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Lily – Drone camera

news.ycombinator.com

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Re: Lily – Drone camera

#161

Post by JeffL »

evo_9 wrote: post #139

It's impressive, no doubt, but I wonder about the actual utility of the device. My main concerned is the 20m battery life/record time - that is pretty limiting. If I were to use this to record myself snowboarding (like the video shows), that would be a problem. Here in Colorado a typical blue rated mountain run is easily 20m from top to bottom, esp. if you aren't gunning it the whole way. When I ride alone I can mayb…

There is a tripod that automatically tracks you. I get ads for it on YouTube all the time. http://www.gizmag.com/soloshot-automated-tripod/25453/

Re: Lily – Drone camera

#162

Post by mhb »

stinos wrote: post #149
bglazer wrote: post #131

This is really, really cool. That said, flying objects are inherently dangerous. I was at a bike race and a guy was following the pack with a DJI drone. One motor suddenly failed and the thing plummeted to the ground from 40ft and broke into a bunch of pieces. Luckily, it didn't hit anyone but it would have been a major incident if it had. There's a lot of excitement about the cool, flashy features of these drones (f…

One motor suddenly failed Maybe drones need to start to incorporate parachutes to slow down the fall in case of problems like these, or maybe even airbags to ease the crash. Not that it would make it 99.9999% reliable, but it should be better than nothing. And also won't completely thrash your drone when it crashes. edit seems nine_k already commented with a similar idea

http://www.digitaltrends.com/cool-tech/djis-dropsafe-parachu...

In order to make flying aerial drones safer, DJI, maker of popular quadcopters like the Phantom 2, is currently developing a parachute system called DropSafe, which can be deployed instantly in a case of emergeny

Re: Lily – Drone camera

#163

Post by sean-duffy »

nine_k wrote: post #145
rubicon33 wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a big, big worry of mine. I'm considering doing commercial work with drones, and the major thing holding me back is the risk of injuring others with these things. The DJI Phantom, and Inspire, could kill someone if they fell from high enough. And I can tell you from personal experience, the software is simply not even CLOSE to bug-free enough for me to be worry free. The more I think about it, the more I thin…

I wonder if a heavier-than-air airship design would be safer. A balloon with helium or even hydrogen would let such a device fall slowly with engines off, and motors would let it fly up and maneuver around swiftly enough.

Safer maybe, but nowhere near as swift and agile as a multirotor, and much more susceptible to wind.

Re: Lily – Drone camera

#164

Post by dharma1 »

taternuts wrote: post #112

20 minute flying time is pretty bad - kind of delegates this to a "We want this picture" or "We need this shot" type of thing, not "Turn it on follow mode and let's see what we get after our walk/game/session" which would be a lot more useful

That's what the current energy density of lithium polymer batteries roughly is on a drone with this size props and weight. Not much that can be done aside from hoping for better battery tech!

Re: Lily – Drone camera

#165

Post by sigmar »

evo_9 wrote: post #139

It's impressive, no doubt, but I wonder about the actual utility of the device. My main concerned is the 20m battery life/record time - that is pretty limiting. If I were to use this to record myself snowboarding (like the video shows), that would be a problem. Here in Colorado a typical blue rated mountain run is easily 20m from top to bottom, esp. if you aren't gunning it the whole way. When I ride alone I can mayb…

That 25 mph is not all horizontal, and any downward movement would mean less power drain from the drone. Though I'd definitely agree that the battery life is a pretty big problem.

I'm sure they will also sell a Lily branded external battery that can be kept in your backpack and used to recharge it.

Re: Lily – Drone camera

#166

Post by krschultz »

sean-duffy wrote: post #159
stinos wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One motor suddenly failed Maybe drones need to start to incorporate parachutes to slow down the fall in case of problems like these, or maybe even airbags to ease the crash. Not that it would make it 99.9999% reliable, but it should be better than nothing. And also won't completely thrash your drone when it crashes. edit seems nine_k already commented with a similar idea

Drones of this size are cheap enough that the extra weight and cost of engineering of safety devices generally isn't worth it. It's easier to fix or replace parts.

Are you factoring in your personal liability for killing someone in that equation?

The comment that mentioned parachutes was talking about how a drone crashed at an event and almost injured people. My personal homeowners liability policy covers things like hitting someone with a shopping cart in the grocery store and hurting them, it probably would also cover a drone, but if you don't have insurance it could expensive real quick.

Re: Lily – Drone camera

#168

Post by semi-extrinsic »

jonknee wrote: post #100
semi-extrinsic wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, but I bet he accelerates faster. Edit: he accelerates from standstill at 9.5 m/s^2. I couldn't find data on what drones do.

Drones usually accelerate quite rapidly (electric motors and all).

Still, that's zero to 95% of top speed in one second (or 5 meters).

Re: Lily – Drone camera

#169

Post by grecy »

semi-extrinsic wrote: post #153
grecy wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Anyone going faster than about 40km/h isn't really doing anything worth filming anyway, other than ski racers. All the interesting stuff for filming on the slopes happens at relatively low speeds - park, moguls, jumps, butters, etc.

If you're going any slower than 40 km/h the only thing you'll be doing in a terrain park is falling on your face. This [1] cable-driven terrain park "for children and adults" pulls you at 40 km/h. If you're looking at landing anything bigger than a 360 you'll need to be going closer to 60 km/h. Ski racers are not happy until they're going (a lot) faster than 90. [1] http://www.al.no/en/html/aktiviteter/vinter/ski_sno…

I'm a level 3 snowboard instructor in Canada, and I would say I infrequently go over 40km/h. It's only when I stand still on a groomer and "go fast", or for the run-in for the L/XL jumps.

Re: Lily – Drone camera

#170

Post by wehadfun »

flexie wrote: post #117
josefresco wrote: post #19

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 see it the other way around. This could help humans handle obstacles, at least if it could launch itself automatically and when it's a bit smaller so that it's really easy to carry around. African American males could carry it. Then, when police was nearby it could launch itself. Maybe it would be triggered by the sound of sirens or if there is a website that tracks police cars, maybe it could launch every time the…

This is not a bad idea.

Women could carry it if they run at night and if they don't make it home it could fly to a police station.

Parents could send them out with their kids.

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