The CUPID stun gun drone will hunt you down, zap you into submission

By Andrew Couts March 10, 2014

stun gun drone cupid copter — Image used with permission by copyright holder

As a huge fan of both drones and stun guns, I can’t help but get excited about the latest development in aerial weaponry: the stun gun drone, created by Chaotic Moon Studios, and shown off during SXSW festivities in a recent video shot by Popular Science (see below) at the Chaotic Moon offices.

The so-called Chaotic Unmanned Personal Intercept Drone, aka CUPID or “stun copter,” doles out 80,000 volts of electricity to poor saps who happen to cross its artificially intelligent path. The company, which creates all types of high-tech goodies, says it could potentially be used by law enforcement to apprehend criminals. As Engadget reports, one officer would fly the stun-gun-outfitted mini-copter, while another officer would control the stun gun. More likely, I think, is that the CUPID will be used by frat boys to hurt each other.

Built from a Tarot Hexacopter, a giant bladed contraption used to carry DSLR cameras, the stun copter is outfitted with a Phazzer Dragon “conductive energy weapon” – otherwise known as a TASER. But since TASER is a brand name, Phazzer has to pull some linguistic maneuvers to avoid getting shot down in the courts.

Believe it or not, the idea of outfitting a drone with electric weapons is far from new. The most notable creation may be the ShockerDrone (formerly known as the TaserDrone, but renamed for the same reason that Phazzer calls its products “conductive energy weapons”), which was created in 2012 by the evil geniuses at Hackaday. Whereas the CUPID shoots its electrified talons into its targets, however, the ShockerDrone simply has charged metal tape on its body, and runs into people to shock them.

Check out the CUPID stun copter below:

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Former Digital Trends Contributor

Features Editor for Digital Trends, Andrew Couts covers a wide swath of consumer technology topics, with particular focus on…

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