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  • Aerial photography option for prospecting

    I am currently focusing on searching fairly large areas of national forest to try to track down some lost mines. Much of this area is above tree line and easily viewed from above. But restrictions on helos/planes in National Forests make it hard to do things from the air. So I thought it made sense to look around for something radio controlled that could help me scan nearby areas without crawling over every square inch on foot in some of the most rugged country in the US. I found this

    http://www.sensefly.com/products/swinglet-cam/

    $10,600! But take a look at the capabilities of this system. And I think I have some friends who could help me make a home built version. Battery powered, and made from foam, it takes 12 megapixel still shots from an autonomous model-sized airplane that uses GPS. You launch it by throwing it in the air, and it lands itself. It is fully programmable in flight as well. I thought this might interest some of you, and provide something different here to check out.

  • #2
    The Parrot drone controlled from smartphone or iphone is also a much cheaper option. I have to find out if it has the same GPS and software options. It also has in flight live video feed, for about $300.

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    • #3
      Wow very sleek! 10 grand is a fair bit of cash but given that you could probably charge a grand for high resolution aerial photography of a site and it only takes you 30 minutes, its not at all unreasonable. I happen to have a mostly finished foam delta wing of pretty much exactly those dimensions sitting right here. Unfortunately its probably not going to fly anytime soon, certainly not autonomously. I got as far as making a servo signal mixer for the 'elevons' then moved onto other projects.. as is my way.

      Midas

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      • #4
        Hope some members comment on the circuit board they have pictured at the URL. Pretty sure it could be done for less than $10K.

        If you fly along at 100-200 feet, 12 mpxls should give you good images and even digital zoom. There are also programs that could stitch all of the photos together in a huge mosaic photo of an area. Not saying its as thorough as being on the ground, but if you are looking for old drifts, portals, etc., that could be done using this system. Google maps is great for what it is, but I need less than 12" in resolution to be truly effective.

        Idea is, to assign GPS waypoints to fly to so that a whole area is covered in the course of a day while you sit in a lawn chair with a cold one, recharging batteries for when it comes in for a landing every 25 minutes or so. Then you review photos for specific areas to focus on, stitch them all together into a huge mosaic map, and go from there without wasting a lot of time wandering around in obviously unproductive areas.

        This is also an electric plane, so very quiet, and won't disturb wildlife at all. You might even catch some on camera. It would be good to know if there was a large bear in the area for example...

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        • #5
          Originally posted by UncleMatt View Post

          This is also an electric plane, so very quiet, and won't disturb wildlife at all. You might even catch some on camera. It would be good to know if there was a large bear in the area for example...
          Yeah not that quiet . Still a lot of prop noise which reverberates through the foam 'sounding board'. But I guess its better than a helicopter.

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          • #6
            Originally posted by UncleMatt View Post
            Hope some members comment on the circuit board they have pictured at the URL. Pretty sure it could be done for less than $10K.

            There's not much to say; it looks it has two digital single axis gyros and one analog piezo gyro in the silver can...for some reason, one of those black boxes is probably a magnetometer and one is a multi axis accelerometer. I would expect a barometer, but nothing on the board resembles one. The processor is probably a 32bit arm processor. I wouldn't pay more than $100 for it.

            Also considering how common flight control boards are these days, $10000 is a ridiculous price for something a DIY-er can do for less than $1000, maybe $500 if you know what you're doing.

            The market right now is flooded with multicopter control boards, fixed wing flight control boards are less common but there are still plenty of open source projects with GPS guidance.

            For example, the ardupilot : http://www.diydrones.com/profiles/bl...mega-home-page

            Check the UAV forum at RCgroups for more information:

            http://www.rcgroups.com/uav-unmanned...-vehicles-238/

            Electronics are much cheaper if you order from china, but you really have to do research; most flight control boards are specifically for multi-rotor helicopters, but some can also support fixed wing aircraft or people have written software to support them.

            http://www.goodluckbuy.com/index.php...trol&x=18&y=21

            Comment


            • #7
              I think you're all underestimating the amount of time and effort it would take to duplicate the capabilities of the Swinglet-Cam. $10,000 may seem a lot of money, but you only have to watch the video to be impressed.

              You might be able to try an alternative such as a quad-copter.
              http://www.draganfly.com/uav-helicopter/draganflyer-x6/

              Although I would imagine they're all going to be expensive. Remember you're not just buying a radio-controlled aircraft. There's a lot of other technology in there as well.

              A different approach might be to buy a Swinglet-Cam, and then sell it when you've finished your project. Also, as someone else mentioned, you could provide an aerial photography service and recover some of the cost that way.

              Comment


              • #8
                I agree that $10K is a little steep, and that you can find what you need to replicate what it does for much less. But that means effort increases as cost goes down. Unless you look at something like the Parrot Drone, but it only has a range of 150'.

