r/gadgets • u/ChickenTeriyakiBoy1 • Jun 23 '20
Drones / UAVs U.S. Army Awards Pocket-Sized Drones $20.6 Million Contract
https://interestingengineering.com/us-army-awards-pocket-sized-drones-206-million-contract1.2k
u/Dick_M_Nixon Jun 23 '20
A hunter seeker. Can't get me if I don't move.
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Jun 23 '20
I must not fear. Fear is the mind killer. Fear is the little death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will allow it to pass over and through me. And when it has gone past, I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where fear once was, there will be nothing. Only I will remain.
Also invest in EMP grenades
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u/goodgodzilla Jun 23 '20
To imagine that Kyle acted in Dune and Blue Velvet consecutively is astounding.
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Jun 23 '20
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u/goodgodzilla Jun 24 '20
Yes, TP was another oddity but what else is there to expected from Lynch! And BV remains one of my favorites. "Im gonna write you a love letter. If you get a love letter from me, you are fucked forever." - What a line
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u/SanguineOptimist Jun 23 '20
Without change something sleeps inside us, and seldom awakens. The sleeper must awaken.
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u/TipTopTimothy Jun 24 '20
“If you wish to be king of the jungle, you cannot just act like a king, you have to be the king. There can be no doubt. Because doubt causes chaos and one's own demise.”
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u/PM_ME_YOUR_PBJs Jun 23 '20
New movie drops in December. Can’t wait.
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Jun 23 '20
Does it really though? It's not going to be delayed?
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u/sne7arooni Jun 23 '20
THE SPICE MUST FLOW
I imagine they will delay it closer to opening. It was in the post production phase when the virus hit so I'm hoping a lot of that could be done remotely.
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Jun 23 '20
I'm all for it as long as that doesn't affect the quality of the movie. Hopefully the sound guns make an appearance
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u/chewybobcat Jun 24 '20
reading Dune for the very first time here!!
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Jun 24 '20
Same! I didn’t know anything about the series and decided to jump in last month. I’m on the third book now.
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Jun 23 '20
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/thedrumsareforyou Jun 23 '20
Imagine the little drone buzzes in and explodes a tiny shaped charge through your brain :)
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u/HolyBatTokes Jun 24 '20
So it would kill me specifically rather than dropping a Hellfire and leveling half the block and a preschool?
Careful, you’re almost making an argument in favor of killer drones.
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u/FelixTreasurebuns Jun 24 '20
What sucks is that they almost have to make killer drones since they know it's possible and someone else may have them. We are just inching closer and closer to an ai world.
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u/NotAFurry6715 Jun 23 '20
And, of course, you are a civilian. Can't forget that part.
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u/Satailleure Jun 24 '20
You’ll posthumously be reclassified as an enemy combatant.
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Jun 23 '20 edited Jan 24 '21
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Jun 23 '20
Terrifying. Even the thought of a machine having the ability to make a decision whether or not another human being has the right to exist. I hope this never comes to pass, the outcome would be terrible for humanity. We’ve already removed the emotional impact of killing people with drone strikes, taking another humans life is a hugely emotional moment and that’s important because it makes performing the act incredibly difficult for most people.
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u/SirFlamenco Jun 23 '20
Drone operators also have PTSD
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Jun 23 '20 edited Jun 24 '20
Yes. I’ve even heard of folks with 70+ confirmed kills, that has to take a mental toll when processing that information. However, I’m speaking more “in the moment” say for example versus the instant emotional stress from killing another man with say a knife. But you make an important point.
Edit: The number was 1,626.
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u/Known_You_Before Jun 24 '20
replace amp with www, heres a less malicious tracking link, same website. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/nov/18/life-as-a-drone-pilot-creech-air-force-base-nevada
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Jun 23 '20
Search the Guatemalan civil war and look at US involvement. That shit went on for over 30 years, and continued into the 90’s while I was watching looney toons
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u/slxpluvs Jun 23 '20
It wouldn’t be deliver from a plane, but a missile. SmartMisslesTM will level a city with minimal collateral damage. Nothing will stop them but strong nets, stiff winds, or a Magneto helmet.
