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Drone Flies Into an Active Volcano [video]

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Re: Drone Flies Into an Active Volcano [video]

#21

Post by mikeyouse »

uptown wrote: post #3

The Phantom 2 are pretty great drones ... but they're also prone to "fly away" where they decide to take-off on their own - ignoring your commands. There's a bunch of videos on YouTube showing people's Phantoms flying away. Like this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkQ9eB7M7iQ This video purports to help prevent that from happening, though it's not guaranteed to prevent your $1000 drone from making a break for it…

Watching an uncontrolled drone strafe an overpass at street level and split power lines for a commuter train, really increases my sympathy toward those who want to regulate these.

Re: Drone Flies Into an Active Volcano [video]

#23

Post by lmm »

nlh wrote: post #18

This is supremely cool. Tangential stupid question: Obviously there's been a ton of buzz lately (and innovation) in the drone space. What's the big technological driver that's allowed / caused this to happen? I don't know the details of the internals but it seems that the tech has been around for a while (radio controlled planes, servos, helicopters, smallish cameras, etc.).

The multi-rotor drones are basically uncontrollable without computers; you need a reasonably powerful processor, which in turn means a fairly high-capacity battery. I think a lot of the innovation has come from mobile phone tech; there's now a lot more demand for small, light, high-performance processors, batteries and cameras, and so while much of the tech is not really new it's a lot more available to hobbyists than it was a few years ago.

Re: Drone Flies Into an Active Volcano [video]

#24

Post by nine_k »

nlh wrote: post #18

This is supremely cool. Tangential stupid question: Obviously there's been a ton of buzz lately (and innovation) in the drone space. What's the big technological driver that's allowed / caused this to happen? I don't know the details of the internals but it seems that the tech has been around for a while (radio controlled planes, servos, helicopters, smallish cameras, etc.).

I'd say Lithium-ion batteries, cheap and power-efficient controllers, cheap sensors (orientation, acceleration, GPS), and the quad-copter layout.

With them you can build a device which is lightweight enough to fly for tens of minutes, and can easily orient itself. This lets you control it with high-level commands. You can say "fly there, face north, stand still", something you can't usually say to a traditional helicopter.

Re: Drone Flies Into an Active Volcano [video]

#25

Post by uptown »

nlh wrote: post #18

This is supremely cool. Tangential stupid question: Obviously there's been a ton of buzz lately (and innovation) in the drone space. What's the big technological driver that's allowed / caused this to happen? I don't know the details of the internals but it seems that the tech has been around for a while (radio controlled planes, servos, helicopters, smallish cameras, etc.).

I think it's a combination of prices coming down for the quad-copters, cheap GoPro's providing HD video of the flights, and YouTube being available as a marketing platform to convince others to buy their own.

Re: Drone Flies Into an Active Volcano [video]

#26

Post by hfsktr »

sillysaurus3 wrote: post #7
Killah911 wrote: post #6

Footage got better by turning the sound off. I wonder if editors in general have poor taste in music or are simply trying to convey their excitement thru dub step background music.

Just curious, which music would you use? This happens to be important to me, so some analysis would be appreciated. EDIT: Assume only a visual feed was available, no audio.

I know I am not them but since you seem to want some data^H^H^H^H opinions. I would exclude any songs with words. Probably something slower like Moonlight Sonata but I could see something like 1812 Overture being good (cannon shots and volcanoes).

I get that techno is supposed to make you feel pumped and all but it distracted me way too much. Now had it been say Firestarter or something at least mildly related maybe but I like that song already. I don't mind it when I'm watching something like a compilation of stunts or whatever.

Re: Drone Flies Into an Active Volcano [video]

#27

Post by doctoboggan »

nlh wrote: post #18

This is supremely cool. Tangential stupid question: Obviously there's been a ton of buzz lately (and innovation) in the drone space. What's the big technological driver that's allowed / caused this to happen? I don't know the details of the internals but it seems that the tech has been around for a while (radio controlled planes, servos, helicopters, smallish cameras, etc.).

The cell phone industry has massively driven down the costs of the gyros and accelerometers needed to easily fly a quadcoptor. You also mentioned tiny cameras, another component that benefitted from the economies of scale of the cell phone manufacturers..

For example, you can buy a quadcoptor that fits int he palm of your hand for less than $40:

http://www.amazon.com/Estes-4606-Proto-Quadcopter-Black/dp/B...

Re: Drone Flies Into an Active Volcano [video]

#30

Post by baddox »

mikeyouse wrote: post #21
uptown wrote: post #3

The Phantom 2 are pretty great drones ... but they're also prone to "fly away" where they decide to take-off on their own - ignoring your commands. There's a bunch of videos on YouTube showing people's Phantoms flying away. Like this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkQ9eB7M7iQ This video purports to help prevent that from happening, though it's not guaranteed to prevent your $1000 drone from making a break for it…

Watching an uncontrolled drone strafe an overpass at street level and split power lines for a commuter train, really increases my sympathy toward those who want to regulate these.

DJI is massive player in the commercial drone space, so when regulations get written, you can bet DJI will be one of the corporations writing them.
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