Selling Drones and Speedsters?

This will bring peeping toms to a whole new level!

drones are banned from Manhattan skyline

Looks like target practice to me.

I see they used stunt doubles for Troy and Sally...

Nice! 

Makes a selfie stick look like some old hat right there! I eagerly await the "auto follow" feature that pins the drone to a transducer in your car, 20 or 50 or 85 feet up and back, with a system that automatically avoids crashing the drone into trees or tunnels or what have you. Should be here any day now . . .

Ed;

 

That's a cool idea.  But what if Mustbjim is driving  faster than the feed per second/mile?

 

Is he now driving in the future?

…should be OK as long as I don't go over 78mph! 

88... And then you go back in time...

http://sliptalk.s3.amazonaws.c.../19041633/back22.jpg

Edsnova: They just had a story on that a while back on "Chronicle" on WCVB here in Boss'Town.  One of the MIT labs provided the drones with 6-way camera/sensors and anti-collision algorithms and turned a  bunch loose in a big room and then told one of them to move about.  Interestingly, the rest quickly got into "Swarm" mode and followed the leader about, all the while watching all the others around each other and avoiding hits.  Wicked impressive!  Looked like a small swarm of birds zipping about.

 

It was also cool when they were just all hovering in place and someone would walk through the swarm - they all moved gently aside and then went right back to where they were.  Or you could throw a ball through the swarm and they would quickly zip aside and then return in place.  Pretty amazing.

 

They've already hit 88 miles per hour - The future is here........

I couldn't find the Chronicle video, but thought this might be interesting from the Univ. of PA:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQIMGV5vtd4

 

BTW:  all this stuff is several YEARS old.  The rapid rate of platform/software evolution is staggering.

Drone technology is down right scary when you think about it. For benign things like filming 'selfies' while driving is one thing, exciting in fact, yet in the hands of the 'wrong' people or groups it can, at least for me, be frightening to think of the capabilities a drone has to do harm to people and infrastructure, all from a distance!

 

We've all seen film and pictures of what our military drones are capable of and now think about that small personal drone, being relatively inexpensive and readily available to every Tom, Dick and Harry that wants one being used in an ill manner...Scary, IMO!

This is what you are "eagerly awaiting" Ed.

 

So if you can get AirDog to fetch a couple of tall cool ones, you're set. Oh wait and a pizza also.

 

Troy thanks for the post.

My drone video from 2014 SLO SOC gathering.

 

Be sure to click the little settings gear, on the lower right of the video, and select 1080p for high definition.

 

 

No problem, Art. Check out around 4:30 of this. And, if you've got 15 minutes, watch the whole thing for more on what they're teaching these things to do.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2itwFJCgFQ

 

 

Very cool.  Dont let MUSBJIM see this, as he will be bummed into obblivion until he gets one.  Maybe he has one already.  Anywho,

is there any way to get theaudio tocome from the ground, vs the machine itself.  That whine carries no dramatic contribution.  a true gathering of the faithful.  Rock on!!

You're right, Kelly; when the technology is affordable enough that a microphone on the ground can be synced... 

I have been resisting the urge to comment on this. I have a DJI Phantom, I think the same as Troy's, except he's using a GoPro. Mine has the little 720P recorder sold by DJI, which has no audio. They are quadcopters(I refuse to use the word "drone", just like I refuse to use the word "kit" for replica). The military uses drones.

 

And believe me, there is really no more nefarious capability to a quadcopter than there is to a model airplane or a model heli. The only thing is it takes slightly less skill to fly(with the built-in GPS, compass, and gyro) AND it is easily available in turn-key form, but so are other models.

 

Personally, I don't think there is a way to be particularly "stealth" with them, as you can clearly hear how much noise the props make. A remote, linked microphone would be an awesome thing 

 

As is, there is WAY too much time delay on the video uplink to fly POV(point of view) from(over a half-second). And since it utilizes a Wi-Fi connection, you really can't get the transmitter and receiver too far from each other.

 

I have almost 30 years of radio control experience, and although they aren't too hard for me to fly, by no means are they easy. I can fly it inside the house and down the hall without hitting anything, it requires a REALLY gentle touch.

 

Mine flies at a MAX of 24mph, I know there are faster, but no speed records are set here.

 

I'll bring it to Carlisle again, hope we can set up some good shots, then I'll give the video to one of you gurus!  

 

Troy, we need a gimbal setup to get rid of the camera tilt. Fortunately there is a 2 axis gimbal output built into our Nazca controller chips.

FYI, I always fly mine from line of sight, NEVER look at the screen except to frame a shot, but that is what an assistant is for.

I'm not sure I will ever be as into it as you are Danny.  My only experience with flying a remote control device was as a kid with those small airplanes with a Cox engine that you flew in a circle and controlled with 2 monofilament lines attached to a handle.  I don't think I ever made more than two revolutions before I crashed all of them.

My experience with the DJI Phantom quad hasn't been much better.  This is actually the second one I have owned.  My first one flew away with my GoPro attached, never to be seen again!  That was a real bummer, but the worst part was that I never got to see the video of the flock of geese that I flew it into.

My only reason for buying one in the first place was to get Speedster footage at last years SLO gathering, so I did buy another one and a new GoPro.  My real goal is to get some video of other Speedsters from a moving Speedster, so I am very interested in the "follow me" capabilities that are starting to emerge, but in the mean time, I'll be practicing doing that manually.

By the way, I actually have a pilots license (real planes), but decided it was far too dangerous and took up SCUBA diving in it's place.  I always felt like it was way too easy to get that license and every time I landed I felt like I had cheated death.

 

I actually thought it was pretty easy to fly. Here is my second ever practice flight.

 

It is pretty easy to fly, but to get the camera where/how you want it and integrate it with some action, there is the rub.

 

I remember you posting about your fly-away, that sucks. I bought mine for Carlisle(like you) and got some footage, but I don't have the patience for editing.

 

I was VERY much into RC when I was in my 30s but my every weekend interest in it has waned. I now have some gliders and the Phantom. I might go to Cape Cod once every couple years now.

 

I was going to get my license as well and build a plane. But with wife/kids/house/job there just wasn't enough time. I decided that I'd be a hazard to myself in the air, just not enough time to keep the skills up to snuff.

 

So I decided to build a car instead. So here I am.

Danny: awesome that you share your quad copter with the group. Thanks. Here's a little correction though: The military does NOT use "drones." They fly, exclusively, "Unmanned Aerial Vehicles." Couple years back I looked into military drone research at Johns Hopkins, and I called them drones every time, and they corrected me every time. UAVs! Bah!

 

I still say "drones" though.

Danny/Troy,

I have the DJI flame wheel 450 with the Naza controller and accessory GPS. The verticle hold and GPS return are spectacular. I've been into giant scale rc for years. Building and set up / calibration the 450 was pretty simple. No more difficult than Lane rebuilding a set of Webers. I also fly mine with a Go Pro.

Ted

Oh, yeah - I always call it a quad or quint (if I'm flying my 5 head copter).

The press calls them drones for shock factor. I guess if you're doing FPV then it sort of fits, but it's always been a 'quad' to me.

Some of the two axis gimbal camera mounts are VERY impressive. One day I will get The gimbal controller and go hog wild. I've just been distracted lately.

 

Ed, they also serve, exclusively, creamed chipped beef on toast.

 

 

…^ also known as S.O.S. I love that stuff! 

 

Troy, this link may help you prevent another flyaway: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXM3PKMBxt0

 

I know I had some concerns before I purchased my Phantom. I always wait until I get the green light, or, at worst, one red blink. Have fun!

My neighbor has one that follows him around like a puppy and sends video back to his phone.  Heidi says he's going to use it to take pictures of people in their outdoor showers this Summer. (everyone here has an outdoor shower)  He says he's going to use it to spot tuna etc.  We'll see.

 

I also love S.O.S. along with liver and onions which we seemed to have at least twice a week in boot camp. I discovered a lot of stuff that we never had at home because my father didn't like it.

Thanks Danny.  I did buy a small GPS tracking device that I have attached to my Phantom and that makes me feel a little bit better about a flyaway.  As long as I am in range of a cell tower, I should be able to pinpoint exactly where it is if it does fly away again.

 

Al.  Can you ask your neighbor what brand and model quad he has?  Thanks.