What is all the noise about? How can a $30.00 device knock out a $250,000 robot?

OK the image made you laugh. A little monkey telling you - he got away with something. Sad but true - a $30.00 device can still cripple your advanced robotic system today. Almost all UAV, UUV and let us just call them GPS or GSM enabled devices are subject to noise. Not the kind we hear mostly but the kind that clearly can be seen by a frequency generator. UAV's have recently been brought down by a beam or a pulse that pushes a signal to punch the communications link between the GPS signal it has and the receiver where the pilot is flying from. http://newatlas.com/anti-uav-defense-system-radio-beam-drones/39778/ That market for drone control is now a multi-million dollar business with firms each trying to sell the next brown bag of battery power to take down the rogue drone. http://www.wsj.com/articles/next-step-for-drones-defending-against-them-1437645600 What then is all the noise about?

Recently I was at a trade show and I was able to turn on a device I built that will disrupt cell phone signals. Nothing new - but it sure had the people I was with surprised. How can you do that? Easy - noise... Most signals from devices like GSM (Cell phone) devices rely on a strong signal. http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/cell-phone-jammer2.htm

For years you have seen TV shows where the police try to keep the criminal on the phone long enough to acquire a signal. What they are not showing is the effort to triangulate a signal to more than one cell tower. If you were a smart criminal?? Would you know that you could easily send that signal on a wild goose chase? Or you could bounce the signal off of a number of towers and still be in the same place? Wait what gives? Our GPS and cell phones can be tampered with - without us knowing? Yep. Look at the most recent articles online where thieves are now using wifi intercept devices to steal passwords and or data right off your devices. http://www.newsmax.com/US/police-cell-phones-privacy-rights/2014/03/06/id/556540/

Another one for fun - http://money.cnn.com/2014/03/20/technology/security/drone-phone/index.html

So what is this device that can disable a $250,000 robot? It's called noise -specifically white noise (no not the kind that puts you to sleep) and most if not all drone companies have done almost zero about it. Theft of devices is imminent. How can you protect your science experiment or become more vigilant on what is happening around your device? If it's a UAV it's not that difficult as duration times on most quadcopters is less than an hour. If you have a Scan Eagle - that might be a bit of a problem as mission duration length becomes longer. Same can be said for a ocean going robotic unit - if done in a harbor you have very little to worry about as you can recover the device. Now put something on the ocean for months and NOT have it fully prepared to defend against noise on the ocean or worse someone targeting it. That is 100% a recipe for disaster. Bye bye maritime domain awareness and hello insurance claim if they even will cover the lost devices?

Moreover - recently, I've been working with a few land based robotics firms to protect locations. The idea is to replace - dumb, dirty, dull work that security personnel might be doing. I do like the segment but have been asked "what can this robot do when it see's a criminal?" Ideally, find the criminal before he causes any mischief and report the situation. Fire off alarms, signals, lights, video recording etc. To have a robot try and get in the middle of a criminal and a possible theft in progress - might be going a bit too robocop for right now. Plus are they not susceptible to white noise then? Yes and no duration times for patrols are within an hour or so all the while checking in via signals on location it seems a bit far fetched to pull off a Tom Cruise based "Mission"with a bot patrolling a location. Plus on land unlike others (air and ocean) you can use indoor wifi signals to locate, INS and other technology like lidar to find your way. My concern is for long duration devices that keep popping up in the news and reporting things like "long duration missions" each of those are really suspect to tampering and or theft.

I'd like to offer up a challenge - if any land, ocean or air, robotics / drone company would like to be put up on a high peak above your competition, let's get real and invite a group of us in. Goal : red team your products.... From the basics like data transfer security to gsm signal denied environments. Who is ready?

In a time where I still wrestle with how to keep the devices hidden to avoid bad guys, the time is about to come where the bots are front and center. I'd prefer if a 30.00 device can't stop them. How about you?

Todd Kleperis is CEO of Hardcar Security, an innovator in armored protection of assets. They were the first firm in the Cannabis industry to introduce robotic units to patrol facilities. Hardcar continues to support robotics for dull, dirty, dangerous jobs.