Shoulder-mounted cannon snatches drones right out of the sky

Low cost of entry and mobility inevitably guarantees that some drone will wind up in some undesirable location at one time or another, whether that be above a stadium, a construction site, or an airport. Mandatory licensing can only go so far to curb this behavior, forcing law enforcement agencies to experiment with whacky apprehension techniques ranging from trained Dutch falcons to Tokyo’s police interceptor drone. The latest approach uses a shoulder-mounted cannon that fires a ground-to-air projectile net from up to 100 m (330 ft) away.

Designed by British engineering firm OpenWorks, the SkyWall 100 may not be the most practical solution, but it’s certainly one of the coolest. The 22-pound compressed gas-powered launcher entangles the drone’s propellers with a large net, before releasing an parachute to safely bring the drone down to earth; given that drones cost anywhere between $600 to $4,000, parachutes may avoid further legal complications. 

SkyWall 100 maps the trajectory needed for a direct hit by calculating the distance and flight path to the target using a “SmartScope” system comprised of a laser range finder and an inertial measurement unit. Once the target is acquired and a lock is made, a beep informs the user to pull the trigger. Should the net miss its target, then it’ll slowly parachute down to Earth where it can be retrieved and re-used. Reloading takes a mere eight seconds.

The device is light-weight enough to be portable, yet sophisticated enough to be used with minimal training. Pricing remains to be seen, but OpenWorks plans to launch the device by the end of the year.

Will this catch on? Probably not considering the huge number of variables at work. Not only does SkyWall 100 require a human handler, but said handler must be positioned at the right time and place to intercept the drone. Given that drone mobility is what it is, the odds of reaching the drone before it flies away seems highly unlikely. A more probable scenario should combine a compress-gas powered net launcher with a light-weight drone; nonetheless, Skywall 100 is a fun concept to behold.

Source: Gizmag