Droning on at Nitinaht

heffe222 · Post by **heffe222** » Fri Aug 15, 2014 6:14 am

Alright, not 'high' art, but a new view from on high and some windsurfing action, at Nitinaht Lake recently.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBM9ulF ... e=youtu.be

downwind dave · Post by **downwind dave** » Fri Aug 15, 2014 8:25 am

very nice, handles the wind pretty good!
any consequence if it falls in the water?

heffe222 · Post by **heffe222** » Fri Aug 15, 2014 9:10 am

If it falls in the water, even if it could be recovered, it would probably be a total loss. The drone is basically a flying computer, and the camera is without it's waterproof case when mounted in the gimbal unit. Don't want to twitch the controls the wrong way over water!

thankgodiatepastafobreaky · Fri Aug 15, 2014 9:15 am

fantastic! It's good to see someone local using this. it seems to be a revolution in inexpensive aerial photography. Were you also at Nimpkish flying as there was one there too 2 weeks ago? How many knots do you think the rig can handle? SUPER COOL!!

jim mckenzie · Post by **jim mckenzie** » Fri Aug 15, 2014 9:21 am

nice flying, very brave and way 2 go. What a nice place. I suppose the kiters are accustomed but the aerial view is breathtaking.
I recently lost a thankfully less expensive model in a large tree. It's still there.

heffe222 · Post by **heffe222** » Fri Aug 15, 2014 9:38 am

I did some filming up at Nimpkish, just to get acquainted with flying over water in wind, so that was probably me you saw. Didn't get any sailing shots in, though. The drone is GPS stabilized when the operator releases the controls and it can hover and hold position in probably up to 20 - 25 knots of wind. Once the operator resumes controlling it, course and speed adjustments need to be made to compensate for wind drift. I think the drone's maximum speed is around 30 knots, so it will keep up with most sailors. A transmitter can be added to the drone that links with the GoPro and allows the operator to 'see' what the camera sees in real time, which really helps with controls when the drone is far away. Range is about 1000' in any direction, and radio control is line of sight.

more force 4 · Post by **more force 4** » Fri Aug 15, 2014 10:52 am

WOW

Please do MORE

JL · Post by JL » Fri Aug 15, 2014 11:02 am

Awesome. $

Moderate Wind Mateo · Fri Aug 15, 2014 11:24 am

Very cool, some really nice shots. It is amazing what can be done with the new teck. Looking forward to the movies you will be making

thankgodiatepastafobreaky · Fri Aug 15, 2014 11:55 am

so if you are remote piloting the drove and a gust seems to be knocking it out of control can you just let the controls go and the drone will recover on it's own?

KUS · Post by **KUS** » Fri Aug 15, 2014 2:08 pm

Very cool Geoff

Deb from Aus was using one at Flo but she indicated 22-25 was the limit for hers to fly. What an awesome teaching tool if you could combine sailor viewing on the water with video review later and headset communication with the sailor. I could see this revolutionize kiting and wsfing teaching

not to mention the aerial review is marvelous for special events or mapping things out like race courses etc. Pls take more including full reaches of sailors by flying behind or up wind from them? I would be interested in such footage for sure

wave riding shots would be awesome and then be able to pick your favorite frame, no more dodging floating photogs....maybe improvement in lenses is next, Randy / Mike

think the drone could support your massive lens selection

heffe222 · Post by **heffe222** » Fri Aug 15, 2014 5:29 pm

JL wrote:Awesome. $

With the Quad-copter, Zenmuse gimbal, and GoPro camera, about $1700, including taxes. Purchased from Norburn Model Aircraft Supply, Burnaby. Extra video image transmitter and receiver can add up to $500 more

heffe222 · Post by **heffe222** » Fri Aug 15, 2014 5:39 pm

thankgodiatepastafobreaky wrote:so if you are remote piloting the drove and a gust seems to be knocking it out of control can you just let the controls go and the drone will recover on it's own?

Yes that's right, and then the next thing to do is send the drone straight up and hopefully out of harm's way. Tricky thing is the drone has a rock steady GPS-based positional hover when operator's hands are off the controls, but is susceptible to immediate wind drift when input controls are resumed.

tbrown · Post by **tbrown** » Fri Aug 15, 2014 11:02 pm

heffe222 wrote: Tricky thing is the drone has a rock steady GPS-based positional hover when operator's hands are off the controls, but is susceptible to immediate wind drift when input controls are resumed.

?? seems like that should/could just be a software change. if in mode B, all changes are just requested velocity/orientation delta's from the current 6d (5d? 3d space + pan/tilt?) position/orientation ... how you switch from mode A to mode B, is a valid question. Value of this being completely dependent on 'rock-steady ... hover' (which probably includes accellerometer data as well as GPS). And of course, editing video isn't fun. I don't see a FPV (first person view) setup there, which would make shooting video difficult (e.g. shooting blind). ... that said, I'm speaking mostly through my hat... limited quadropter experience and out of date engineering background. :) Fun toy!

GWIND · Post by **GWIND** » Sat Aug 16, 2014 6:17 pm

Hmmm. Urban Dictionary: droning
www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=droning
droning. The act of being either drunk or high and just sitting around doing nothing. This is not something to be proud of, you aren't socializing with girls or doing ...

Sounds fun