Nice.
We are going to see some great stuff from this latest step up in the game..
Can someone pls explain to a dumby...
Are these things under control from the viewpoint of the camera or is it all just editing the bits that happen to get it right???
Gotta look into this - amazing.
Select to expand quotepuppetonastring said..
Nice.
We are going to see some great stuff from this latest step up in the game..
Can someone pls explain to a dumby...
Are these things under control from the viewpoint of the camera or is it all just editing the bits that happen to get it right???
Gotta look into this - amazing.
What I've seen for professionals is two operators... one to fly the copter and one to control the camera which is direction remote controlable. I suppose it can be done by one operator but that may be a bit more difficult to get smooth shots for one person. The flight of the copter and camera shots are monitored by the operators through first person view goggles which means the operators dont actually even need to see the copter in flight. I dont know much about it and I'm sure as with anything the more you spend better /more high tech the gear gets. I do know its suprisingly inexpensive to get very good quality rigs. I was at Exmouth at Xmas and a guy was buzzing one over the wreck at the top of the cape. He was standing in the carpark and using the goggles.
Most the guys I know (including the guys that shoot the PKRA "7th Frame") Use a DJ Phantom quad-copter with a Go-Pro Hero 3 mounted on it. They drive the thing by looking a a screen and seeing what the Go-Pro is shooting, thus putting themselves in the ideal position to get the action. Also it has a GPS to tell you how high up you are, so usually they stay just above 30m and then it's unlikely kites will hit it when there are lots around.
If you have a super expensive rig it's usually the case where one person operates the camera and one the copter. But this is also the case when shooting on a film set, where one person drives the camera and another drives the focus wheel. Sometimes it can even be 3 people manning one camera.
yeah its a dji phantom. just me flying via the video feed back from the camera. you do really need a spotter to tell you if your about to run into something tho. Once its over 300-400m away tho you can't really see it and you loose a lot of perspective. with only a few kites out and some trusted riders I'd be gun enough to get some low level suff and close ups.
Not many people seem brave enough to fly their chopper 600m+ out to sea tho, I personally don't see the difference between 10m out over the sea and 600m. if it goes down you're not getting it back working either way.
This was just this weekend so average gusty conditions.
summer I think will produce some great stuff.
Pete - Hi - thanks for the post - what feed back do you get about the copter (i.e. the battery level??) - can you get it to return to home automatically or do you have to fly it the whole time? Wind limits - what strength can it cope with? Looks like great fun. - I like having real feed back than just reading the blurb..
AP
Good idea re spotter Pete, a work mate got himself a Phantom 1 and fitted a video transmitter to his GoPro. All good until he hit some trees and dropped it into a saltwater creek, quad and GoPro are now dead. A bit of money but hey life's short 
Mean! What's the wind range, or wind for this clip? Also what's the battery life?
Thnx wiski
Hi Everyone
first post here
I'm not a kitesurfer, but my good friends here on the Gold coast are all hardcore kitesurfers.
I have been flying these " drones " for 5 yrs now and am a full size aircraft pilot.
i have extensive experience in building them, flying them, training people to fly them, repairing them, equipping them for longer range flights over water, FPV filming ( first person view ) and all the other skills needed to make filming your sport possible from this new angle.
I don't want to get into the filming myself, but I have over the last 12 months been building a large fleet ( 5 at present - more planned ) of these aircraft.
I have decided to sell all the Heli's in my collection as I'm more into the building than the flying ( the building is my hobby ), I'm always building more and the wife has started to make comments about the size of the fleet and the space in our house.....
So, I am just putting it out there, if any of you have any interest in getting one of these ( not Phantoms like this thread refers to , but better larger and more capable aircraft ) then please PM me. I am willing to offer for each drone sold :
- The chopper
- A fully equipped FPV setup ( ie RC radio controller , screen mounted on controller , DVR digital video recorder , 1.0 - 1.5km range RC link ( much much further if you ask....)