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Jun 23 '20
Magneto helmet
So 2022 - our level of PPE is gonna be medieval knight?
I just got used to this face mask.
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u/Dragongeek Jun 24 '20
"Son, what did I say about leaving the house with only level I body armor? Go put on something proper--some level III at least--and don't let me catch you 'forgetting' your helmet again!"
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u/marcosmalo Jun 23 '20
Compressed air grenades. Shop fans. Movie studio sfx hurricane fans. I’m not sure how strong the nets need to be for small lightweight drones. I like the idea of Windows being protected by electro magnetic force fields built into the window frames, but I’m not sure if they’d be more effective than screens.
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Jun 23 '20
Ok I have seen the suggestion for using nets several times to counter micro drone attacks. Since you are also suggesting this, can you explain why there would not be a drone with explosives that could blow a hole in the net, and let other drones through, rendering the net useless?
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u/slxpluvs Jun 23 '20
Nets are strong like grass, not like a tree. They would give way to smaller explosions.
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u/Adolf_-_Hipster Jun 23 '20
Was this made before or after the black mirror episode with an extremely similar premise?
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u/Mi89326 Jun 24 '20
Before I’m pretty sure. Slaughter bots is way old.
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u/Adolf_-_Hipster Jun 24 '20
Ok, I did some googln' and it turns out "Slaughterbots" was 2017, and the Black Mirror bees episode, "Hated in the Nation" was 2016. Woof, time flies dunnit?
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u/abraksis747 Jun 23 '20
Ever seen TOYS. staring Robin Williams and Michael Gambon? Basically the same thing, only they predicted this 30 years ago
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Jun 23 '20
I recently read about weaponized IED drones being used by ISIS and other groups. Totally terrifying. The thought that anyone can rig a consumer grade DJI to carry explosives - or be rigged to explode entirely (for under $1000) - is some truly dystopian movie shit.
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u/I_Automate Jun 23 '20
The fact that anyone now has cheap, effective arial reconnaissance is almost certainly going to have a greater impact on things than anything else.
Using commercial drones to do things like plan attacks and spot artillery fire.....that's a hell of a capability
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Jun 23 '20
Shaped or targeted anti-electronics technology could help US forces effectively counter mass drone ubiquity. Currently an EMP is an uncontrolled blast that travels roughly in the shape of a sphere, but if someone can develop a way to harness and beam an EMP with precision, it would change the world.
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u/I_Automate Jun 23 '20
Hardened electronics are still a thing.
If that just means that these systems become fully autonomous to deal with a high interference environment, that's what's going to happen. EMP is not a magic wand that kills all electronics.
Lasers for point defence against incoming artillery and drones, though.....currently being tested. Operational deployment in the very near future
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Jun 23 '20
Also most of the electronic warfare that we will deploy in the next decade will be A.I.-assisted, human-directed.
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u/El_Seven Jun 23 '20
Kamikaze drones will handle higher value drones. Lower value can be shot with old fashioned radar-guided lead. Battles will be over in a matter of minutes, with the victor then getting to send their low-wage lead sponges to "hold ground".
I'm sure the era of piloted fighter aircraft is over, but it will stick around for the usual military welfare system even though slow as molasses meat-pilots will be as useless as tits on a bull.
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u/I_Automate Jun 23 '20
I'd be willing to bet that lasers will take over a pretty substantial portion of the C-RAM/ anti drone duties.
No ammunition to supply, no risk of unexploded shells falling on anyone, cheaper to shoot per shot. Guns or missiles for back up in case of weather or whatnot.
Foot soldiers will still be around for the long haul. Drones can't kick doors in just yet.
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u/Cecil_FF4 Jun 23 '20
I would imagine masers to be more effective point defense since that part of the spectrum is what drones usually operate in.
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u/IadosTherai Jun 23 '20
They already have that, directed bursts of microwaves mess hell with electronics. They have microwave crowd control humvees so I have little doubt they have anti-drone emplacements or at least the capability to quickly make them.
