Ask Slashdot: Is a Home Drone Feasible? 274
dargaud writes "I live in an alpine setting and I'd like to be able to remotely view various remote valleys to check for ice formations for winter climbing. I wonder if there are cheap drones that could do that. Requirements would be: GPS guided on a preset route (no remote control necessary, and anyway there's no line of sight), at least 20km autonomy, 1 or 2 cameras on the sides to record valley walls, easy launching and autonomous landing (parachute?) at predefined point, ground detection to avoid crashes (if preset route is wrong or GPS echoes on valley walls as is often the case). Is there anything commercially available cheap enough, or any DIY that doesn't require a year of assembly?"
Re:Do It Right The First Time!! (Score:5, Funny)
Do your homework upfront, buy it right the first time, take care of it and maintain it properly and it will give you YEARS of little or no issue service.
Oh, these must be the words of someone who is currently maintaining someone else's piece of crap.
Re:Do It Right The First Time!! (Score:5, Funny)
I noticed that the person asking the question did not include any information to suggest what country (or even continent) they reside in. But let's assume he's in the continental US so we've got something to talk about (and just to piss off the whiners who complain every time this is assumed).
What kinds of US laws are applicable for a "drone"? I thought the laws were basically the same as radio-controlled plans: under 1000ft, line of sight. Anything beyond that, and wouldn't you have to get some kind of commercial license, submit flight plans, or anything else?
I don't actually know anything about this stuff, but I did listen to a podcast recently. That makes me an expert on the internet, right?
Re:Call me an ahole or a hippie (Score:5, Funny)
That reply was like a horse femur for that troll. He won't need to eat for a week!
Re:Define (Score:5, Funny)
He's not looking for a solution just yet. He wants a starting point. You making things too complex too fast. The question is, can you do those things for cheap? Is it possible? If you have a question, the answer is "Ideal conditions"
Silly me. I thought that the poster was seeking to draw on the combined IT and engineering expertise of slashdot, not get information he could easily google for.
I guess I stand corrected.
Re:Do It Right The First Time!! (Score:5, Funny)
Agreed. Let's also assume he lives in Minnesota, because he mentioned the alpine countryside, which suggests he's got Norwegian ancestry from the great mountains of Central Europe.
Re:Define (Score:4, Funny)
See? You can be annoying and helpful at the same time
Re:Define (Score:5, Funny)
Silly me. I thought that the poster was seeking to draw on the combined IT and engineering expertise of slashdot, not get information he could easily google for. I guess I stand corrected.
I do have a hard time to recall the last time anything really helpful was posted in reply to "ask slashdot" that couldn't have been found by researching google for a few hours. It might be my foulty impression, but usually the "IT and engineering expertise of slashdot" boils down to:
1)" Use Linux you idiot"
2)"Apple is better"
3)"Apple sucks, Android is way better"
4)"Google is evil"
5)"Why would you want Software that needs Windows"
6)"There is a cool new open source project" (Link to unusable pre alpha software that never matures and only remotely fits to topic)
7)"You might want to heck these out "(Links to several actually useful sites that might have been found by Google)
8)Offtopic rantings (see this post)
Most times the "IT and engineering expertise of slashdot" only helps by recommending better places to look for answers. But maybe I'm just bitter because of the lousy weather around here.