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Lily – Drone camera

news.ycombinator.com

41–50 of 496 posts

Re: Lily – Drone camera

#41
post #16

It's waterproof, but still the lens will get wet. How did they solve that? Also, does it have built-in collision avoidance?

Solve what? The lens gets wet just like any other waterproof camera. At least this one will blow dry itself off in short order.

Re: Lily – Drone camera

#43
post #31

I'm very impressed by the capabilities. I've seen 'follow me' drones before, but I don't know if I've seen any that are waterproof or as compact as this. And the smiling face on the front is a nice touch. It's still hard to part with my money (even at 50% off) when the ship date is next year though. I've been burned by various kickstarter projects that get delayed ad infinitum.

I've been burned by various kickstarter projects that get delayed ad infinitum. Me too. I've decided that there are no new things that I need so much that I can't wait until the thing is actually shipping. In many cases I've been quite happy waiting until a v2 release when the early bugs and quirks are worked out.

This is exactly why I've grown wary of pre-orders.

Even with huge savings for being "an early backer" - I've found I get more for my money (and sometimes anything for my money) if I wait until an improved "v2" ships a few months after initial release.

Re: Lily – Drone camera

#44

Without a human operator assessing risk, what's to stop the drone from accidentally flying into someone and cutting them up with its blades?

There is typically not enough force in the rotation of the blades (they are designed to be very light) to do more than hurt a little bit.

Re: Lily – Drone camera

#45
Nice. We were doing sailing last week and was quite hard to figure the whole activity with a GoPro, because I was focusing only on what I was doing, but my fellows trimming the sails were not that much in the video.

So I was thinking of a drone to film us from the side or above, but our skipper thought that no drone could handle the 15-20 knots with 30knts gusts winds we were sailing in.

Re: Lily – Drone camera

#46

Without a human operator assessing risk, what's to stop the drone from accidentally flying into someone and cutting them up with its blades?

I can't speak for the Lily blades, but I have a couple of drones a little larger and the blades are harmless - they stop as soon as they detect obstruction and they are flexible/not sharp. It won't cut anyone.

Re: Lily – Drone camera

#48
post #45

Nice. We were doing sailing last week and was quite hard to figure the whole activity with a GoPro, because I was focusing only on what I was doing, but my fellows trimming the sails were not that much in the video. So I was thinking of a drone to film us from the side or above, but our skipper thought that no drone could handle the 15-20 knots with 30knts gusts winds we were sailing in.

There are definitely drones that can fly way faster than 30 knots, but they are not waterproof, and the ones I've seen are rather dumb, they don't follow you.

Here's a drone that can fly at 100 mph (87 knots):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8p5uDf9i_Yc

Re: Lily – Drone camera

#49

I wonder how this handles obstacles. The trails we ride are not wide open ski slopes, or rivers, often times they are tight/wooded trails. Would like to see how it handles "close following". Lastly, the part in the video where the guy just tosses it into the river was definitely mind-blowing.

I guess the drone wouldn't be able to launch from the water if it had landed upside-down?

(As a concept, this is amazing - excited to see how well it works in practice.)

Re: Lily – Drone camera

#50
post #21
post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Out of curiousity, what does your AMEX card offer if this is VarporWare?

Amex allows you to dispute charges very easily. Their dispute resolution process is slanted in favor of the cardholder rather than the merchant.

Is this a reason that many merchants don't accept AmEx?
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