It may look like any other security camera but it was designed to detect and take down your drone.
Drones are becoming more widely available with some drones on the market costing less than $100.
But the rise in popularity is now prompting a demand for anti-drone systems.
So why would someone want to take down a drone?
Well, think about an intruder drone and the need to protect large-scale events, prisons,
palaces or the homes of public officials.
There's also sports, critical infrastructure like bridges and landmark buildings.
And for some, there's the need to protect themselves against, say the drones of the paparazzi.
Imagine you're sitting by the pool relaxing and suddenly your privacy is invaded, by a drone.
You can try to escape the scene. You could try to shoot the drone down.
Or you could even train an eagle to take down the drone.
Yes, that's actually a thing.
But this system might be more practical.
The SkyDroner works by detecting an unwanted drone and taking control of it
and landing it safely in its own coordinates.
Now, imagine I'm protecting this compound from intruder drones.
I'm working with the security guard monitoring potential intruders.
Then, let's say there's Intruder Uptin.
This is an aerial map of what we're seeing. It looks like a drone has been detected.
The drone model is a Phantom 3.
It's moving quite fast. So it's 75, 74, it's moving very fast right toward us.
It's getting closer.
The blue line is the drone right now. We're the yellow line, and it's coming straight for us.
This is the camera, in theory we'll be able to see it in any second.
Oh there it is!
I think we should distract. Can you distract the drone?
Distract.
So, the second we hit distract, it turned purple here.
We essentially took control of the drone and we're landing it in this yellow box in the designated area.
So, now we essentially have control over the drone.
You can see it here, coming down as we speak.
We took over the drone at about 60 meters away, and now we're landing it under our control.
There it goes.
SkyDroner is hardly the first company to do this.
In fact, companies are racing to the space as governments and event organizers,
scramble to protect their airspace.
And it's getting crowded.
An estimated seven million drones will be sold per year in the U.S. by 2020.
And drone sales have more than doubled since last year.
But it's a tricky landscape.
For one, these devices aren't likely to recognize every single kind of drone.
Only models that have been registered already.
And although drone regulation is still largely unexplored in most countries,
it's technically illegal to hack another device.
Sure, you could argue that hacking in that case is just a form of self-defense,
but in a largely unregulated space well, it could get quite messy.