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FORA.tv Series: Maker Faire Bay Area 2009

DIY Drones with Chris Anderson

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Cavemanbob Avatar
Cavemanbob
Posts: 3
Posted: 06.09.09, 02:42 AM
I can't wait for this to hit South Korea. Amateurs will reprogram them and have competitions to see who can map the most of North Korea. I remember reading an article in popsci a few years back about a model plane that flew across the Atlantic using Coleman Camp Fuel. Flying across N. Korea and back would be trivial compared to this.

They could be used by environmental activists to fly over industrial wastelands and photograph them in unprecedented detail. Video footage of demonstrations would be greatly enhanced. I know that aerial UAVs are already being used to transport medicines and samples in rural Africa.

It'll be interesting to see where this goes.
ladyfox14 Avatar
ladyfox14
Posts: 29
Posted: 06.09.09, 11:41 AM
Products using arduino are always impressive. I'm surprised how awesome technology has become. Chris Anderson mentioned 'real time aerial photography' and it sounds like someone might come out with a new twitter app.

When Chris mentioned 'where down is,' it reminded me of Ender's game where your perception of down changes because you're not sure where your gravitational pull is.

Now, if you set up your home base in a moving vehicle, would your uav fly farther since it can only fly a certain distance before it autopilots back home?

And I love the phrase 'free as in speech and free as in beer.' Great vid.
InternetIsMindblogging Avatar
InternetIsMindblogging
Posts: 1
Posted: 06.11.09, 02:39 PM
Great stuff.
Here is theire webpage about the drones: http://diydrones.com/

@ladyfox14 : U can simply switch of the distance limit as it is open source.
ladyfox14 Avatar
ladyfox14
Posts: 29
Posted: 06.17.09, 06:16 PM
@InternetisMindblogging - Awesome. Hurray for open source.
isr Avatar
isr
Posts: 1
Posted: 08.25.09, 04:54 AM
Hi Chris, I watched u'r video on how to build a DIY UAV for less than a $1000.
I have a few questions
1) what is the thermopile and who manufactures/sells it?
2) how does the sensor for determining the horizon work, who sells it?
3) Is the picture affected by blurring due to the plane motion, gusts, and if so
can the antiblur function on the camera help?
4) are the sensors affected by flying over water, hilly country or thermals?
It is a great presentation, I am amazed at what u can do with fairly inexpensible materials.

ISR
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