Awesome stuff, guys!
Lily – Drone camera
201–210 of 496 posts
Re: Lily – Drone camera
#202Earlier quoted context omitted.
Notice I said "drones of this size". While the propellers could still cause some damage, these kind of things aren't going to kill anybody, so let's not be overdramatic. As for potential dangers to other people, the solution to that is not a technical one, it is simply to not fly over or near to people. Just like we don't drive our cars on the sidewalk.
Are you willing to take a propeller to the face? The cool thing about sidewalks is that they are elevated and it takes some effort to hop on to one and run over pedestrians (especially when there is a protective lane of parked cars). Drones, on the other hand, are poised to fall on people, with no barriers.
I've taken a propeller to the face from a motor similar in strength to the consumer "drones", and it was spinning full throttle. I really don't recommend this. I got lucky it didn't hit my eye (came close). End result was some 4 scratches across the cheek on the left side but no permanent scarring.
In my case it didn't occur when I was flying the quadcopter but rather when I was bench testing the ESCs (yes, I knew abstractly I should remove the props before doing this but I got lazy after a while of testing and eventually it bit me).
Having said all of this I mostly agree with the grandparent post (though I do recognize that a 2 lbs drone could, theoretically, kill someone) in that the solution to this as a safety issue is primarily just don't fly a quadcopter over anything you wouldn't feel comfortable crashing it into (basically don't fly over people or valuable property it could potentially damage). As long as you stick by this rule of not flying over anything you're not afraid to crash it into you already have a good (if not inexpensive) failsafe, which is just cut the throttle completely.
Re: Lily – Drone camera
#203It'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/
I haven't been able to figure out how these work. GPS alone wouldn't give the resolution and responsiveness required. It doesn't seem to be CV-based either, since there's often no line of sight of the tracking device. Perhaps the tripod has two directional signal strength sensors so it can tell if the beacon is to the left or right, and move in order to keep the beacon centered.
Re: Lily – Drone camera
#204Earlier quoted context omitted.
Notice I said "drones of this size". While the propellers could still cause some damage, these kind of things aren't going to kill anybody, so let's not be overdramatic. As for potential dangers to other people, the solution to that is not a technical one, it is simply to not fly over or near to people. Just like we don't drive our cars on the sidewalk.
Are you willing to take a propeller to the face? The cool thing about sidewalks is that they are elevated and it takes some effort to hop on to one and run over pedestrians (especially when there is a protective lane of parked cars). Drones, on the other hand, are poised to fall on people, with no barriers.
Of course not, where did you get that idea? I don't think drones should ever be operated in close vicinity to people, especially if those people are bystanders uninvolved in the operation of said drone. Well yes, but the slight elevation of the sidewalk isn't the sole reason drivers don't run over pedestrians. The barriers are hopefully in the discipline of the pilot.
Re: Lily – Drone camera
#205This 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
Quadcopters can also be saved if only one motor fails using only the 3 other motors and an algo: http://diydrones.com/profiles/blogs/new-algorithm-can-save-a...
Re: Lily – Drone camera
#206Earlier quoted context omitted.
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 expensiv…
Notice I said "drones of this size". While the propellers could still cause some damage, these kind of things aren't going to kill anybody, so let's not be overdramatic. As for potential dangers to other people, the solution to that is not a technical one, it is simply to not fly over or near to people. Just like we don't drive our cars on the sidewalk.
[deleted]
Re: Lily – Drone camera
#207Hey Henry! We had calculus BC together at Westview. Congratulations, this looks great. -Eric S.
Re: Lily – Drone camera
#208It would be cool if the remote in your pocket had a "Call 911!" button. So like, if I was out snowboarding, and saw an avalanche coming, I probably wouldn't be able to call 911. But this little drone is a good deal above me and the avalanche/murderer/shark/whatever, it could call 911 for me, and when they recovered it, it would have video of what happened to me. It could even fly towards a preset location (known rang…
A fun idea but in an avalanche the chances of you reaching your pocket before being entombed in snow is pretty low.
Re: Lily – Drone camera
#209Just a personal gripe, but I hate it when websites don't work without the pointless www. in front of their domain.
I just text a friend to visit https://lily.camera and he'll never see it, because it doesn't exist.
Re: Lily – Drone camera
#210Just a personal gripe, but I hate it when websites don't work without the pointless www. in front of their domain. I just text a friend to visit https://lily.camera and he'll never see it, because it doesn't exist.
lily.camera redirects