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Drone Flies Into an Active Volcano [video]

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Re: Drone Flies Into an Active Volcano [video]

#31

Post by sbirchall »

cooper12 wrote: post #19
eterm wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Every sound you've ever heard on a nature program is fake, that is to say it's mixed in after from other sources.

>Every sound you've ever heard That's a really broad claim. DO you have a source for this statement?

yeah I wouldn't say _Every_ but a very large majority most certainly are. I used to delight in ruining people's enjoyment of nature documentaries by pointing out that anything walking on snow is the sound of custard powder being crunched and twisted in a rubber glove! Yeah: I'm a bastard ;)

Re: Drone Flies Into an Active Volcano [video]

#32

Post by easy_rider »

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.

Yes seriously, this was my first thought. The funny thing is that it isn't even dubstep. It is some kind of subgenre that seems to have been the trend for 2013/2014. It sounds like a microsoft surface commercial. I coined the term "clubstep" for it. Looks like someone beat me to it [1]. I've also noted an alarming trend in latest sci-fi movies with this awful music being portrayed still being the hottest thing in clubs decades from now (Total Recall 2).

In all I would propose fire as a viable way to kill it with.

[1] http://nl.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Clubstep

Re: Drone Flies Into an Active Volcano [video]

#33

Post by deletes »

sillysaurus3 wrote: post #5
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…

Drones are getting pretty incredible. This one is almost indestructible: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pl2Z9N4Q82g

It fails as soon as one of the rotors deforms. That doesn't make it very reliable.

I wonder how many rotors they went trough the entire lifespan.

Re: Drone Flies Into an Active Volcano [video]

#35

Post by Aardwolf »

Amazing!

How are the images collected? Is it streaming while the drone flies, or do you have to get the drone back "alive" to retrieve the data from it?

How do you control the drone, that is, do you get a first person view of the drone while you control it, or do you have to go with looking at it in the distance?

Re: Drone Flies Into an Active Volcano [video]

#36

Post by dronehire »

doctoboggan wrote: post #27
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...

This is correct. In addition to the plummeting cost of sensors, communities such as DIY Drones and OpenPilot have made enormous contributions to the accessibility of this technology, by developing open-source autopilots that rival the capabilities of very expensive proprietary products.

Re: Drone Flies Into an Active Volcano [video]

#37

Post by dronehire »

Aardwolf wrote: post #35

Amazing! How are the images collected? Is it streaming while the drone flies, or do you have to get the drone back "alive" to retrieve the data from it? How do you control the drone, that is, do you get a first person view of the drone while you control it, or do you have to go with looking at it in the distance?

It is likely that the drone operator was flying by FPV (first-person view), using an onboard camera and transmitter to stream video back to a monitor or goggles.

An operator will usually have two cameras, one that records high-quality video to an onboard SD card, and another camera for streaming FPV.

Re: Drone Flies Into an Active Volcano [video]

#38

Post by nsoldiac »

I'm a Phantom owner and I'm skeptical about those flying time numbers. I get 15-18 minutes on the drone by itself, but if you add the weight of the gimbal and camera (~0.5lb) the flight time goes down at least 4 mins, AND the gimbal needs power from the drone's battery too. I've heard the Phantom's flying time with the working gimbal is more like 6-8 mins. But if you know what kinda shot you want, that could be more than enough, just get lots of extra batteries (and those have dipped in price, you can grab one for $12).

Re: Drone Flies Into an Active Volcano [video]

#40

Post by sounds »

Aardwolf wrote: post #35

Amazing! How are the images collected? Is it streaming while the drone flies, or do you have to get the drone back "alive" to retrieve the data from it? How do you control the drone, that is, do you get a first person view of the drone while you control it, or do you have to go with looking at it in the distance?

Edit: Ninja'd by dronehire. Please refer to his answer.

Educated guess here, but the article says it's a GoPro camera, so they probably have to get the drone back alive and download the video from the GoPro.

On the other hand, wireless HD video streaming isn't that hard to do, especially in remote areas like volcanoes where the 2.4GHz band is pretty much all yours. To do better out of line-of-sight it makes sense to use both a fast 2.4GHz radio and a more reliable but slower 433/900 radio and buffer the video on the drone if the 2.4GHz radio drops.

But that isn't going to be as cheap as just strapping a GoPro on one of these Phantoms.

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