3 ms·

Now I am thinking a building one for when I am out in the bush with my 4wd. Anyone know of a way to tell the depth of water from a drone?

ge96 10y ago
Drop a buoy with a sensor to reflect off the bottom of the "Creek" or different bands ultrasound/vs other frequencies to tell ground vs. Water I don't know.
- i_feel_great 10y ago
  Hmmm. You mean a water-landing drone with a Hummingbird fishfinder-type thing attached? I like this idea.
  - ge96 10y ago
    Haha that sounds complicated. It could just be a little bouy that you drop with a winch (this isn't complicated?) and it's pretty much a simple ir-range finder type deal. I just don't know the water would play out. Use a lower-frequency like the submarines do haha.
  - ge96 10y ago
    Haha that sounds complicated(heavy). It could just be a little bouy that you drop with a winch (this isn't complicated?) like the size of a fishing bobber. It's pretty much a simple ir-range finder type deal. I just don't know the water would play out. Use a lower-frequency like the submarines do haha.
macintux 10y ago
I saw an overlanding video that showed some stunning overhead views of the vehicles traipsing through Canada and now I'm obsessed with getting a Mavic Pro this year to use when I'm offroading. Unfortunately I suspect that, even with auto-follow, using a drone while driving off-road will prove too much of a hassle. I'll probably need a passenger.
- bicubic 10y ago
  This is a bit of a wall of text, but please don't ever try to fly a mavic with your hands off the controls. I love my mavic, but I feel DJI's advertising is super misleading and a bit immoral in the fact that they imply you can just press a button and make it follow you while you put away the controller and do your thing. The reality is that the detect and avoid capabilities of consumer MAVs are laughable. The reality is this: the current generation of consumer drones aren't anywhere close to attaining safe autonomy at low altitudes or urban areas. They can also do a lot more damage than you'd expect; those flimsy plastic props carry enough energy to cut you to the bone no problem. You're legally required to maintain direct control of any MAV you operate, more importantly, it's really irresponsible not to. Things like the mavic seem like they're really predictable and easy to fly, and 99% of the time they are at this point, but at some stage it WILL have a gps glitch or experience gps occlusion, and it will fuck shit up unless you intervene. I'm really uncomfortable with a whole wave of people buying stuff like the Mavic today and flying them near other people or property with 0 training on what to do if the hand-holdy autonomy fails - which it will at some stage. If you want to break the law and experiment will hands-off operation, please at least do it somewhere far away from populated areas and really far away from airports. Better yet, just don't.
  - macintux 10y ago
    This would be well away from the beaten path, but that's excellent information, thanks. I'll wait until I have someone to fly from the passenger seat.
  - i_feel_great 10y ago
    I was planning to stop completely and operate the clone to check ahead about water-crossings, mud, bulldust, loose scree, things over the crest of steep hills and dunes and other hazards.

ge96 10y ago

Drop a buoy with a sensor to reflect off the bottom of the "Creek" or different bands ultrasound/vs other frequencies to tell ground vs. Water I don't know.

i_feel_great 10y ago
Hmmm. You mean a water-landing drone with a Hummingbird fishfinder-type thing attached? I like this idea.
- ge96 10y ago
  Haha that sounds complicated. It could just be a little bouy that you drop with a winch (this isn't complicated?) and it's pretty much a simple ir-range finder type deal. I just don't know the water would play out. Use a lower-frequency like the submarines do haha.
- ge96 10y ago
  Haha that sounds complicated(heavy). It could just be a little bouy that you drop with a winch (this isn't complicated?) like the size of a fishing bobber. It's pretty much a simple ir-range finder type deal. I just don't know the water would play out. Use a lower-frequency like the submarines do haha.

macintux 10y ago

I saw an overlanding video that showed some stunning overhead views of the vehicles traipsing through Canada and now I'm obsessed with getting a Mavic Pro this year to use when I'm offroading. Unfortunately I suspect that, even with auto-follow, using a drone while driving off-road will prove too much of a hassle. I'll probably need a passenger.

bicubic 10y ago
This is a bit of a wall of text, but please don't ever try to fly a mavic with your hands off the controls. I love my mavic, but I feel DJI's advertising is super misleading and a bit immoral in the fact that they imply you can just press a button and make it follow you while you put away the controller and do your thing. The reality is that the detect and avoid capabilities of consumer MAVs are laughable. The reality is this: the current generation of consumer drones aren't anywhere close to attaining safe autonomy at low altitudes or urban areas. They can also do a lot more damage than you'd expect; those flimsy plastic props carry enough energy to cut you to the bone no problem. You're legally required to maintain direct control of any MAV you operate, more importantly, it's really irresponsible not to. Things like the mavic seem like they're really predictable and easy to fly, and 99% of the time they are at this point, but at some stage it WILL have a gps glitch or experience gps occlusion, and it will fuck shit up unless you intervene. I'm really uncomfortable with a whole wave of people buying stuff like the Mavic today and flying them near other people or property with 0 training on what to do if the hand-holdy autonomy fails - which it will at some stage. If you want to break the law and experiment will hands-off operation, please at least do it somewhere far away from populated areas and really far away from airports. Better yet, just don't.
- macintux 10y ago
  This would be well away from the beaten path, but that's excellent information, thanks. I'll wait until I have someone to fly from the passenger seat.
- i_feel_great 10y ago
  I was planning to stop completely and operate the clone to check ahead about water-crossings, mud, bulldust, loose scree, things over the crest of steep hills and dunes and other hazards.