# Holy crap, plagiarized by the US Marines! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 31, 2017, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crap-plagiarized-by-the-us-marines/795148 "2017-08-31T05:16:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2017, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crap-plagiarized-by-the-us-marines/795148/1 "2017-08-31T05:16:36Z")
Someone just sent me a message regarding a 3D printed UAV design I did a few years ago, it turns out a US Marines corporal took the design, called it his own and won a Marines design challenge with it. :mad: [U.S. Marine develops low-cost 3D-printed UAS](http://www.auvsi.org/industry-news/us-marine-develops-low-cost-3d-printed-uas) > [@](#): > > During NexLog’s 2016 Logistics Innovation Challenge, McNeal and a team of five other collaborators submitted a proposal called “Adaptable and Affordable 3D Drones,” which was a proposal for a “quick-assemble, transportable drone modeled after the Wasp but with easily printable 3D parts.” The proposal was one of 17 winning ideas selected during the challenge. The hell he modeled after the “Wasp” (whatever that is), he took my whole design and simply swapped the motor from being on the tail to the nose of the drone. > [@](#): > > McNeal’s residency began in January of this year, and he credited his work during the residency as being integral in the development of the Scout, stating that “there is no way on earth the Scout would be as good as it is today if not for the great people and equipment I was able to work with on a daily basis at Pier 9.” > > Now that McNeal has completed his residency, the Scout’s design files and build specifications have been handed off to the MITRE Corporation, which supplies and tests a lot of the Marines’ UAS. > > The MITRE Corporation will be responsible for carrying the Scout through the certification process and possibly, wider-scale manufacturing. The gall of it! I designed the UAV over three years ago, I uploaded the files for 3D printing to a popular 3D printing file sharing website under a Creative Commons license, it’s non-commercial and any use requires attribution, obviously he got the files there. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2017, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crap-plagiarized-by-the-us-marines/795148/2 "2017-08-31T06:48:01Z")
let them know… they despise crap like that … ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2017, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crap-plagiarized-by-the-us-marines/795148/3 "2017-08-31T07:45:39Z")
Definitely call the shit-head out. That’s just the lowest thing you can do. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2017, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crap-plagiarized-by-the-us-marines/795148/4 "2017-08-31T07:50:06Z")
This will not end well for the Marine I suspect ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2017, 9:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crap-plagiarized-by-the-us-marines/795148/5 "2017-08-31T09:07:22Z")
I don’t want to screw the guy, but this is just wrong, wrong wrong… > [@](#): > > [ **The US Marines Just Created a 3D Printed Drone – Which Cost 200X Less** > > Drone manufacturing may have been revolutionized this week. Design software and services company Autodesk and the US Marine Corps (USMC) have announced a successful project to create new military drones using 3D printing technology. > > … > > The Scout is the result of an innovative project between the Marines and CA-based Autodesk. It’s the brainchild of 26-year old Marine Rhet McNeal, a graduate of Georgia Tech with a degree in Aerospace Engineering. McNeal’s proposal for “Adaptable and Affordable” drones was the winner of the Marine’s Logistics Innovation Challenge.]([The US Marines Just Created a 3D Printed Drone - Which Cost 200X Less - DRONELIFE](https://dronelife.com/2017/08/24/us-marines-just-created-3d-printed-drone-cost-200x-less/)) Brainchild my posterior, [this is the link to the original upload of the design on March 15 2014.](https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:272478) It’s not just the design at issue, for instance I developed a novel technique for printing wings using FFM 3D printing technology that prints the wing panels and internal structure in a single, continuous extrusion, making them lighter, stronger and faster to print than normal techniques. I wasn’t just aiming to make a cool looking plane, I spent months exploring the best methods to use 3D printing for drone manufacturing and modularity concepts. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2017, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crap-plagiarized-by-the-us-marines/795148/6 "2017-08-31T09:30:44Z")
Contact Autodesk, they seem the best people to likely be on the side of the amateur creator. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2017, 9:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crap-plagiarized-by-the-us-marines/795148/7 "2017-08-31T09:57:04Z")
Tell it to the Marines. ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2017, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crap-plagiarized-by-the-us-marines/795148/8 "2017-08-31T10:22:37Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Contact Autodesk, they seem the best people to likely be on the side of the amateur creator. Already done that, in fact I used Autodesk software to design the UAV (use it for my regular job). > [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > Tell it to the Marines. Not done that yet, I have to figure out the proper channel. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2017, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crap-plagiarized-by-the-us-marines/795148/9 "2017-08-31T10:22:56Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > Tell it to the Marines. Should he go and perform mutilations? ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2017, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crap-plagiarized-by-the-us-marines/795148/10 "2017-08-31T10:37:14Z")
