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Lily – Drone camera

news.ycombinator.com

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Re: Lily – Drone camera

#431

Post by newaccountfool »

necrodawg wrote: post #421
windexh8er wrote: post #285

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone who has flown RC drones and heli for the better part of 5+ years now I generally find that there are 3 camps: 1) people who have never flown and assume the worst and often want unrealistic "guarantees" (see above), 2) those who fly, fly often and fly as safe as can be "guaranteed", 3) those who fly in an unsafe manner due to inexperience or just general carelessness. I've always tried to fly responsibly at…

I'll take a drone that flies itself over one controlled by a human any day. Humans suck at this stuff. It should be possible to make it very safe if it's automated.

And the fun factor would be: 0

Re: Lily – Drone camera

#432

Post by Grue3 »

gtirloni wrote: post #320
DEinspanjer wrote: post #310

Awesome, but my experience with current-gen pseudo-autonomous UAVs, these questions immediately come to mind: Can it follow you around the corner of a building without clipping it? Can it avoid bumping into a tree? Will it climb above the trees to follow you through a wooded area? Can it avoid getting tangled in an overhead utility line?

https://www.lily.camera/terms Purchaser agrees to stay clear of anything in the range of the UAV, or anything it could possibly collide with such as power lines, buildings, other UAVs etc.

As if there is a place where it can't possibly collide with anything! Oh, your Lily divebombed into the ground? Well, you shouldn't have launched it near the ground!

Re: Lily – Drone camera

#433

Post by donkeyd »

foobarian wrote: post #400
TeMPOraL wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You could probably just duct tape the tracking device to another drone. Looping them together like ants would be cool! :D.

Tape the last drone's tracker to the first drone, and launch them all at once. I'd pay to see that video :-)

How much would you be willing to pay? For about 5 grand I could make this a reality some time around February 2016! Interested?

Re: Lily – Drone camera

#434

Post by donkeyd »

onehp wrote: post #287
wehadfun wrote: post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

That would enable the truest form of helicopter parenting ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helicopter_parent )

It's been enabled already... http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2240860/Father-build...

Re: Lily – Drone camera

#435

Post by superkuh »

lsaferite wrote: post #196
eclipxe wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I have NEVER seen a controller that would "stop as soon as they detect obstruction" like you say. In reality the flight controller is likely to do the opposite. Once it detects that the current speed of the blade is not enough to provide the desired lift, it will INCREASE the speed. Telling people the blades are harmless is very irresponsible.

The most popular low end quadcopter, the Syma X5C, has this. The blades are flexible and stop almost instantly when obstructed. This is great for preventing breakage when you hit a tree. I've stuck my finger in there intentionally without even mild pain.

If a $60 device has it I bet the multi-hundred and thousand dollar devices will not have trouble.

Re: Lily – Drone camera

#436

Post by rattray »

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.

Relatedly, I wonder what would happen if you turn it on and then walk inside a building...

Re: Lily – Drone camera

#437

Post by listic »

Zombieball wrote: post #143
naryad wrote: post #61

Related drone camera projects on kickstarter https://www.kickstarter.com/discover/advanced?term=camera+dr...

Some of these projects are crazy. They could be straight out of the South Park episode "Go Fund Yourself". These campaigns are essentially people just asking you to buy them a drone: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1430324424/drone-scouti... https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1802912897/drone-build-... I wasn't aware campaigns of these sorts actually existed. Probably because I have always stuck to the front p…

Kickstarter has fewer projects of this kind than the other crowdfunding platforms.

I thought they are not allowing them completely, but apparently not. Yet in general, Kickstarter has higher quality content than other platforms.

Re: Lily – Drone camera

#438

Post by regularfry »

japhyr wrote: post #281
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

But a drone with a parachute falling into a pack of racing bicyclists sounds like a really bad idea as well, doesn't it? The larger issue seems to be the possibility of drones crashing into people who are involved in an activity that requires 100% concentration.

You could make the same argument against driverless cars.

Re: Lily – Drone camera

#439

Post by kitd »

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.

> rivers

I'm a rower so fortunately I won't have the obstacles issue. In fact, these could be great for rowing coaches who can put the controller in the boat then get close up to the rower/crew without needing oversized launches that wash everyone else down.

20 mins might be a problem, but I don't see it as insurmountable.

Re: Lily – Drone camera

#440

Post by dharma1 »

Phlarp wrote: post #406
dharma1 wrote: post #359

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Absolutely, for the higher end. What scares me is these consumer drones with inexperienced pilots/autonomous tech without proper failsafes. I'm pretty sure they will be banned from ski slopes etc pretty quick. Optical flow can hold pretty stable when GPS is unavailable, other types of CV like SLAM even better.

"What scares me is these consumer drones with inexperienced pilots/autonomous tech without proper failsafes." For people who are into building and flying multirotors in a hobbyist capacity-- this is the nightmare we live everyday since DJI showed up. Optical flow can hold position pretty well-- but will they be able to figure out how to navigate by it!?

For autonomous navigation you need SLAM and some AI. We're not there yet but won't be too long. But yeah it won't be safe in crowded areas
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