- brushless stabilized gimbal for gopro 3
- easy to use flight controller fully customized for your purposes
- GPS position hold
- full emergency return to home function
- a PC based flight simulator ( essential for training )
- 2 hours of one on one instruction with my own training quad at first ( uses the same flight controller ) and then on your aircraft
- repair service ( hourly rate 40 AUD ) and even you attending repair sessions so you can learn to repair your own stuff slowly and then not have to use me
The only things you would need to buy elsewhere ( advice is available on these items of course ) are
- Gopro
- Batteries
- Charger
thats it.... PM me if interested. I have photos and video's of the gear of course
You would have to come to me for training
Battery life is approx 17 mins, with a Go-Pro,the levelling gymbal, and the video link. I reckon the upper wind limit is around 22-24 knots onshore winds only, fly it in these wind strengths in offshore winds are it would only be luck if you don't lose it in the first few efforts.
Onshore winds around 20 knots you can do what you see in Pete's video easy enough, with the FPV gear by watching the drone's flight in the screen, staying at or above 30m, and keeping a close on on the battery voltage on the video screen.
The Phantom has some great features built in, including a return to "home" function, but there is a specific routine you have to follow prior to every flight in order for this function to be set so that your drone will return to its "home spot".
The GPS needs to be set each time the battery is changed. The compass needs to be set each time you move location by more than a few klms. Both these things are quick and easy to do.
If you lose sight of your drone (very easy to do) and/or lose orientation, you can switch off the controller and this triggers an emergency return to "home spot" response in the drone's computer/GPS, then the drone will fly to the home spot, ascend to 20M and hover, if it does not get a controller signal within 15 secs it will descend and land by itself.
BUT it needs to have enough battery power to do this. At 30 % battery power, the normal green flashing lights at the rear of the drone flash red slowly and the drone still has adequate power to fly for at least another 1.5-2 minutes, at 15% the red lights flash much faster and the drone no longer has the ability to maintain altitude and will slowly descend and land/crash land.
Iv'e had a few PMS already from people asking about details so I'm just going to put my reply here for all to read, PM me if you want any more info, I will be posting pics as the next few days pass as the builds get finished up :
pics to follow next few days...i'm in the process of deconstructing them all, refitting them for the purposes I have listed , reconfiguring the flight controllers and putting together the
FPV radio controllers... here is a link to a guy ( a good friend of mine who is a kitesurfing pro photographer ) that I recently made one for ( heavily moddified Phantom ) , his name is Stephan and I would encourage you to contact him for references.. he's in Mauritius at present on a photo shoot using the drone I built him.
Thanks for the Vid peanut, excellent quality video, is this a paid service you do for real estate flyovers etc?
Its nice to see what I look on a wave, thats me 1 min in to the vid
Select to expand quoteTerryMcTool said...
Battery life is approx 17 mins, with a Go-Pro,the levelling gymbal, and the video link. I reckon the upper wind limit is around 22-24 knots onshore winds only, fly it in these wind strengths in offshore winds are it would only be luck if you don't lose it in the first few efforts.
Onshore winds around 20 knots you can do what you see in Pete's video easy enough, with the FPV gear by watching the drone's flight in the screen, staying at or above 30m, and keeping a close on on the battery voltage on the video screen.
The Phantom has some great features built in, including a return to "home" function, but there is a specific routine you have to follow prior to every flight in order for this function to be set so that your drone will return to its "home spot".
The GPS needs to be set each time the battery is changed. The compass needs to be set each time you move location by more than a few klms. Both these things are quick and easy to do.
If you lose sight of your drone (very easy to do) and/or lose orientation, you can switch off the controller and this triggers an emergency return to "home spot" response in the drone's computer/GPS, then the drone will fly to the home spot, ascend to 20M and hover, if it does not get a controller signal within 15 secs it will descend and land by itself.
