When we hear the word “drone,” most think of either the military version currently in use various theaters of operation around the world, or the small, “spy on your neighbor” variety popping up through retailers everywhere. To be fair, those craft are remotely controlled by a human pilot somewhere in the world, but what we have here is actually an autonomous, two-wheel vehicle -- not quite the same thing -- but for ease of conversation we'll just call it a drone, and it is intended for use by the police in your neighborhood.

Continue reading for a look at the Interceptor drone.

What Is It?

First off, autonomous vehicles as a whole are coming along nicely, and much like the electric-vehicle->ke3364 sector is restricted by the lack of infrastructure more than the lack of technology and/or cleverness on the part of the engineers. Admittedly, a four-wheel version would probably be easier to implement, but hey, anyone who has ever split a lane or zipped up a shoulder can appreciate the maneuverability and sheer volume of options available with only two wheels, right?

Enter the Interceptor, an autonomous mobile unit designed by Charles Bombardier's non-profit Imaginactive that is basically a rolling traffic cam, complete with high-definition cameras capable of reading license plates and face-recognition capable. A single supervisor can manage up to five units at once, and drivers “busted” by a unit could get a nasty-gram in their email inbox, complete with a citation/summons/whatever. Lest you think that this sounds a little too fantastic, all of the technology needed to pull it off already exists and just has to be incorporated into a single unit. Neat, huh? Well maybe.

Although this frees up officers from mundane traffic duty for more important work, the savings on wages would take years to amortize the initial investment that falls in the neighborhood of the five-million-dollar mark. While that's a bit pricey, we live in an age where everything gets bigger/better/smaller/cheaper every week, and I expect like everything else, prices will drop a bit as the technology matures. Good news for cops, even if it's nicht sehr gut for those of us who like to get a little too twisty with it once in a while, know what I'm sayin'?