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#298593 - 21/05/2007 12:36 "Patrick was there first" news
andy
carpal tunnel

Registered: 10/06/1999
Posts: 5916
Loc: Wivenhoe, Essex, UK
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#298594 - 21/05/2007 19:15 Re: "Patrick was there first" news [Re: andy]
tfabris
carpal tunnel

Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31594
Loc: Seattle, WA
I take issue with this paragraph in the article:
Quote:
The machines, which are flown by remote control or using pre-programmed GPS navigation systems, are silent and can be fitted with night-vision cameras.


Define "Silent".
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Tony Fabris

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#298595 - 21/05/2007 20:05 Re: "Patrick was there first" news [Re: tfabris]
CrackersMcCheese
pooh-bah

Registered: 14/01/2002
Posts: 2489
Four electric motors? Probably noticeable depending on the situation. Next to a busy road you'd be hard pushed to hear it.

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#298596 - 21/05/2007 20:30 Re: "Patrick was there first" news [Re: andy]
Cris
pooh-bah

Registered: 06/02/2002
Posts: 1904
Loc: Leeds, UK
I saw this on the news today.

What I don't get is the boys over at Draganfly have been doing this for years, they have a scaled up model that is in active use for this sort of stuff already.

Cheers

Cris.

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#298597 - 22/05/2007 23:33 Re: "Patrick was there first" news [Re: andy]
FireFox31
pooh-bah

Registered: 19/09/2002
Posts: 2494
Loc: East Coast, USA
I wonder about this and all other surveillance cameras. Can they really take a picture good enough to identify the perpetrator? Maybe with the "advances" in HD, we'll see cams with 1080p. "See the pores of sweat on the criminal's face!"
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#298598 - 23/05/2007 11:59 Re: "Patrick was there first" news [Re: FireFox31]
Tim
veteran

Registered: 25/04/2000
Posts: 1525
Loc: Arizona
Quote:
I wonder about this and all other surveillance cameras. Can they really take a picture good enough to identify the perpetrator? Maybe with the "advances" in HD, we'll see cams with 1080p. "See the pores of sweat on the criminal's face!"

They claim this is based on a military version. Back in 1986, the military was fielding DTV units that could read the bumper numbers off tanks at 12km (about 7.5mi) that were light enough to go into aircraft. Since then, the technology has only gotten better. The images from some of the UAVs we are getting now is absolutely insane.

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#298599 - 23/05/2007 16:05 Re: "Patrick was there first" news [Re: Tim]
tanstaafl.
carpal tunnel

Registered: 08/07/1999
Posts: 5546
Loc: Ajijic, Mexico
Quote:
Since then, the technology has only gotten better. The images from some of the UAVs we are getting now is absolutely insane.


I have heard people say that surveillance technology is good enough now that it is possible to read automobile license plates from orbiting satellites.

Is this true, or is it an urban myth? Wouldn't there be some sort of physical limit to resolution based on the wavelengths of visible light?

tanstaafl.
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#298600 - 23/05/2007 18:50 Re: "Patrick was there first" news [Re: tanstaafl.]
mlord
carpal tunnel

Registered: 29/08/2000
Posts: 14491
Loc: Canada
Quote:
Quote:
Since then, the technology has only gotten better. The images from some of the UAVs we are getting now is absolutely insane.


I have heard people say that surveillance technology is good enough now that it is possible to read automobile license plates from orbiting satellites.

Is this true, or is it an urban myth? Wouldn't there be some sort of physical limit to resolution based on the wavelengths of visible light?


Picture a Hubble Telescope in orbit, pointed at the earth.
That's what they were using 20 years ago..

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#298601 - 24/05/2007 00:06 Re: "Patrick was there first" news [Re: mlord]
tanstaafl.
carpal tunnel

Registered: 08/07/1999
Posts: 5546
Loc: Ajijic, Mexico
Quote:
Picture a Hubble Telescope in orbit, pointed at the earth.
That's what they were using 20 years ago..


Okay... but assuming I was in orbit with my own Hubble telescope, would I really be able to read license plates (or newspaper headlines or things requiring comparable resolution)?

tanstaafl.
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"There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch"

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#298602 - 24/05/2007 01:00 Re: "Patrick was there first" news [Re: tanstaafl.]
mlord
carpal tunnel

Registered: 29/08/2000
Posts: 14491
Loc: Canada
Quote:
Quote:
Picture a Hubble Telescope in orbit, pointed at the earth.
That's what they were using 20 years ago..


Okay... but assuming I was in orbit with my own Hubble telescope, would I really be able to read license plates (or newspaper headlines or things requiring comparable resolution)?


Dunno, but 20 years of improvements have gone by since then..

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#298603 - 24/05/2007 11:42 Re: "Patrick was there first" news [Re: tanstaafl.]
Tim
veteran

Registered: 25/04/2000
Posts: 1525
Loc: Arizona
Quote:
Quote:
Picture a Hubble Telescope in orbit, pointed at the earth.
That's what they were using 20 years ago..


Okay... but assuming I was in orbit with my own Hubble telescope, would I really be able to read license plates (or newspaper headlines or things requiring comparable resolution)?

A license plate is bigger than what you can read.