BUT it needs to have enough battery power to do this. At 30 % battery power, the normal green flashing lights at the rear of the drone flash red slowly and the drone still has adequate power to fly for at least another 1.5-2 minutes, at 15% the red lights flash much faster and the drone no longer has the ability to maintain altitude and will slowly descend and land/crash land.
Yeah, I get about 20mins of usable flight. wind is probably the biggest battery drainer. I had no issues coming home into the wind. I think I'd be happy up to about 30 knots. They fly pretty quick and if you wanted to you can make them go way quicker.
as for return to home, i tested it once but for kites over water I'll be setting the return height to 50m! it'll just fly wild through kites at 20m. also, you can't just rely on RTH, if there is an obstacle in the way it'll blindly fly into it.
as for landing, I don't even bother. in no wind its ok but when its windy they tip over easy and on sand it will just get your cam full o sand so I just hover it above my head height and catch it out the sky from underneath and just turn it off.
I'll always bail at about 30% battery to get home, if it gets too low it will auto land where it is so if its over the sea you'll watch it gracefully dip into the blue..
Loved it. Most kite vids are frantic - thumping metal music or dance soundtracks to unhooked epiliptic fits on a TT.
Before I started kiting, and was living in Neutral Bay 10 years ago, I would cycle up to Long Reef and beyond on my mountain bike for a flyfishing session in the lagoon. Great to know I could kite there too if I ever get back to Sydney.
This looks interesting, a drone that follows and films automatically while your kite surfing.
Agree on everything you say except the 30 knots. I've had my one up in a tad under 25 and although it flies it is clearly on the edge and it will only fly very slowly into the wind at that strength, barely walking pace. So coming back in from 200M offshore at 30% battery you'll lose it in the drink, just like a pro photographer friend just did in Mauritius.
To get a drone to fly safely in 30 knots requires a specially built one, ask Jetbootz, he has heaps of experience with Phantoms and really serious stuff too!
Can you change the height in RTH? At the beach there is unlikely to be anything in the way, especially if you think a bit about that before setting the "home" point.
looking at this with interested eyes.. now that the 'follow me' function is more common we are likely to see a few of these drones with options coming up. I am sure that before long the market will be wider for features.
It will all depend on battery life, stability and customization.
Waiting with anticipation.
PS: Currently investigating - Fatshark, Minim OSD, battery life, RTL on battery failsafe...
V
Question:
1 - I have been using a Gopro 3 Silver but I can't get a crystal clear image, it all seems like it's not focusing properly.
2 - I do have a 2D Gimbal working properly, but I am wondering if there is vibration being transmitted to the camera. In the distance it looks ok but close up it's not clear image.
I have also been shooting at Sunset and that may have something to do with it... less light
3 - I just bought a Black 3+ so I would have a dedicated camera for it.
Any other tips?
4 - does anyone know the main difference between Attitude and Predator V2 (Fatshark)
Cheers,
V
Select to expand quoteKiteDesigner said...
This looks interesting, a drone that follows and films automatically while your kite surfing.
Could make cataloging of 'indoor sports' interesting. Of course, only for those who are interested in that sort of thing. No need to shift the camera between 'bouts' at different locations. No filmus interuptus. 
Select to expand quoteKiteDesigner said...
This looks interesting, a drone that follows and films automatically while your kite surfing.
That is MINT!!!
I want one
Select to expand quotemoons said... KiteDesigner said...
This looks interesting, a drone that follows and films automatically while your kite surfing.
That is MINT!!!
I want one
If you want one all you need to do is donate $200,000 to the RnD team on Kick Starter and it "could" be all yours
They have already got over $150,000 so it could be a reality
Or just go open source
diydrones.com/profiles/blogs/follow-me-mode-available-today-free-in-droidplanner-2-0
Arduopilot rocks and you can put it in anything (quad/hex/octo)
a flight controller from DJI costs over $700 alone!
