Distaff to the lifting kite thread, I'm toying with getting a little quad. Kites need you to have a friend and I'm Billy No-Mates, plus I often want to take photos of things too close for kitey interaction (buildings, cliffs, Verity's boobs).
Anyone played with quads enough to have an opinion? A kit like this one (http://www.helipal.com/product_info.php?currency=GBP&products_id=10841&gclid=CJzeqv_A07wCFfPItAodsh8Alw) looks like it'll match up with my existing Futaba r/c (from the kite rig).
Plus taking photos from the air brings you into CAA licensing territory.
Distaff to the lifting kite thread, I'm toying with getting a little quad. Kites need you to have a friend and I'm Billy No-Mates, plus I often want to take photos of things too close for kitey interaction (buildings, cliffs, Verity's boobs).A friend of mine's website: www.3flite.co.uk
Anyone played with quads enough to have an opinion? A kit like this one (http://www.helipal.com/product_info.php?currency=GBP&products_id=10841&gclid=CJzeqv_A07wCFfPItAodsh8Alw) looks like it'll match up with my existing Futaba r/c (from the kite rig).
Interesting stuff.
FPV exceeds my budget *ever*.
I note that the Parrots have a thriving software community full of sickness like autonomous GPS waypointing. Over the Bosphorous. That's very Byron. :thumbsup:
Welp, that's gone.
(http://i.imgur.com/vWylk9G.jpg)
Not conclusive, it could be a 777 wing as far as I can see.
I am sooooo tempted
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/torquing/zano-autonomous-intelligent-swarming-nano-drone
I'd quite like one of these:
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/jul/16/drone-firing-handgun-video-youtube
I'd quite like one of these:
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/jul/16/drone-firing-handgun-video-youtube
The crazy Russian always takes it further
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNPJMk2fgJU (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNPJMk2fgJU)
In all seriousness though it can't be long before some radical straps 500g of explosive and some nails to one then flies it into Dwning Street from a pickup truck a few streets away.
remember we only have to be lucky once. You will have to be lucky always.
Quoteremember we only have to be lucky once. You will have to be lucky always.
I am sooooo tempted
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/torquing/zano-autonomous-intelligent-swarming-nano-drone
Doesn't look very shot down...
You will typically lock on to 9+ satellites. You then have to fake the majority of those and it has to diverge enough from the barometric pressure as well.
You will typically lock on to 9+ satellites. You then have to fake the majority of those and it has to diverge enough from the barometric pressure as well.
Not very difficult to do, the power budget is such that generally the receiver is just able to pick then up. A much stronger signal would trivially overload the receiver (even with the antenna "looking" in the wrong direction), and it wouldn't be difficult for the country that actually designed and built the satellites to achieve this.
Whether they'd actually bother, is another question, when there are likely many other easier and cheaper ways to incapacitate a civilian drone.
Those clever ISIS chappies have been getting inventive. Allegedly this was shot down in Iraq earlier today.
https://twitter.com/sarahussein/status/834760699142402048 (https://twitter.com/sarahussein/status/834760699142402048)
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C5WqaGlWAAE1_4P.jpg)
I like the look of this mini-drone, cheap and allegedly doesn't require a license. Just enough range to do a roof survey.[/url]"On a full charge users can enjoy up to three minutes of flight"
I like the look of this mini-drone, cheap and allegedly doesn't require a license. Just enough range to do a roof survey.I don't think licensing is an issue, at least with current UK law. You can fly a rather large quadcopter without any sort of licence. Though there is a government consultation, which suggests some sort of registration scheme.
https://www.dpreview.com/news/0880793964/airselfie-miniature-drone-goes-on-general-sale (https://www.dpreview.com/news/0880793964/airselfie-miniature-drone-goes-on-general-sale)
In all seriousness though it can't be long before some radical straps 500g of explosive and some nails to one then flies it into Dwning Street from a pickup truck a few streets away.
Thing is, you have to maintain line-of-sight to do so...or at the very least not have anything obstruct the control & video signal...and in built-up areas, relying on GPS may not be possible, so even autonomous flight would be doubtful. There's inertia navigation modules out there, but the known ones require export license, so it'll require jumping through a few hoops to get there.
In all seriousness though it can't be long before some radical straps 500g of explosive and some nails to one then flies it into Dwning Street from a pickup truck a few streets away.
Thing is, you have to maintain line-of-sight to do so...or at the very least not have anything obstruct the control & video signal...and in built-up areas, relying on GPS may not be possible, so even autonomous flight would be doubtful. There's inertia navigation modules out there, but the known ones require export license, so it'll require jumping through a few hoops to get there.
It's quite amazing how quickly things have progressed.
The DJI Mavic Pro costs £1000. It flies at 45mph and has a range of around 4miles, providing 1080p live video feed (plus onboard 4K)
It has some autonomous modes where it will fly a pre-determined route. It will hover and circle a "point of interest" independently.
It has forward-facing "avoidance" cameras and downward-facing terrain cameras.
It also folds away into a coat pocket.
It's Sci-Fi..... and I just ordered one !!!!!
Watch this space.
A friend of mine got one and it's a really nice machine. However, it only flies at 40mph in 'sports' mode and it's not something it's really designed to do. It is primarily a take pretty pictures drone. If you want to zoom around and fly fast, it's the completely wrong machine.
