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Can someone explain the difference between these " drones" and the RC airplanes people have been flying for 60+ years and putting camera's on for at least the last 30-40 years ...
From what I've seen they do have some pretty good 1080p wide angle cameras these days. Cameras now even being mounted on gimbals. You can even now mount go pros to these drones. Some of the larger drones can also fly up to an hour flight. Have gps tracking on them so they can follow you or if you loose line of sight have a return to home button that will make the drone fly itself back to you within three feet.
Cameras are good enough that people are racing drones with FPV goggles or viewing screens.
Last edited by twitchyfinger; 01-15-2015 at 02:15.
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Explained better than I can:Originally Posted by clublights
Long version of first vid
Last edited by twitchyfinger; 01-15-2015 at 02:07.
I think you missed my point ...
The Predator and the like .mil drones are that drones capable of autonomous, long range flight, Armed .... as large as some full sized aircraft ...
the ones that people keep calling drones are not drones.. but RC airplanes/ helicopters.
The second vid touches on this in the first min.
Most all of this has been done with RC Airplanes/Helo's for years .
Drone is a buzz word and in my opinion being misused .
No I get what your saying I'm trying to find the right vids I have dozens saved and difficult to sort thru. I'm all new to this also I became interested in them just before Xmas and bought a cheap entry level one to learn to fly. The technology in these is the multi rotor drone and they now have 6 way gyros instead of the 4 way of previous drones. I apologize for the military vids they didn't explain what I wanted them to. I've been spending some time now piecing together bits of info trying to learn myself. You are right about the term "drone" being misused.
Here's another vid:
Last edited by twitchyfinger; 01-15-2015 at 02:37.
^^This times 1,000.
I fly the real thing for work, it's called an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle or UAV. Calling them drones just paints a narrative that they have minds of their own and their nature is to carry out the worst things possible. Small hobby aircraft are definitely getting more advanced, but they're still r/c aircraft with cameras attached- just like lots of people have done for lots of years.
I am very eagerly awaiting the FAAs rulings and guidance on how UAVs will be integrated into the national airspace. The FAA operates with the efficiency of the typical gov agency so I think this is a hurdle that will take ample time for them to clear. Unlike 2A issues, I think that more operating rules and guidelines are a good thing in this case. I don't want to be in a manned aircraft and have any type of contact with even a hobby type UAV.
UAVs aren't inherently good or bad. Like a gun, they're just a tool. I do see potential for them to be abused by the wrong people with I'll motives, but privacy is already an illusion that is long gone. UAVs could make some privacy invasions easier but manned aircraft or other mediums could likely accomplish the same goals (it would just be more difficult).
Agreed 100% on the abuse/misuse of the word "drone".
However, I can tell you that my DJI copter is capable of fully autonomous flight using map-based waypoints on my iphone, so it is not simply just a r/c aircraft anymore. While the average consumer calls even a little Hubsan X4 a "drone," it seems like most hobbyists separate your typical "quadcopter" from a "drone" based on whether or not they can handle autonomous flight. For real estate guys, you can program it to fly around a pre-set path over a property, and then you can focus on the video camera getting the zoom and pan settings you want.
They are getting better every day, and definitely the gopros and even the stock onboard cameras are very good. But I still maintain that they are more likely to be pests for another couple years, at least until they find a good way to quiet them down.
I think a lot of this technology has been out there for a while. The big difference is that we've reached the tipping point where they are within the budget of many people now. You can get an extremely good setup for under a grand, and you don't have to be talking about $10k+ setups anymore. The other major difference is that the GPS-enabled hovering and the ability to compensate for drift, etc. and intelligent directional flight takes a ton of the complexity away. Flying a copter is actually pretty hard for a beginner because once it is turned even slightly around, without a FMV setup, it's hard to keep your mind set with which end is forward. You push the sick left and the copter flies backwards or whatever. The new copters are smart enough to compensate for that.
FFL 07/02
Feedback: https://www.ar-15.co/threads/106039-Brian
I get it. The autopilots you can get in everyday aircraft are pretty sweet these days. However, I think those hobbyists sound uninformed when they call their Phantom, Iris or whatever they have that flies autonomously a drone. Its a UAV. Calling them drones is like calling semi-auto rifles assault rifles.
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