Riddle me this - and I've got the next great thing

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Ok, how cheaply can we build a drone that does the following and nothing else, and doesn't have to do it any better than average.

Take off, go to fixed altitude (200-400 feet max) and hover.
Does. To need collision avoidance, doesn't have to go fast or be feud maneuverable. No camera. Automatic return to where it took off when battery is low, or summoned.

That's it - dead simple. Take off, get to a spot and just sit there hovering (and even this would be ok if it wobbled or moved slightly or drifted a little, this isn't s camera platform) until returning home when mission is over.

The mission? And I'm hereby copyrighting and/or patenting this idea:
It's payload? Signal repeater. Grab all signals from from drones you register with it and rebroadcast them. Yes, I've seen REDbird but this is different.

The biggest restriction to our signal travel is the pathway, ANYTHING in the way dramatically reduces range. Here we have a repeater sitting up in the clear sky! What do you think of my idea? Shall we start a company?


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Great idea, but:
Don't you need a license for broadcasting 5GHz? Here in the Netherlands you cannot just start transmitting like that. Second, if your repeater malfunctions, the registered drones may crash. If you are responsible then you will get a lot of claims...
Your drone would have a limited uptime, because you'll have to change batteries. How do you plan to sync this when your clients are in the air?
 
Great idea, but:
Don't you need a license for broadcasting 5GHz? Here in the Netherlands you cannot just start transmitting like that. Second, if your repeater malfunctions, the registered drones may crash. If you are responsible then you will get a lot of claims...
Your drone would have a limited uptime, because you'll have to change batteries. How do you plan to sync this when your clients are in the air?

Repeaters don't need anything different than any other RC transmitter.

It's acknowledged that if the repeater fails that units connected via it will lose the boost; it doesn't mean they'll crash. Likely they'll engage their own individual return to home functions, eventually returning to the original controllers range.

As the performance of the repeater drone is minimal, it'd be ok to give it larger batteries and it's uptime should be longer than twice a regular drone (approaching 45 min?)

It's just a repeater, syncing works as it would normally.


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A member here has built and marketed a repeater for earlier models.

If you use the Search function you'll find the previous threads/discussions.
 
How about a wifi router on the ground, with an 400 ft antenna, held up in the air with a balloon instead?
O Balloon
|
|
_________ | <---------400 ft metal wire antenna
/Wifi Router \------|
 
A member here has built and marketed a repeater for earlier models.

If you use the Search function you'll find the previous threads/discussions.

I've looked at this and it's not the same as what I'm talking about. His device is meant for ground level repeating and things like attaching to your car for flying while driving


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