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#298604 - 24/05/2007 11:58 Re: "Patrick was there first" news [Re: Tim]
furtive
old hand

Registered: 14/08/2001
Posts: 886
Loc: London, UK
Wouldn't the licence plate need to be put on the roof of the car for something in orbit to be able to see it?
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#298605 - 24/05/2007 12:09 Re: "Patrick was there first" news [Re: furtive]
drakino
carpal tunnel

Registered: 08/06/1999
Posts: 7868
Only if the object in satellite is above the car. If the satellite is at a big enough angle, it could see the sides of the car. Los Angeles on Google Maps is a good example of this. The satellite taking those images was farther north then LA, so it not only saw the tops of the buildings, but also their north facing sides.

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#298606 - 25/05/2007 19:40 Re: "Patrick was there first" news [Re: drakino]
wfaulk
carpal tunnel

Registered: 25/12/2000
Posts: 16706
Loc: Raleigh, NC US
My favorite is when Google stitches together satellite images that were taken from wildly different angles, like this area.
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#298607 - 25/05/2007 20:10 Re: "Patrick was there first" news [Re: wfaulk]
tfabris
carpal tunnel

Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31594
Loc: Seattle, WA
That is just awesome.

I wonder if they've indexed it over at www.satellite-sightseer.com ?
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#298608 - 25/05/2007 20:11 Re: "Patrick was there first" news [Re: wfaulk]
gbeer
carpal tunnel

Registered: 17/12/2000
Posts: 2665
Loc: Manteca, California
Three different perspectives, all stitched seamlessly.

What seems even stranger is that they were all taken at about the same time of day.
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Glenn

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#298609 - 31/05/2007 18:04 Re: "Patrick was there first" news [Re: gbeer]
RobotCaleb
pooh-bah

Registered: 15/01/2002
Posts: 1866
Loc: Austin
It's not too farfetched to believe that the plane flew over most of LA in the same day.

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#298610 - 31/05/2007 22:17 Re: "Patrick was there first" news [Re: RobotCaleb]
tfabris
carpal tunnel

Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31594
Loc: Seattle, WA
Quote:
It's not too farfetched to believe that the plane flew over most of LA in the same day.

Wait, I thought those were keyhole satellite photos, not aircraft photos. Do they mix and match them?
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Tony Fabris

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#298611 - 01/06/2007 00:58 Re: "Patrick was there first" news [Re: tfabris]
RobotCaleb
pooh-bah

Registered: 15/01/2002
Posts: 1866
Loc: Austin
I honestly don't know. It just made the most sense to me for explaining the same day multiple angles.

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#298612 - 01/06/2007 09:15 Re: "Patrick was there first" news [Re: tfabris]
JBjorgen
carpal tunnel

Registered: 19/01/2002
Posts: 3584
Loc: Columbus, OH
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#298613 - 01/06/2007 14:55 Re: "Patrick was there first" news [Re: JBjorgen]
tfabris
carpal tunnel

Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31594
Loc: Seattle, WA
Wow, so they do use airplanes. I wonder why so many of their images are so crap, then?
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Tony Fabris

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#298614 - 02/06/2007 20:07 Re: "Patrick was there first" news [Re: RobotCaleb]
gbeer
carpal tunnel

Registered: 17/12/2000
Posts: 2665
Loc: Manteca, California
What I was trying to point out was that each building is in essence a big sundial. There are three shadows that are all pointing the same direction. I guesstamate each photo was taken as exactly the same time on three different days.

I suppose it could have been done from a plane with a fancy photo rig, or maybe several planes working in parallel, but I'd bet that those particular ones are space based images.
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#298615 - 02/06/2007 20:11 Re: "Patrick was there first" news [Re: gbeer]
frog51
pooh-bah

Registered: 09/08/2000
Posts: 2091
Loc: Edinburgh, Scotland
Looking at the info from Google, It makes most sense to me thinking it is from the same day, by plane, on different parts of its raster pattern.

Pretty cool either way though
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#298616 - 02/06/2007 20:12 Re: "Patrick was there first" news [Re: tfabris]
gbeer
carpal tunnel

Registered: 17/12/2000
Posts: 2665
Loc: Manteca, California
Don't snort at aircraft, If you can get one in place, with a decent camera, it will always outperform sat based systems. And you can buy a lot of airplanes, pilots and av-gas for the cost of one spysat.
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#298617 - 03/06/2007 04:59 Re: "Patrick was there first" news [Re: gbeer]
tfabris
carpal tunnel

Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31594
Loc: Seattle, WA
I know. I wasn't snorting at aircarft. I was snorting at the low quality of many of the google maps images. (I'm assuming the ones I'm thinking of are ones that weren't taken by aircraft.)
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Tony Fabris

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#298618 - 04/06/2007 07:13 Re: "Patrick was there first" news [Re: tanstaafl.]
LittleBlueThing
addict

Registered: 11/01/2002
Posts: 612
Loc: Reading, UK
So I wondered and Googled and was surprised...

Hubble angular resolution = 0.1arcseconds = 2.7e-5deg
Orbit 600km

sin=opposite/hypotenuse
sin(0.1as)*600,000 = 30cm

I guess the Hubble could see a number plate but not read it...

Still, I suppose stars are quite big...

(Any maths errors?)
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#298619 - 12/06/2007 14:19 Re: "Patrick was there first" news [Re: andy]
Roger
carpal tunnel

Registered: 18/01/2000
Posts: 5683
Loc: London, UK
One of the guys at work forwarded me this video on Google, which appears to be a French guy who's attached video goggles to his remote-controlled glider. They're even on a gimble, so they look where he looks.
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