The ability to view real-time video from a quadcopter's onboard camera is certainly a handy feature, but let's be honest – there are probably a lot of people who just think, "Wouldn't be great if I could use this to shoot at stuff?". Well, German cyberpunk weapons tinkerer Patrick Priebe has adapted an off-the-shelf drone so it can do just that – using a laser.
Priebe started with a camera-equipped Amewi AMX-51 quadcopter, and added both a 3-mW red laser for aiming and a 1.5-W laser for shooting/burning. In order to provide power to them, he replaced the drone's original 850-mAh 7.4-volt battery with one rated at 1,200 mAh. The aiming laser remains on as long as the AMX-51 is in flight, while the blue laser can be manually activated using a switch on the remote control unit, that originally controlled the drone's LED running lights.
The lasers, battery and camera are mounted on the undercarriage and protected by 1-mm aluminum sheets, with ventilation holes drilled into them.
Patrick emphasizes that he took on the project with the intention of only using the drone in a closed indoor environment, wearing eye protection at all times, and shooting at nothing but helium balloons. In order to make those balloons a little more challenging of a target, however, he equipped them with tiny electric motor-driven propellers.
The finished Laser Drone can be seen in balloon-popping action, in the video below.
Source: Laser Gadgets by Patrick Priebe
If for example it could also, cut down a tree, or carve an etching or slice a sheet of metal or do any of the other things we associate with cool powerful lasers it might be kinda interesting...
But when the only thing it can do for you is pop a balloon, and the risk is that it might also accidentally blind you... the risk reward is a little off.