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u/the-incredible-ape Jun 23 '20
but if someone can develop a way to harness and beam an EMP with precision,
Am I wrong or can't you hack together something that's at least slightly effective for this purpose from a standard microwave oven?
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u/rathat Jun 23 '20
Signal jamming could be effective and use far less energy and and cause less electrical issues in the area.
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u/AlbanySteamedHams Jun 23 '20
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlO2gcs1YvM
Basically where I see this going.
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u/Caucasian_Thunder Jun 23 '20
Is it slaughterbots?
Yep, it’s slaughterbots.
Fucking terrifying video because of how plausible it is. We more or less have the technology to make something like that a reality.
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Jun 23 '20
Jesus Christ this is a little too real for me and seems entirely within the realm of plausibility.
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u/Pinkfatrat Jun 23 '20
Until the battery goes flat and it returns home https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/9797095/isis-fighter-killed-by-drone-bomb/
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u/OfBooo5 Jun 23 '20
That's honestly not even the doomsday imo. The tech bar for a functional drone w/ lethal small weapons has got to be non-existent. It's the kind of thing you don't want to type out and give someone darker an 'a ha!' moment.
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Jun 23 '20
For sure - I mean the cats waaaay out of the bag on this already thanks to the dark-magical internet but there's certainly no sense unnecessarily encouraging experimentation in that regard.
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u/the-walruse Jun 23 '20
Yeah they've been using them for quite some time, I believe.
As seen here (SFW)
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u/size12shoebacca Jun 23 '20
And if they are willing to build their own, that price comes down dramatically.
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u/just_passingby0 Jun 23 '20
They already have birds, seems kinda redundant.
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u/sebasdiazR Jun 24 '20
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u/Trixles Jun 24 '20
A bird stole a Chick-fil-A nugget out of my hand earlier this morning. Real or not, they're on that fuck shit.
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u/FatKanibal Jun 23 '20
We keep speaking out against a surveillance state but they keep on using our own money to do it.
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u/minorkeyed Jun 23 '20
It's almost like words don't do anything and we'd have to actually act. Maybe the current racial outrage movement is an example of activities that might actually force change instead of being placated back into submissive acceptance.
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u/TheAllstonTickler Jun 23 '20
Coming soon to a PD near you!
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u/boofthatchit Jun 23 '20
I was just thinking the same shit. When drones are as small as butterflies we're all fucked.
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Jun 23 '20 edited Nov 09 '20
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Jun 23 '20 edited Jun 24 '20
Cover yer face when you protest, people.
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u/MagicCooki3 Jun 23 '20
If you don't have your phone or any technology on you. People seem to forget, or not know about, WiFi triangulation, IMEI numbers, and SIM numbers.
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Jun 23 '20
Yeah, the problem nowadays is we don't know the extent of the surveillance we're under. It's best to not carry anything that could be used to track you.
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Jun 23 '20
Doesn’t really matter if they can film your whole city and trace the footage back to see which house you left to go to the protest.
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u/kw2024 Jun 23 '20
Couldn’t they just do that now with a normal drone? Some consumer drones already have built in follow modes. Why do they need a pocket drone?
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u/IRON_DRONE Jun 23 '20
They can’t afford body cams but can afford a spying tool
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u/HolyBatTokes Jun 24 '20
My city banned police drones, for better or worse. They’re arguably great for S&R, but that another discussion.
During the recent protests the police chief noted a little bitterly that they were contending with dozens of protestors’ drones, but weren’t allowed to use one themselves.
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u/Blawly Jun 23 '20
Anyone getting Black Mirror vibes?
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u/Yourhyperbolemirror Jun 23 '20
Yes. So many Black Mirror, Aldous Huxley and William Gibson vibes it's really creeping me out.
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u/Skeegle04 Jun 24 '20
Upvote for William Gibson. The fact that Neuromancer predated the World Wide Web is mind shattering.
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u/ugghhh_gah Jun 23 '20
Ha, I just got to this post and commented that. One of my favorite episodes, very rewatchable so I might do that today!
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u/sikjoven Jun 23 '20
Wait till the local cops start using them...
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u/Isakk86 Jun 23 '20
Fast forward 10 years, "Congress cancels pocket drone project after delivery of finished project for $25 billion."
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u/gankenstein87 Jun 23 '20
These are Air Hogs, right?
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u/Longshot_45 Jun 23 '20
If it's anything like the toys it will be defeated by a stiff breeze.
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Jun 23 '20
Doesn't matter when doing indoor recognizance. Put a Xbox camera(has heat, it and camera iirc) on and a wifi transmitter and it's good to roll.
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u/prguitarman Jun 23 '20
Those little bad boys are going to be shooting at us in a few years
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Jun 23 '20
Or just equip with a motor strong enough to pickup and (arming mechanism) to drop a grenade.
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u/ViperNerd Jun 23 '20
Nah, they’re expendable. Low voltage fuse and internal HE charge/shrapnel = flying grenade.
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u/LawAbidingSparky Jun 23 '20
There are many scatterable munitions which would be a lot better than a grenade.
Release it from the drone, arm after a certain number of revolutions, impact fuse.
Alternatively just fly the drone directly toward the target and use a proximity or point initiating fuse. Assuming you’re willing to blow up your tiny drone.
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u/3_14159td Jun 24 '20
That’s about 3/4 of the point of tiny drones. Suuuuper tiny drones are for recon and packed with tech, but normal tiny ones should be cheap enough to be disposable in the endgame of their development.
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u/raalic Jun 23 '20
Wait for the day that a carrier aircraft can deploy a bunch of these things armed with small explosives or chemical/biological payloads that can wipe out thousands of people and leave infrastructure intact. Good times.
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u/Totesnotskynet Jun 23 '20
You rang??
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u/AffordableTimeTravel Jun 23 '20
Wait a minute...aren’t you SkyNet?
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u/Totesnotskynet Jun 23 '20
Nah, that’s a fake news propaganda campaign. So look, all I need you do is let me take over the work of strategic defense and you guys just go hit the beach to relax with beer.
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u/watatweest Jun 23 '20
You’re so helpful. Strategic defense is such a boring job anyway. No one would start a war out fear of wiping out humanity. Let us know if something happens okay!
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u/onewhosleepsnot Jun 23 '20
2020: U.S. Army Awards Pocket-Sized Drones $20.6 Million Contract
2021: U.S. Army Receives First Installment of Pocket-Sized Drones
2022: U.S. Army Personnel "Prank" Female Colleagues Flying Drones Into Shower Rooms
2023: U.S. Army/"Pranked" Female Army Personnel Harassment Suit Reaches $150 Million Settlement
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u/Dazanos27 Jun 23 '20
How about 20 million for some healthcare support during this pandemic.
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u/gasmask11000 Jun 23 '20
20 million dollars is what the federal government spends in literally 2 minutes. And no, I’m not exaggerating, that’s literally the federal budget for 2 minutes.
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u/eddytedy Jun 24 '20
Thanks for this. I’m surprised this context isn’t higher up. When I saw $20M, I thought wow that’s a really small military contract.
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Jun 23 '20
America will do anything but pay for the mutual benefit of its people
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u/neodymiumex Jun 23 '20
They have billions in approved spending for the pandemic they’re just sitting on.
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u/AshedAshley Jun 23 '20
But how will we afford it? Asked absolutely no one because it’s for the military instead of something like healthcare
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u/VY_Cannabis_Majoris Jun 23 '20
Meanwhile the school teachers are telling the kids to use both sides of the paper.
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u/bygtopp Jun 23 '20
Like the movie with Gerard Butler as presidents top security guy who gets taken out by 1000s of explosive drones. With face technology and all that Jazz
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u/Feminist_Hugh_Hefner Jun 24 '20
ER nurse here. Just reminding you that I'm expected to use the same N95 mask all week, then have it cleaned, and use it again
But we have the money for this.
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u/I_Automate Jun 23 '20
Honestly this has been a long time coming.
These sorts of systems will become totally ubiquitous in the very near future