Hi tech toys.

Hey gents.
With such an eclectic bunch of gentlemen from all around the globe I thought a thread dedicated to the various hitech gadgets we have might be in order.

To get the ball rolling I offer my recent acquisition from Parrot technologies.
Attachment 195263
The bebop quadcopter and sky controller joystick/wifi array.
Takes 1080 P video and has a range of up to 2kms line of site.
Has a home function tied to its GPS if you lose sight of it, and also has the ability to take preloaded flight paths, including altitude, speed and attitude.
Operates with, or without an iPad or smartphone as well as hdmi FPV goggles. Using a smartphone allows for enhanced features such as acrobatic tricks and the automatic flight options.
No audio, but really all you would hear is the 4 triblades spinning.
http://youtu.be/l-rhOKBH0Q0
Pretty cold still up here so battery life is under 7 minutes but here's an example of the video quality. Once I get more proficient at the sticks, could make some very memorable additions to family videos.
Cheers.

That is very cool, I love it. Definately got me interested.

That is very cool,I love drones,sadley I am very low tech:( do not even have a cell Phone anymore.

Flying this with the controller seems more natural than with the smartphone.
Was a sunny day today so tried to take it up a little higher over the neighborhood.
90 meters up and video feed stayed strong..
http://youtu.be/PV5wqrOJXqI
I will be getting a pair of FPV glasses to go with this. The sensation of control in the first person is the best I've tried to date.

I am jealous!! I am not coordinated enough (I don't think) to successfully/safely fly one of these, let alone bringing it back to the ground in a condition where it can go back up again. At best, I fear all that money would get me one wild and crazy flight.

I wish you nothing but fun and I am looking forward to many cool videos from those who have more talent than I do :rock:

These machines are amazing,was a great story in yesterdays newspaper about how they are being used to inspect our levees in the the delta around my state.
Costs used to be around $3000 a day to use a piloted aircraft.

My landing was a bit of a bust. Got into ground effect over the car, sort of like the cushion on an air hockey table, hard to stay down.
But surprisingly easy drone to control in moderate gusts.
Biggest weakness is the limited flight time, sitting at about ten minutes at 72'f works out to 6 1/2 minutes in the sub zero climate up here so far. Frankly after that long I want to put my gloves back on Anyhow, hehe.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yAiBfbw6lY8
Tried a flight over our local lake whilst it's still frozen. In case I get altimeter discrepancies close to the ground.
Turned out not to bad, and pretty good distance range so far as well.
Cheers

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MikeB52

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yAiBfbw6lY8
Tried a flight over our local lake whilst it's still frozen. In case I get altimeter discrepancies close to the ground.
Turned out not to bad, and pretty good distance range so far as well.
Cheers

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Uber cool - looks like it is a blast to play around with! Going to show my son this, then I can blame him if he wants to get one....fantastic video quality.

That's good thinking Andrew! Gets your lad on board, then it's just about being a good dad, hehe.
My daughter wants to use it as well for some sweeping shots of her band this summer at the local Blues and jazz festival. Her band is headlining this year so she's pretty excited.
Had everyone over for an early st patty's dinner tonight and was flying the drone in the living room safely amongst the guests. Did a few flips as well. Thing makes almost anyone a good pilot with the first person camera hook up though the ipad. And yea definately steady, clear videos.

Having more fun than an old guy should with this lil drone.
Here's a compilation of my first flights. As it warms up so will my flight durations. Last weekend for ice fishing up here has just passed
http://youtu.be/gsDOwitykrQ

That is a very cool toy, but make sure you know where you are flying it, if I saw that above my house there would be a soft crack, and then it would plummet. Jus sayin..........

LOL, expensive skeet shooting target, but would be fun to try to avoid the buckshot....
I hear ya though and have seen a few u tube examples of kids wrongly using this technology flying over tanning folk in their own backyards. With appropriate beat downs afterwards.
Only takes a few bad apples to force legislation, or possibly hurt folk in their own ignorance. I've seen vid's of fantastic aircraft landings filmed with drones that had to be breaking DOT or flight rules getting that close to the runways in controlled air space, hope they were caught and educated,, firmly. Also worst case I can imagine someone crashing this into a car, or house or what have you in their naiveté or callous disregard for the privacy and safety of others.
Some advocates are suggesting banning them already in Europe due to fears of terrorism and or wild life negative impact. Ultimately, and like with most things, personal responsibility and accountability are the key.
I make sure I fly in safe locals and/or high enough not to be able to identify individuals on camera that may be filmed without their consent. If I do close ups over properties, it's always for the owner, and usually with the owner.
I see this particular model of drone being a useful real estate selling tool, home inspection tool, nature filming tool, kids sporting events action filming tool, family reunion outdoor filming tool etc.. Not a peep show cam or covert surveillance tool as it is neither invisible, or silent.
It did not scare the 8 grazing deer I was able to film last week as I was a half mile away and to them I think it just seemed like a weird bird that sounded like a swarm of bee's. That would have been my best video yet but it was after 30 minutes of flying and the internal memory was full so no record kept.. dang..
Can't wait for the thaw,, will be lots more to film up here.
Cheers.

G'day gents.
Took the drone up to the cottage for the week and did some distance over water shots.
The below link is to one but there are other vid's on my youtube page as well.
https://youtu.be/_udfyibUY2A
Now if only I could incorporate a fish finder into it,, that would be cool.
Cheers.

This oldish thread came to my mind as i saw this thing at the news. Few local tech-brains built it. At the interview they said they got the idea after boozing together one night. Do not try this at home :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Viwwetf0gU

That is pretty cool. Love how they seem to have been able to control the throttle, and rotate the saw while flying. Their rig's a beast compared to my little sports car of a drone.
Thinking Russian, and maybe vodka powered??

Great vids Mike,
Do not know if you have seen this already but here is a clip from the Drone Racing League (DRL). Now you have to master the piloting skills and enter one of the races;)
Cheers!
http://youtu.be/NNrwLSv7MHc

http://youtu.be/NNrwLSv7MHc

That is an extreme course. I don't have the fancy first person goggles, I fly using my iPad as my heads up display. Very immersive race that'd be for sure!
Makes me want to charge up mine and do some flying..
:tu

Mission accomplished! Im glad you like the vid.