Hawkshade

Son of the Shogun

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Tech Files: Blackhawk Drone

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Notes: 4/01/2019

Cowl's vision suite is useful but I need eyes in the sky. Drones fit the bill. They need to be cheap. Maneuverable. Quiet. And untraceable; some will fall into the hands of my enemies. Look through Arrachtach's notes for mentions of drones.

Notes: 4/2/2019

Notes contain zero mention of drones. Odd.

Notes: 4/5/2019

First challenge is power source. Needs to be light; the heavier it is the bigger the engine has to be. Can't use any exotic materials that could be tracked to me. Lithium and polymers?

Notes: 4/9/2019

Drone needs to be agile enough to operate indoors or underground. Fixed wing designs not appropriate. Try rotary wing design? Perhaps ducted fan?

Notes: 4/11/2019

Lightweight construction. Polymers.

Notes: 4/14/2019

Airborne sensor suite. Need camera, microphone and laser microphone at least. Consider Geiger counter and atmospheric sensor as well; look into costs and weight.

Notes: 4/16/2019

Looked at drone prototypes in Japan. Memorized schematics. Useful. Ordered tools and raw materials.

Notes: 4/20/2019

Built first prototype. Too heavy. Second prototype nonviable design. Third using ducted central rotor; successful. Continue this design.

Notes: 4/22/2019

Drone design finalized. Adding sensor suite.

Notes: 4/23/2019

Sensors unbalanced drone. Re-distribute and counterbalance with inboard radio control circuits.

Notes: 4/24/2019

Project successful. Codenamed Blackhawk.

Design and Capabilities

Casing: Black Polymer
The casing of the Blackhawk drone is black polymer. Raw materials and black dye are injection moulded by Richard in the Cave. The process takes between eleven and fifteen minutes and results in an inexpensive, lightweight polymer case that hosts the internal components and mounts the rotors.
Power Supply: Lithium Polymer Battery
Batteries are a homemade Li-Po battery designed to emphasize low weight, modest production cost, long life and rechargeability. A gel polymer forms the electrolyte that separates the positive and negative electronodes.
Lift and Maneuver: Ducted Rotor Fans
The main rotor fan forms the core of the drone with the electronics layered in the polymer casing that forms the rim of the fan. Two secondary fans tilt to provide the horizontal propulsion that allows the drone to maneuver. All fans are powered by electric micro-engines mounted in the center of the rotors. These generate high torque on demand and are lightweight but due to their small size they displace heat poorly and wear out frequently. Electric engines are also quiet and Hawkshade has designed these to run near silently.
Armor: Kevlar & Teflon
Each ounce of weight reduces range, battery duration, speed and agility. Armor is light. The central casing has an internal weave of Kevlar glued to the inside of the polymer case and the outside is coated in Teflon. Neither of these layers are thick and serve to protect the drone from corrosive materials, fires and glancing hits by handguns. A direct hit from an intermediate cartridge will badly damage or destroy the drone as will a high velocity handgun or multiple close range impacts from weak rounds such as birdshot.
Control: Encrypted Radio Band
Drones communicate with 256-bit encrypted radio transmissions and change frequency ten times a second, mimicking static transmissions. Unless a receiver is aware of the frequency rotation they are unlikely to differentiate the transmissions from background noise. Range is roughly twenty five miles.
Sensor Suite: Laser Microphone
The purpose of the drone is information. As such it is equipped with a number of sensors whose combined cost equal that of the drone itself. First among their number is a laser microphone. A laser beam invisible to the naked eye is shined onto a window or other vibrating surface and bounces back to an inboard sensor which deciphers the microscopic vibrations; those vibrations are caused by sound waves in the target area and as such the laser microphone can listen to conversations in closed, otherwise soundproof rooms.
Sensor Suite: 50x Camera
A small digital single-lens reflex camera is installed in the drone casing. Though small it offers 50x zoom and can transmit what it sees to Hawkshade's cowl in HD, giving him the proverbial 'eye in the sky.'
Sensor Suite: Ultrasonic Mapping
Similar to medical ultrasound technology this device is linked to the vibrations created by the drones rotors. These sound waves bounce off of nearby objects and then return, where they are detected and analyzed by the Ultrasonic sensors. An inboard chip turns raw data into a 3D map of anything within fifty yards, allowing the drone to map the interior of buildings, around corners or detect objects not visible to the naked eye. It also doubles as a motion detector and can sense the presence of small and/or fast moving objects, such as a bullet in flight.
Sensor Suite: Directional Microphone
A lightweight directional microphone is also built into the device, angled downward as the drone is intended to fly overhead and observe events below. However this microphone's facing can be elevated to face forward, allowing Hawkshade to fly the drone indoors and listen to conversations ahead of the drone instead of just under it.
Sensor Suit: Atmospheric Sensors
Atmospheric conditions are detected by an digital thermometer, barometer, hygrometer and gieger counter. These detect weather conditions such as rain, temperature and air pressure that might effect the drones flight patterns. The geiger counter is rarely relevant to drone flight but provides Hawkshade with an automated warning if it detects elevated levels of radiation.
Sensor Suite: Radio Frequency Scanner
This device scans all radio frequencies at all times, even frequencies reserved for military use. It records them and transmits the data in encrypted burst transmissions to Hawkshade who records it and stores it in the Cave. This allows him to listen in to all unencrypted transmissions within range and record encrypted transmissions for later decryption.
Control: Manual and Autoflight
Hawkshade can take manual control of the drone by directing it's flight with eye movements inside his cowl or from the main computer inside the Cave. However the drones are also equipped with an inexpensive microprocessor and a machine learning program based on lexicographic ordering. He built twenty five drones and released them into the underground Labyrinth that leads to his base in the Cave where they learned to navigate (after twenty one losses.) Each drone records and transmits it's own flight data to the Cave's central computer where the program is hosted and it 'learns' with each error. The hardware on the drone is not very advanced so the drone is not capable of advanced maneuvers and may even crash in difficult weather without the central computer or Hawkshade taking direct control. However it is enough for the drones to perform a simple task, such as patrolling an area or following Hawkshade at a certain distance.
Utility: Spotlight
Perhaps the lowest tech but most useful device is an variable power LED beam that can be turned up to as much as 1700 lumens. This drains the drones battery quickly but on lower power levels the effect on the battery is minimal.

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