture the quad. There are many protocols for this style of quad copter, to determine how each person has their flight controller setup while on the fly might be a bit difficult, observation of the movements while compared to the radio signals, frsky, dsmx/2, AFHDS 2A might get you the main controls.

    This wouldn’t be as difficult for a known commercial quad copter, signals could be pre-programmed but I think it would still be considered “jamming” if you overpower or block another radio to transmit your own signal and take control.

    With dsm2, you would need to guess the bind code and could mess someones day up. Like the 72mhz days with channels and clothes pins racks, don’t turn your radio on while someone is flying…

    1. dropping chaff is one way, but it’s one shot only.

      I wonder what will be “the wedge” of drone wars. Unless you start mounting machine BB guns on them, the only thing you can do is drop something on, or ram the opposition, or flip them with turbulence.

  3. The background on the droneclash.nl site doesn’t tile well; There’s a slight gradient, possibly overlooked by the designer. Gamma needs adjustment there. thank you.

  4. These things are so nimble, I think pretty quick it’d devolve into a battle of AI software, and the actual “blows” being too fast to even notice. That, or else a race to the top to drop bits of string down.

    I suppose you could spray glue in every direction except your own blades. Or rather including, but designed so it doesn’t hit them. Either way, because it’s airborne, means a much quicker sort of fight, were victims go down much sooner, and you’re hit, you’re dead.

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