'An annoying buzz': The search for stealthier drones
Published
What's this about?
As drone deliveries become more commonplace, their makers are looking for ways to make them quieter.
The one-panel cartoon
Read the cartoon's script
A high-end recording studio with expensive soundproofing and acoustic panels, where a technician is holding a drone hovering near a speaker that reads 'Reference Sound Sample - Pin Drop'.
Caption: Now featuring the sound of expensive R&D.
Read the full 3-panel strip
Based on the original story on bbc.co.uk.
Editor's note
As drones buzz into our daily lives, the quest for stealth seems less about subtlety and more about dodging our collective annoyance threshold. It's a telling reminder that technological progress often grinds against the human desire for peace and quiet.
Rate this comic
Read the script
Panel 1
### What the subject is: Drone delivery companies are focused on making their drones quieter to avoid annoying residents and improve efficiency. ### Real irony or absurdity: The irony lies in the idea that a flying robot with propellers is being asked to be as quiet as a whisper. ### Funniest observation: ---
Funniest: If you can hear the drone, you're doing it wrong.
Panel 2
*Setting: A residential backyard. A small, humming drone is making a delivery to a young woman sitting on a patio chair. She looks annoyed as the drone hovers above her.* Woman (whining) ---
Woman: Ugh, I can hear that thing from across the street.
Panel 3
*Setting: Inside a small, cluttered drone manufacturing workshop. A bespectacled engineer is tinkering with the drone's propellers and electronics, looking frustrated.* Engineer (to himself) ---
Engineer: If we can't make this thing as quiet as a whisper, we might as well call it quits.
Panel 4
*Setting: The same backyard. The drone has delivered a small package and is now hovering quietly, barely making any noise. The woman looks up, surprised.* Woman (surprised) Engineer (over speaker)
Woman: Wait, did you hear that?
Engineer: If you can hear the drone, you're doing it wrong.
Comments