Autonomous flying should be default mode

[aseidman]

People think autonomous flight = boring and kills creativity. I think once the auto-flight tools get better it will actually provide far more creativity and flexibility to do things that were once impossible.

Programmed flight might be interesting to play around with and could be very useful for something like photogrammetric survey but its useless for straight aerial photography where it's all about lining up the right camera position.
I can't see how it would be at all helpful getting shots like these. I'm happy to keep piloting my flying camera myself.

Beautiful shots.

 

[aseidman]

I love this type of discussion... It reminds me that we have so many people approaching quad ownership for so many different reasons and from so many different disciplines.

1) Professional/amateur photographers looking for a new and interesting platform. They bring a wealth of knowledge regarding photography, post production, camera settings, etc.

2) Experienced RC jockeys. Some of these guys can fly nearly anything and bring us their years of expertise on methods and training.

3) Technology geeks. They're always finding ways to push the envelope. Get more distance, get more speed, carry a bigger payload, get more flight time, build your own gimbal. Some pretty amazing stuff has come from this quarter

4) Curious neophytes. We don't have much to offer, but we're generally good for a certain amount of comic relief.

-slinger

There is so so much incredible energy here moving a really important new technology forward. There will be plenty of bumps on the way, but this is going to be lots of fun and really important for society.

 

[SteveMann]

I was not aware of these deaths by quad , What site might I go to read about them :shock:

I didn't say Quads- I said Drones, and since the general public and all the news organizations consider anything that flies without a pilot is a "Drone", these count, though they are model helicopter related.

http://diydrones.com/profiles/blogs/tra ... oklyn-park
http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Nation/2 ... -at-event/

There was one a couple of years ago regarding a hex multirotor and a child, but I didn't save the link.

 

[derrickduff]

I was not aware of these deaths by quad , What site might I go to read about them :shock:

I didn't say Quads- I said Drones, and since the general public and all the news organizations consider anything that flies without a pilot is a "Drone", these count, though they are model helicopter related.

http://diydrones.com/profiles/blogs/tra ... oklyn-park
http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Nation/2 ... -at-event/

There was one a couple of years ago regarding a hex multirotor and a child, but I didn't save the link.

It appears in both cases the pilot was 100% at fault. I'm not sure about you but when a drunk driver kills another person in a vehicle accident I wouldn't say a vehicle kills another person. I don't know why people manage to take personal responsibility out of the equation when talking about some new "dangerous" technology but not when talking about things that kill people everyday.

It seems like you just wanted to bring up examples of drones being dangerous. The point is when autonomous flight ramps up for package delivery, EMS, LE etc. it won't completely eliminate incidents like this.

 

[SteveMann]

It appears in both cases the pilot was 100% at fault.

You're the one who said that "a spectacular crash" would end our hobby. I just want to know what you consider spectacular if two deaths by hobby aircraft weren't enough.

 

[GoodnNuff]

I think if the poster wanted to imply there would be fatal crashes, he might have chosen the term "tragic crash" as opposed to "spectacular crash." I would imagine a spectacular crash would be much like spectacular fireworks, spectacular sunsets, or spectacular surfing - something quite dramatic and unusual but not marked by death or injury?

 

[derrickduff]

Might as well just ground the entire industry. If you don't think there will be some spectacular crashes once autonomous flight ramps up you're living in a dream world.

Typically we learn from mistakes. It took many years and many designs to achieve flight and they were basically guessing at what might work back then. It's a brand new industry, there will be some speed bumps along the way. That's a good thing, it will only improve the future designs.

I see, you missed the heavy sarcasm. I don't see these incidents as something that is going to ground the industry only improve it.

I looked into some of these RC helicopter pilots and the stunts they pull such as this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgGyo48iX_g

They are only a few yards from the craft with no protective gear on. Maybe some common sense rules need to be put in place for this type of activity?