The steadyness (if there is such a word) is remarkable. It could've been shot from a tripod or a steady-cam.
It's been quite gusty here over the last couple of days - I'm guessing, in the absence of much movement in the branches of trees, not so windy down your way.
I'd be fascinated to hear how you get on with it, and the way the video complements any still photography. I know that I hated using a video camera, which I did quite a bit when our daughter was growing up, I found it really got in the way of "being there". But, now I'm glad I did. I wonder if there is an element of that with using a drone, it sounds as if you have to put quite a bit of effort into getting decent results.
Maybe that's what's responsible for parts of the sequence being sharper than others?
Vimeo is that way --->
Have you seen these?
https://www.parrot.com/uk/minidrones/parrot-mambo#parrot-mambo-
£100 FFS!
Have you seen these?
https://www.parrot.com/uk/minidrones/parrot-mambo#parrot-mambo-
£100 FFS!
Interesting. If there's an easy way to fit a camera to it, replacing the grabber/cannon, that would be very useful.
Of course, stabilisation is also going to be an issue. With a high enough resolution, I suppose software can improve upon that, as long as you don't mind losing some of the resolution, and the edges of the image.
Given that the entire drone weighs 63g, any camera is going to need to be very light. I'd guess it needs to be less than 10g, which is probably challenging for a camera with decent lens and battery.
DJI, who make my drone, just announced this....https://www.dji.com/mg-1 (https://www.dji.com/mg-1)I'm flying the Matrice 600 at the moment, which can manage a 6kg payload. I have to notify the security services every time I take off and land. Apparently there are snipers to enforce compliance.
I can see some issues with the availability of an autonomous consumer drone capable of carrying a 10Kg payload.
Stunning! Smooth drone footage always makes people and vehicles seem a bit matchbox to me. Real flying cameras aren't supposed to move like that...
Feels like overuse of fade in/out in the final video, but it's hard to join that sort of footage up another way.
The pro film-makers tend to use 2 operators and I can see why, one to fly and one in charge of the camera. However, if you look at the short footage of me cycling, that was fully automated. The drone was auto-tracking me.
...if you look at the short footage of me cycling, that was fully automated. The drone was auto-tracking me.
...if you look at the short footage of me cycling, that was fully automated. The drone was auto-tracking me.
Oooh, neat! I guess you're somewhat dependent on the obstacle avoidance with that, but it appears that you want to make damned sure the flight path doesn't intersect any phone lines, or worse, electrical lines, because that's probably going to mean "burny melty" death, for the drone.
DJI Mavic Pro - Obstacle Avoidance - How sensitive is it? (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDuwbgBsc60)
Overflowing Glory Hole Spillway at Lake Berryessa (https://youtu.be/NxOOnKL265I)
Drones open up all sorts of possibilities, that would simply not have been practical a few years ago.
Drones open up all sorts of possibilities, that would simply not have been practical a few years ago.
Indeed - we watched "Wild Alaska" last night, and a lot of the footage was drone filming. They're more expendable than helicopters, and a lot quieter and therefore less disturbing to wildlife.
...
The traditional way of sneaking up on wildlife from the air in order to film them is by hot-air balloon. Sort of thing that's barely practical and requires the patience of a well-funded wildlife photographer.
...
The traditional way of sneaking up on wildlife from the air in order to film them is by hot-air balloon. Sort of thing that's barely practical and requires the patience of a well-funded wildlife photographer.
I wonder if lighter than air drones could become a thing for this sort of purpose? A drone may be quieter than a helicopter, but it's far from silent !
A helium balloon for most of the lift, and smaller motors for directional control and stability would seem to be a possible approach. For even a moderate payload, the balloon will be large, and prone to being caught by the wind, which I suspect would be an issue.
I wonder what the alternative is? Possibly large slow rotors, to reduce the frequency of the noise, which may help with mammals and animals that hear in a similar audio range ?
How about, very small, very high speed rotors, to move the frequencies so high, that they're way above the range of the target animals? ???
In my experience, many animals can be surprisingly un-bothered by such things. They fear their natural predators, which usually includes man, but machines don't really register as a threat unless they get *very* close.
In my experience, many animals can be surprisingly un-bothered by such things. They fear their natural predators, which usually includes man, but machines don't really register as a threat unless they get *very* close.
Can you come round and explain this to Tayo (Border Collie x Retriever) please? He goes bonkers whenever he sees anything RC being used when out on his walks. Quadcopters & RC cars both get the full-on "postman" treatment. He's never hurt anyone (or drone) yet, but you wouldn't know it from the volume and ferocity of the barking.
I wonder what the alternative is? Possibly large slow rotors, to reduce the frequency of the noise, which may help with mammals and animals that hear in a similar audio range ?
Isn't that a helicopter? :)
Anyone looked into the potential of a business from drone photography? Needs (?) a commercial license I think, although it isn't entirely clear what the status of that license is, and a decent drone, but the potential is pretty big I would have thought. I can see a problem in London as much is a no fly zone.
Anyone looked into the potential of a business from drone photography? Needs (?) a commercial license I think, although it isn't entirely clear what the status of that license is, and a decent drone, but the potential is pretty big I would have thought. I can see a problem in London as much is a no fly zone.