Aerial Photography Platforms
 

At a recent cars and coffee... one of the attendees brought out a large looking lunch box, which i thought was a gun case... until he opened it.

It's a DJI quad-rotor drone!!

It has GPS location - so when the controls are not touched, it will stay EXACTLY where you left it... to the inch. It leans into the wind to keeps it's coordinates.

If / when you go out of range - it senses this, and returns to the EXACT location it took off from.

This is a thousand dollar investment for a remote controlled photography drone. Quite possibly the coolest camera toy i have ever seen.

http://o.aolcdn.com/hss/storage/mida...009321/dji.jpg

They just came out with a new model too $4000 however *cough

http://d333gi46xmu1md.cloudfront.net...2aeea31c3f.png

Century® DJI Phantom RTF Aerial UAV Drone Quadcopter for GoPro

Cool stuff

Man I'd love one of those...

I just ordered a DJI Flame wheel ARF kit. You can build and customize your own for a fraction of the price. Now i just need to acquire everything else to make it fly and build it. My goal to completion is Thanksgiving this year.

Which kit did u get?

350 / 450 / 550... and how many props? 4 / 6 ?


Very interested to see how this goes!
~ Sean

I plan on buying one of these soon

Make sure you keep your receipt just in case, my 2nd drone suffered from this issue and the only resolution is to send it back to DJI.

I got the 450 quad rotor with e300 upgraded esc. Helidirect.com. I've got it all soldered together now but waiting on the flight controller and reciever.

This is the pwr distribution board. The ATF kit comes in a billion pieces but if you know how to solder and put wires together it's pretty simple.

http://i825.photobucket.com/albums/z...psbmzfqibb.jpg

OMG that's exactly what i wanted to get!!!

I can't wire a home light switch... so i'll have THEM put it together for me :happydance:

I have a heli I'll sell ya for 50 bucks. Not a 4 rotor heli. It's electric. You'd have to figure out how to mount a camera and then learn to fly it.

New model just added to their lineup!!

I have a phantom and it is definitely a fun little toy. Even just flying it around testing your skills is quite entertaining with a few buddies. I am going to by a gimbal and some other accessories soon

wait till this little sucker comes out! A Wearable Drone That Launches Off Your Wrist To Take Your Selfie | TechCrunch

Ahhhh i have a new favorite...

The Parrot "Bebob" drone.

Comes with:

• Wi-fi extender
• gps
• controller
• in flight video and photo ability with built-in stabilized camera

All you need to add is a tablet, to act as the camera interface and you're ready to go!

OH, and the best part is that this whole setup with all accessories and ready to fly is $900.

http://static.bhphotovideo.com/explo...maindrone2.jpg

Comparatively
- The current "popular" drone is the DJI Vision 3+ retailing for $1500.00

bare in mind the FAA has or will be implementing laws that make it illegal to fly drones out of the controllers sight.

Good note... FAA still has their thumbs up their proverbial. I'm okay with keeping line of sight, these things are expensive ! :tup:

Oh it is going to much more unfortunately.
You might be required to get a license to fly one over a certain size/weight (which most are unless it is a childs toy), more restrictions on where you can fly are being enforced, but final rules are still 6-12 months away I hear.

License ehh? That sounds expensive.

New regs were supposed to be in place for the new year, but ya know... moving at the speed of Government.

So initial rules are going to be for commercial drone pilots, and once they are in place they will review 'other' possibles. Most recent news I found, end of last year:

When I'm flying planes I usually keep current on one of the flying associations dues. Some of them give you a really good insurance policy if you happen to crash into a house/car/ or worse a person

That's a REALLY good idea. Imma look into that if i get an outdoor drone.

FAA regulations currently have drones categorized into 55 lbs or less. Which is a wicked difference in drone technology.

They were discussing having a 3lbs or less drone law, which would be FAR less restrictive than the 55lb drone.