                I also want side viewing capability, not just down. I would like to fly through a canyon and get both sides and the floor in one go.

                And I think any electric model plane platform you use will be quiet enough at a couple hundred feet of altitude not to disturb people or wildlife.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by nabiul View Post
                  There's not much to say; it looks it has two digital single axis gyros and one analog piezo gyro in the silver can...for some reason, one of those black boxes is probably a magnetometer and one is a multi axis accelerometer. I would expect a barometer, but nothing on the board resembles one. The processor is probably a 32bit arm processor. I wouldn't pay more than $100 for it.

                  Also considering how common flight control boards are these days, $10000 is a ridiculous price for something a DIY-er can do for less than $1000, maybe $500 if you know what you're doing.

                  The market right now is flooded with multicopter control boards, fixed wing flight control boards are less common but there are still plenty of open source projects with GPS guidance.

                  For example, the ardupilot : http://www.diydrones.com/profiles/bl...mega-home-page

                  Check the UAV forum at RCgroups for more information:

                  http://www.rcgroups.com/uav-unmanned...-vehicles-238/

                  Electronics are much cheaper if you order from china, but you really have to do research; most flight control boards are specifically for multi-rotor helicopters, but some can also support fixed wing aircraft or people have written software to support them.

                  http://www.goodluckbuy.com/index.php...trol&x=18&y=21
                  Not much to say, huh? Looks like you had a lot to say, which I appreciate. I know a lot of you guys can just glance at a board and see everything plain as day, while others of us have not reached that level of competence yet.

                  Love that first link! That is what I will focus on using! Open source and totally re-writable. I can also choose the best RC plane for the alpine, high altitude environment, and incorporate an altimeter as well. I do like the idea of a foam plane though, as it doesn't have rigid parts to snap/break, and will stick with electric power.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Or better yet, just drive down to the local Forest Service or BLM
                    office and pick up the photos,and maps.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Originally posted by sawmill View Post
                      Or better yet, just drive down to the local Forest Service or BLM
                      office and pick up the photos,and maps.
                      But that's too easy now isn't it? A way of finding new sites that's ahead of the game makes your detecting more profitable.

                      The ARKBIRD looks like exactly what you need Matt. From what I can tell it does pretty much everything the swingcam does except for the camera control/image proccessing which I'm sure could be a lot simpler in your application anyway.. Only 1/50th of the price so you can really splurge on the plane.
                      Here's an English review of it:
                      http://www.infinity-hobby.com/main/a...rticles_id=316
                      Lack of English documentation could be a real headache though.

                      Thanks for the links Nabiul. I've got some shopping to do

                      Midas

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Hi UncleMatt

                        Well i working on the same thing, so a few days ago i recibed Lotus T380, that is enough to lift a small key camera from China, that has good resolution too.

                        Here is the ebay link, and also you must add the transmiter and receiber, that will cost around U$80. I recomend to use an analog transmiter, cause is very easy to set up. My previus tryies with Hitech Eclipse transmiter, was almost imposible for me to work with T380

                        http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-KIT-T380...item45fe133c44

                        Regards


                        Nelson

                        Originally posted by UncleMatt View Post
                        I am currently focusing on searching fairly large areas of national forest to try to track down some lost mines. Much of this area is above tree line and easily viewed from above. But restrictions on helos/planes in National Forests make it hard to do things from the air. So I thought it made sense to look around for something radio controlled that could help me scan nearby areas without crawling over every square inch on foot in some of the most rugged country in the US. I found this

                        http://www.sensefly.com/products/swinglet-cam/

                        $10,600! But take a look at the capabilities of this system. And I think I have some friends who could help me make a home built version. Battery powered, and made from foam, it takes 12 megapixel still shots from an autonomous model-sized airplane that uses GPS. You launch it by throwing it in the air, and it lands itself. It is fully programmable in flight as well. I thought this might interest some of you, and provide something different here to check out.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Originally posted by sawmill View Post
                          Or better yet, just drive down to the local Forest Service or BLM
                          office and pick up the photos,and maps.
                          Refresh my memory again on what resolution those maps/photos are available in? Is it better than google earth or google maps?

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Thanks for all the info and suggestions guys. I am in LA on business right now, and don't have much time to post. Will be back home on Saturday, and will look over everything in detail and get back to you.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              I am actually constructing a quadrocopter to be operated in FPV mode. There are good systems, especially here in Europe. But in the US are also the one or other valuable system.
                              Really good kits are availble at around 400 - 500 EUR upwards (stabilizing gyros, GPS, waypoints, hold altitude, return to home, and other whistles an bells). Look for PlejadCopter or PCC.
                              The BUT is: if you do not yet know operating an RC it will become expensive.
                              Whatever choice you do: I recommend to tape the video transmission with the OSD data, in case of a crash far away, you have the date where to look for the copter or plane )

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