Drone on a leash
by Volker Weber
Comments
Feine Sache.
"Anyone who's walked a dog without losing it can operate a Fotokite."
–Andy Armstrong, BBC technology expert and Fotokite user
I think most people have lost a dog at some point in their lives
Incredible product, great people. the Robo Lab of the ETH is a wonderful place to be if you are a bit crazy ie thinking out of the box. Have a look at their Christmas video, whrer they (the ASL part at least) show their skills https://youtu.be/M3XR-7MtMK8
only 8 m leash...
no leash: https://www.lily.camera/
and its not waterproof. so wet/sand are a nogo.
Looking forward to the open air performance of $YourFavouriteArtist when a hundred of these will climb up? Had this experience with selfie-sticks lately, was not funny.
Selfie Stick 2.0
Not a big fan of the leash. But for this purpose their are a number of Done projects in development. Haven't seen the Lily before. Looks interesting but is quite huge.
- I really like Nixie (but still in early develoment)
- Micro Drone 3.0 (recently funded on Indiegogo)
- Zano (recently funded on Kickstarter and on pre-order now)
I'm sure there are many others. Will be interesting to see in about a year how many are still there or came to life at all.
It's interesting that I didn't see a privacy discussion around flying cameras yet.
People were concerned about Streetview(especially the germans), Google Glass, etc.
Patrick, I think drones will face a major backlash over safety concerns. It's all fun and games until somebody loses an eye.
The Lily drone is almost certainly illegal in many European countries, in particular UK and from what I hear Germany. You are supposed to either keep it line of sight yourself or have someone else watching it. If you use the Lily to follow you while you're cycling/kayaking/skiing/whatever you're quite unlikely to be able to do that.
Also the Lily has no obstacle detection capabilities. They claim they don't need that. I say, good luck with that....
Auch dafür gibts es was von Ratiopharm: http://gizmodo.com/some-people-in-idaho-made-special-ammunition-to-shoot-d-1724875105
Patrick, there have been plenty discussions around privacy. Which is largely not leading anywhere, as at least law abiding flyers won't really be a risk to anyone's privacy. With the wide angle lens most amateur models have you'll be struggling to see an awful lot more than you can see on Google's satellite pictures. Of course there will always be idiots who think it's cool to fly low over someone else's garden or try to spy through their window (even though in most cases you can probably see more with binoculars or a telephoto lens).
In regards to safety concerns, again the main problem are the irresponsible idiots out there who don't follow the rules or think they are just an easy to control toy. And as far as I'm concerned in some cases irresponsible manufacturers (where I would e.g. include Lily). The rules largely already exist (no fly zones, various other restrictions), as do all kinds of guides and help on how to fly safely. Unfortunately this doesn't stop people thinking it's cool to fly over a public meeting with the German chancellor.
Klasse! So etwas haette ich auch ganz gerne im Einsatz.