I totally agree with you that a lot of these laws are going to change and rapidly. But, on the issue of weight from my experience flying rc helicopters and planes, if you are planning to do photography with this or use it for business purpose I would get the heaviest one you can afford. I've got some super light Helis and foam planes that are a blast to fly, but I can only fly them a few times a year in our area. The wind is just too strong all the time to safely fly them.

Truth. Although you can get a hella drone under the 3lb limit they're discussing. Current best = DJI or Parrot imho

I love my Phantom II.. No major issues so far except I don't use it enough..

Federal rules regarding drones updated as of 2/13/15:

The FAA proposal would allow drones weighing up to 55 pounds to fly within sight of their remote pilots during daylight hours. The aircraft must stay below 500 feet in the air and fly less than 100 mph.

People flying drones would need to be at least 17 years old, pass an aeronautics test and be vetted by the Transportation Security Administration, but a certificate wouldn't require the flight hours or medical rating of a private pilot's license.

NOTE: These are the preliminary rules regarding UAV. The final regs have yet to be submitted.

And for security reasons......
As some of you know, flying drones over DC area is forbidden since Sep. 11 2001. I understand the safety reasons behind it and I have seen a few drones modified with better batteries and upgraded motors thus giving the capabilities of transporting a few pounds worth of explosives. I'm sure that many areas will follow DC as we are turning into a nanny state (many areas already are nanny state).
If you look at the following video, what makes you think that a person with the wrong intentions can not harm others? All is needed is a little money and some basic knowledge of flying rc models. Nowadays rc models comes with GPS and basically self-flying capabilities which makes the hobby more enjoyable.
FYI: I know the guy in the video is being certified (in Germany certifications are required for everything, even to make sausages) and he is doing it for the correct reasons. You can skip to the 9:00 minute mark to see it in action if you don't want to see the entire video. Cheers!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rW98VqJ4u18

The case for not banning drone flights in the Washington area - The Washington Post

Drone Maker Disables Flights Over Washington After White House Crash

As with guns and other things, IMO these laws, requirements and regulations apply only to responsible and law abiding citizens. But my thinking is about the ones that want to fly drones for the wrong reasons. If I were to fly a drone/rc plane with the intentions to harm and/or kill, I would easily buy what I want, test it, and modify it to my needs. Would I get involved in obtaining permits or following the rules? Heck No! So in the end all the government effort and imposing limitations only affects most of us, the responsible citizens, but laws are not required for criminal acts.

Despite the regulatory oversight... i'm gonna get one anyway lol...

I'm thinking this is pretty spectacular:

http://static.bhphoto.com/images/mul...IMG_485455.jpg

Lol gotta get a gyrocopter like the dude in DC, but instead of dropping of angry letters to congress, you can take your camera with you!

Hey I would like to share my stuff now that I got my multirotor up and running.

Specs:
DJI F450 arf kit
HK32 autopilot(pixhawk clone)
OrangeRX 6 ch transmitter
Spektrum Ar200 receiver
turnigy multistar 5200 4s battery
Gopro Hero 3+ black
Ardupilot mission planner ground station

Flight time~ 20 mins

Oh and next step is a 3 axis gimble

Here is a video I did this past Sunday at a haunted sanatorium The Seaside in Waterford ct

I finally got a gimbal to stabilize my camera but I have yet to configure my retractable landing gear. Building your own has its pro's and con's. But enjoy the video.

I'm a fan of this aerial photographic platform
http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/l...786_21_cf1.jpg

If I win the mega ball im buying one of these I heard they were the best. :rofl2:

Good luck with that. They are all still gubmint property.

Picked up a Phantom 4 over the weekend and I must say that I am impressed! Flew it a few times over the weekend and am getting 23-24 minutes of flight time (huge improvement over my old one) and it is extremely stable even in breezy conditions.

Nice!

I flew mine yesterday in 20 mph winds and I was able to get good video on a car cruise.

Yea coming from a phantom 2, its very impressive how well this thing will hover even in 15mph winds with some gusts here and there.

So what up with Drones in the last 10 months?

Anything exciting?

DJI Phantom 4 now has obstacle avoidance :icon17: