Drones and Autonomous Aerospace

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Picasso3

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They use it in aerial topo surveys now from planes. As soon as a drone can haul it it's going to be awesome for land surveying
 
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Bandwagon_sl said:
My commercial drone experience is primarily with multispectral imaging, surveying, etc. Basically, data collection.
I have looked into crop spraying drones (like the RMAX or the recently announced DJI), but it just doesn't make sense right now. Payloads are hard. I can map 400 acres on one battery in 55 minutes with perfect weather/no wind. Add a 2nd camera, and that goes down to about 280 acres and 40 minutes. Add 8mph winds, and I'm lucky to get 35 minutes. There are just so many variables before you even get to the point of worrying about safety and crazies on the ground, that I don't see the appeal. I can deliver a beer to my co-workers house 1.5 miles away, which is hilarious, but it sure as shit isn't practical.

What does make sense (to me) is having an enourmous warehouse outside of a city, with corner drop shops (think Starbucks level of locations) where you can order something online and pick it up from your nearest drop shop 45 minutes later. I can't speak on the financial logic of that approach, but it makes a lot more sense to me than trying to develop a drone delivery system for home delivery.
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Funny you should mention that, I'm not sure if this is new but yesterday on Amazon I got the option to deliver to an Amazon lockbox for the first time.

So it does look like they are at least doing a Redbox style po box thing, if not dedicated corner retail delivery centers in metro environments.
 
Bandwagon

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Kolohe
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No lidar yet. I almost got a pulsedlight, but it's better suited for autonomous landings, not data logging. Also, the range isn't good enough.

I just use GCPs right now.
 
AladainAF

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Picasso3

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The guy i know with a legit one will refuse to fly near the airport via gps\computer magic
 
Big Phoenix

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AladainAF_sl said:
I'm actually very surprised these are not more regulated already. There have been several incidents of drones getting way way too close for comfort to commercial aircraft. That seems like a complete disaster waiting to happen.

Airliners come within 100 feet of drone over New York - CNN.com
4 Commercial Planes Report Drone Encounters at Newark Airport: FAA | NBC New York
Near-collisions between drones, airliners surge, new FAA reports show - The Washington Post
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Dear god don't let them know about these things called birds!
 
Bandwagon

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Kolohe
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Picasso_sl said:
The guy i know with a legit one will refuse to fly near the airport via gps\computer magic
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Many of the newer hobby drones won't allow them to be flown within 5nm of an airport. I know yuneec does this, and I THINK 3Dr does now as well. Can be bypassed by someone that has a little knowledge, but those typically aren't the people causing problems.
 
AladainAF

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Chesire_sl

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Maester Chuk_sl said:
it comes to the same thing. millions of drones and or millions of batteries sitting on chargers is still a colossal hit to resources. then you have to factor in where you stick your drone bases. then factor in that these drones can only get so close to your doorstep without risking damage to itself customer property or the customer themselves. more insurance costs.
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there are a shit ton of closed military bases that might be good drone depot's ya know the ones taxpayers spent billions on constructing so amazon can rent them out for 3 bucks a year
 
Chukzombi

Chukzombi

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i cant wait til a quadcopter/drone starts reaching payloads of upward of 150-200 pounds, hilarity will ensue when humans begin flying their walmart toys into buildings with them on board.
 
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Your fears are completely unfounded. No Walmart shoppers are only 150-200 pounds.
 
thefaceless

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And how long once the payload limit increases that allah ackbar starts strapping bombs to attack buildings/planes? Gonna have to install anti drone tech everywhere mad max style.
 
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r4ndomdan_sl said:
And how long once the payload limit increases that allah ackbar starts strapping bombs to attack buildings/planes? Gonna have to install anti drone tech everywhere mad max style.
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This has always been my question, there was the one dude who was arrested in DC flying around RC airplanes and apparently making bombs years ago.

My guess is ultimately that good bombs are either just too hard to make for most people OR it's nearly impossible to perfect them without someone noticing.
 
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Kolohe
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Put this together last night. It's a minds-i 6x6 that one of the nearby colleges owns (4 of them, actually), but they never put them together. It's supposed to be for a robotics class they have spring term, but it's been collecting dust for over a year. One of the instructors just wanted one put together to use as an example, I guess.

I'm going to see if I can get a shield for the rPi to set up Ardurover on it, then mount the windshield washer pump that I grabbed out of an old honda. Should be cool practice in the classroom to practice setting up an herbicide spraying rover, but really I just want to use it as a squirt gun tank to prank my coworkers.

rrr_img_118006.jpg
 
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