I would highly recommend contacting the Inspector General of the Marine Corps. Seriously. [http://www.hqmc.marines.mil/igmc/Resources/Submit-a-Complaint-/](http://www.hqmc.marines.mil/igmc/Resources/Submit-a-Complaint-/) ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2017, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crap-plagiarized-by-the-us-marines/795148/11 "2017-08-31T10:55:41Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Should he go and perform mutilations? But he’s got so (so many) strong reservations… ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2017, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crap-plagiarized-by-the-us-marines/795148/12 "2017-08-31T11:17:39Z")
You need to contact Drone Life and AUSVI News. Try to get to a real person, if you can, and push for them to print retractions. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2017, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crap-plagiarized-by-the-us-marines/795148/13 "2017-08-31T11:58:07Z")
> [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > You need to contact Drone Life and AUSVI News. Try to get to a real person, if you can, and push for them to print retractions. I suppose it would actually be corrections, not retractions. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2017, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crap-plagiarized-by-the-us-marines/795148/14 "2017-08-31T12:26:26Z")
Is there any possibility that he independently came up with a very similar idea and design? ---
**Author:** ![lazybratsche](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ba8739/32.png) [@lazybratsche](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lazybratsche)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2017, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crap-plagiarized-by-the-us-marines/795148/15 "2017-08-31T12:36:43Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > Is there any possibility that he independently came up with a very similar idea and design? Possible I suppose, but if you look carefully at the published pictures and **Ale’s** design on Thingverse, there are a number of details that are perfectly copied. Those details are much finer and more damning than both designs having straight 3-section wings, a boxy fuselage, and a V tail. The most obviously copied details, from my ~5 minutes of looking, are things like the way the forward fuselage and cockpit pieces join together, and the way the aft fuselage section is screwed (?) to the center section. Keep looking, and you can see that every piece is practically identical. ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2017, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crap-plagiarized-by-the-us-marines/795148/16 "2017-08-31T12:50:29Z")
> [@lazybratsche](#): > > Possible I suppose, but if you look carefully at the published pictures and **Ale’s** design on Thingverse, there are a number of details that are perfectly copied. Those details are much finer and more damning than both designs having straight 3-section wings, a boxy fuselage, and a V tail. > > The most obviously copied details, from my ~5 minutes of looking, are things like the way the forward fuselage and cockpit pieces join together, and the way the aft fuselage section is screwed (?) to the center section. Keep looking, and you can see that every piece is practically identical. It’s identical in every detail except that he mounted the motor on the nose by omitting the nose cone and bolting it directly to the front bulkhead, the redesign being comprised of drilling four holes there. The other difference is that he appears to have glued a camera pod on the bottom. :smack: Both changes do nothing but screw up the design, I placed the motor on the rear so that a camera could be mounted on the nose with an undisturbed field of view (not to mention that a belly mounted camera on a plane with no landing gear is a recipe for broken cameras), also mounting the motor on the rear minimizes RF interference that could affect the R/C, GPS and video downlink signals. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2017, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crap-plagiarized-by-the-us-marines/795148/17 "2017-08-31T12:58:50Z")
Also the “V tail” is flipped over. ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2017, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crap-plagiarized-by-the-us-marines/795148/18 "2017-08-31T13:04:15Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > I would highly recommend contacting the Inspector General of the Marine Corps. Seriously. > > [Inspector General of the Marine Corps](http://www.hqmc.marines.mil/igmc/Resources/Submit-a-Complaint-/) I find it amusing that the IG site has a list of questions at the bottom that are all links to the answer to that question except for “Is your complaint classified?” which looks like it has a link but doesn’t actually. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2017, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crap-plagiarized-by-the-us-marines/795148/19 "2017-08-31T13:38:11Z")
Don’t know which Autodesk address you e-mailed, but you might want to try [pier9residency@autodesk.com](mailto:pier9residency@autodesk.com), as found [here](https://www.autodesk.com/pier-9/residency/residents/rhet-mcneal). Also, want to see [a photo of the back of his head](http://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-lance-cpl-rhet-mcneal-an-anti-tank-missile-man-with-combined-anti-129772424.html)? [EMAIL=“[pier9residency@autodesk.com](mailto:pier9residency@autodesk.com)”] ---
**Author:** ![lazybratsche](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ba8739/32.png) [@lazybratsche](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lazybratsche)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2017, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crap-plagiarized-by-the-us-marines/795148/20 "2017-08-31T14:16:15Z")
> [@Ale](#): > > It’s identical in every detail except… Oh I believe, you, I was just reflexively qualifying all my statements. Plus, I didn’t want to give too much weight to my five-minute, pre-coffee examination of a half megapixel jpg. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crap-plagiarized-by-the-us-marines/795148.md?page=2)